If you’re wondering why your story isn’t working, you may be closer to the answer than you think. Have you ever gotten to that horrible point with a book where you look at the whole thing and think, “I’ve spent years on this and it’s still not working.” Yeah, thatContinue Reading
What is character agency? It’s something I see missing in a lot of writers’ manuscripts. Imagine Titanic if Jack rescued Rose, protected her, made all the important decisions, and eventually deposited her safely into the lifeboat while going stoically to his death. We might call this version Distressed Luggage atContinue Reading
How to write a character arc that readers will believe? Make sure your character resists change! Imagine Simba from The Lion King eating bugs in the jungle when suddenly he thinks, “You know what? My father’s death wasn’t my fault. Great. I guess I’ll go home.” It sounds silly, but IContinue Reading
If story structure makes you picture a rigid outline that will squeeze the life out of your book, you may be resisting something very different from what your story actually needs. Have you ever watched two people build IKEA furniture? First, there’s Checklist Claire. She opens the instructions, lays outContinue Reading
If readers stop caring about your story even though you gave them a clever, twisty plot, the problem may be hiding underneath everything that’s happening. I’m sure you’ve picked up a novel with a clever, twisty plot and then set it down around chapter four and never came back toContinue Reading
Readers lose interest in your story when the danger on the page never presses on the one place your hero least wants touched. Picture the movie Jaws, but the shark bumps the boat once and everyone says, “Well, that was unsettling,” and then goes back to lunch. Or picture StarContinue Reading
If you want to become a better writer, you’ve probably heard this advice a hundred times: just write more. So, I followed that advice. I wrote and wrote, draft after draft, year after year. And that improvement? It wasn’t really happening. There’s a difference between becoming a better writer andContinue Reading
If you’re afraid your story won’t keep readers hooked, that’s good! It means you care about your reader, which is a good first step. I’m reading a novel right now. It started out okay, but somewhere around chapter five, I noticed something. I was skimming, just moving my eyes acrossContinue Reading
When you’re not sure your story will work, it’s easy to assume that uncertainty means something is wrong with the story. There’s a moment in almost every book where the writer gets scared for a very good reason. They’re not sure it’s going to work. And that’s a moment whenContinue Reading
Your dream book may be the very thing keeping you from writing the real one. The most dangerous version of your book may be the beautiful one in your head. The book in your head is like a snow globe. You can hold it up and see the whole worldContinue Reading
Getting writing feedback is a little like cooking a meal in the middle of town. Imagine Emma, a kind middle-aged woman, standing in the middle of Central Square one day making soup for the people she loves. She’s happily stirring in vegetables and meat and her favorite spices when suddenlyContinue Reading
When writing becomes a lifeline, it starts to mean something deeper than sales, recognition, or whatever rung you thought you were supposed to be climbing next. I was listening to a Tom Jones interview the other day, and it really stayed with me. My mom used to play his recordsContinue Reading