Writing First Person – Writing Advice

First person is probably my personal favorite and I’ve spent a long time writing in it. First person involves getting inside the main character’s mind and telling the story from their POV, telling it from their eyes and with their thoughts and placing the reader inside the mind of the character. Famous examples of first...

Story Basics: Main Characters

Your main character can make or break the story, because they are such an integral part. They play a central role in the plot, and the whole story revolves around them. Because of the weight they have in the story, you need to make sure you write them correctly.  In part, it’s important that your...

Learning Story Beats Through Audiobooks

I’ve been listening to a lot of audiobooks lately, and through listening I’ve come to a better understanding of story beats. In reading, because it takes me so long or because I’m just not paying attention to the length of the story or where I’m at, I struggle to notice similarities in stories regarding story...

Overwriting: Why It Happens And How To Fix It

Overwriting is surprisingly a really easy problem to have. Especially in first drafts, it's really easy to write a lot of stuff the story doesn't need. Fluff, filler, unnecessary scenes and dialogue, drawn out story lines, this can all be contributed to overwriting. Often it can come from being uncertain of what you want to...

Clear Character Design

Clear character design can be a challenge, but it's important to start with the basics and build up from there. There are two parts to character design, internal and external, or personality and aesthetic. Starting with internal design, you want to start with one or two key, defining traits. These are the character's most prominent...

Staying Focused On Writing

With most of the world in quarantine right now, we have a lot of time for writing. But also, it's hard to be focused and stay focused on writing. I know I struggle with it, and these are my top tips for staying focused and getting writing done. First off, set aside time to write...

Character Introductions

Don't be tempted to take the introduction of your characters lightly, because their first moments in the story are incredibly important. Those first moments with a character can and should be used to 'set the tone' for that character. Their first scene should be an introduction of their personality, a short peak at who they...

How To Write 10k Words In A Day

A while back I wrote 10k in a day, something I never thought I'd be able to do, but this is how I did it!Keep in mind that these tips can be used for writing in general, and you may not actually write 10k words in a day because that is a whole lot of...

Find Time To Write

Finding time to write is something I struggle with. Between work, school, trying to keep this blog up and going, and my small social life, it's hard to find time to write (and edit) like I want and need. If I had my way, I'd work on my novels and blog all day. I would...

How To Get Yourself Writing Again

The last couple days (weeks) I've struggled with writing, or at least writing more than just a few words. I've been stuck on a scene for little reason, but today's post isn't about being stuck. (If you want a post on that, I've posted about writer's block and burnout here.)Today I'm talking about how to...