How to use the 3-Act Story Structure in your novel
Though there are many different ways you can structure your novel, the 3-act story structure is one of the oldest and most common, used by novelists, poets and screenwriters to great effect.
Inciting Incident: What is it, and how you can use it to make your story stronger
Some call it “setting the story in motion”, others the “call to adventure”, but regardless of the title, it is the moment where things start to happen in a novel or story, launching the protagonist into the main plot. While there may be events that lead up to this moment, this is the first instance that the changes the status quo for the protagonist.
Pen and Paper vs. The Computer: Which is the best medium for your writing?
Many authors elect to continue writing on paper, preferring it to the look and feel of an electronic screen, and many new writers face the debate of which of the two is the better writing medium.
Tips to create realistic characters
Creating multi-faceted characters that leap off the page is both a matter of practice and a matter of awareness of how the character might appear to the reader. Regarding character creation, most people’s advice consists of “make sure to give your character flaws” so that they appear more human. But what does this actually mean? And which flaws work the best to humanize them? Here are a few tips and tricks to help you get started in choosing personality traits for your characters that will make them three dimensional and fully realistic and relatable to the reader. Read up on...
POV: What is Point of View and what are your options
Point of view (or POV) is the lens through which the reader views the story. When you begin writing your novel, you must make a choice about who is telling the story and to whom.
TK: What it is and how to use it in your novel
TK is a place mark used in journalism and editing to denote missing information. It stands for the phrase “to come”, misspelled on purpose, as the letter combination TK (or as it is sometimes written TKTK) is rare win the English language.
Myers-Briggs 16 personalities for character creation
One of the best tips regarding character creation is to use psychology base personality tests, such as the Myers-Briggs test, as the framework for your characters.
Word Count: How long should a novel be?
When writing a novel, there is no official rule about how long each story should be. Regardless, authors tend to follow a set of guidelines set out by the expectations of the readers and publishers.
Can a character be too interesting?
In baking, everything must be in perfect balance for the recipe to work. The ingredients should be measured and precise, and even a slight miscalculation might throw the dessert off. And even though it’s possible to add unusual spices to a recipe, such as cayenne pepper, this should be undertaken with care. An extra pinch of cayenne may mean the difference between a dessert worthy of winning a baking competition and the one that ends up in the trash. Writing a novel is the same. When creating a story, all its elements -plot, characters, prose, etc.- need to be in...
How to plot your novel: 9 Best Outlining Methods
For most authors, writing an outline is a crucial part of their novel writing process. Aside from guiding them along the plot itself, an outline can help with the pacing of the story, its character evolutions and even with keeping the author on track with their writing. But while most novelists will outline their novel, the way they do this may vary greatly. Some will spend very little time on their outline, while others will spend months and even years preparing theirs. What is a novel outline? A novel outline is the basis for a novel. It may contain information...