Making These World-Building Mistakes? Here’s How To Fix Them
Building a world through words seems like a daunting feat. But, when world-building is done right, it gives readers an immersive story and brings the characters and scenes to life. World-building done wrong, though, can weaken the world you’re trying to bring to life. In this post, we will explore five world-building mistakes that writers often make—and practical ways to fix them. Mistake #1: Info-Dumping As a writer, you want to give readers the insight they need to understand your story. Sometimes, writers will write all of this information into one scene, resulting in the reader feeling overwhelmed, rushed, and will likely forget all the information. This can occur once…
How To Build a Daily Writing Habit—Even When You’re Busy
I know as authors we plan to write every day, but life often has plans of its own. Writing gets put to the back burner again and we continue with the ‘more important’ things. But, if you want to be a writer, you need to write! Developing a daily writing habit matters—especially for busy people who can tend to let writing go for later. This post will help you to develop a consistent writing habit with actionable steps and mindset shifts. Why a Daily Writing Habit Is Worth Your Time Let me make it clear: when I say “daily” don’t think this will be an everyday thing. Like I said,…
How To Create Settings That Captivate Your Readers
Imagine your favorite story without its setting. What would The Lord of the Rings be without its vast Middle-earth landscapes? What would The Hunger Games be without its tense and confined arena? Setting can seem like just a place, but in creative writing, it is so much more. Setting is a tool in storytelling that shapes mood, builds conflict, and creates memorable images for the reader to reminisce about. Learning how to create settings in your story will elevate your writing. Let’s dig into the real power of setting and how to create settings that you can use it to elevate your own writing. How To Create Settings Setting as…
How To Write Dialogue in a Story with These Tips
Learning how to write dialogue can be a tricky thing for many writers. Not only are there so many rules in regard to formatting and punctuation, but crafting natural, purposeful dialogue is tough to master. So, not only is dialogue hard to write, but it is also an essential part of a good story. I think good dialogue in any story includes four parts: it’s natural, it’s meaningful, it adds personality, and it is interesting to read. When you incorporate these elements, you can be confident in writing dialogue. Let’s look closer at these elements and better understand how to write dialogue in a story. How To Write Dialogue Make…
How To Write a Good Plot Twist
If you’ve ever been into a great book, absorbed into the story, and bam plot twist. Suddenly, you’re hooked deeper, you can’t put the book down, and you realize all the small clues you missed. ‘How did I not see this coming?’ you might think to yourself as everything begins to make sense and fall into place. You finish the book, amazed at the twist that changed everything. Have you ever been into a great book and suddenly bam plot twist. And, suddenly, you’re confused. ‘Where did this come from?’ you ask yourself. ‘This doesn’t make any sense.’ You are more lost than ever and you begin to lose interest…
How To Write Dark Fiction That is Thought-Provoking
Many people feel dark fiction has become popular only in the last few decades. However, this is a genre that has been around from the days of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the 1800s all the way till today. Because we live in a world that can sometimes be dark and scary, dark fiction will always be not only relevant, but popular. The problem many authors face when trying to understand how to write dark fiction is how far too far is. How do you write about dark subjects in a way that engages readers rather than overwhelms them? Let’s take a few minutes to understand what dark fiction is, why…
How To Choose Unique Story Titles
Choosing a title for your fiction story can be daunting to say the least. The title is what represents your story, helps draw people in, and is often the first impression readers get. So, titling your book properly is your chance to entice people to read your work. They say not to judge a book by its cover, and although good advice, humans tend to make assumptions based on what we see at first glance. Not only will people judge your book by its cover, they will also judge it by its title. If the title is too generic, boring, or bland, most people will probably pass it over. Not…
How To Write Consistently with 3 Simple Habits
The more you write the better your skills will become, but learning to stick to a consistent writing habit can be tricky. Many writers (me included) go through phases of writing frequently and then not writing at all. However, inconsistent writing is unproductive and ineffective at improving skills. The key to consistent writing is having small, manageable goals with sufficient breaks to avoid burnout. Once you learn to build a consistent writing habit, you should notice your writing improve steadily and the amount you write increases. Some of the best habits involve small changes that you can keep up with, will keep writing fun, and help avoid the dreaded burnout.…
How To Keep Readers Hooked for Creative Writers
Some stories can hold a reader captivated, unable to put the book down and staying up all night immersed in the words, while some stories just leave readers wondering when the good part is coming. But what causes this difference? What allows a book to keep readers hooked until the end? And, what can we avoid doing so that we don’t bore our readers? In this post, I will be exploring the elements of stories that hook readers and the elements that induce boredom. Once we understand the differences between captivating stories and underwhelming ones, we can apply the best elements to our writing. I’ve found the three main reasons…
How To Pace a Novel for Beginners
There are many tips on how to pace a novel: plot points, percentages, guidelines, oh my! It can be confusing to know how to actually implement these tips while drafting your story. I mean we know where these events fall in relation to each other—the rising action leads to the climax which leads to the resolution—but how do we time these events and make sure we stay on course? Well, I’ll discuss the general rules for pacing a novel, how to actual write using them, and how to not overwhelm yourself. Let’s go! General Rules for Pacing Plot points are the most basic guide when plotting your story. I’m sure…
