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Writing good characters and using characterization properly can be hard. Here are all of our articles on the topic.
By its nature, fiction is imaginary. It may comment on the real world, feel true to life, and even invite strong emotions, but it’s still fiction. Accordingly, few writers expect their readers to truly believe, factually, in their invented story. And yet great fiction still depends on investment – that’s where suspension of disbelief comes in. What is suspension of disbelief? Suspension of …
[Read more...] about Are You In Danger Of Losing Your Readers’ Suspension Of Disbelief?
In fiction, any kind of relationship is possible. There are stories of forbidden love, undying vengeance, infernal temptation, and life-affirming rivalry. Each studies part of the human condition, finding truth and insight in the way we interact with those around us, but what about when people just… like each other? It’s something we encounter every day, but that doesn’t make it easy to write, …
[Read more...] about How To Write Characters Who Actually Like Each Other
Ask most authors for their advice on storytelling and, sooner or later, they’re likely to get to the subject of conflict. To many writers, conflict is the basic unit of story – the thing that turns a series of events into an actual narrative – often more important than setting, characters, and even narrative cohesion. After all, you can lose all of those features and still write something that …
[Read more...] about Can You Really Tell A Compelling Story Without Conflict?
If you’ve searched for advice on how to structure a story, it’s a good bet that you’ve heard the name John Yorke. A writer, script editor, and television producer, Yorke’s Into the Woods is a treatise on how to tell great stories, applying Yorke’s own experience and research to the tenets of storytelling laid out in Joseph Campbell’s seminal The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Whether you’re writing …
[Read more...] about What You Need To Know About John Yorke’s Theory of Fractal Storytelling
In part 1 of this article (available here), I talked about what similes and metaphors are, how they differ, and how to choose between them in your writing. In this, part 2, we’ll be discussing how to really master these examples of figurative language; how to write better similes and metaphors, how to adopt figurative language into your writing style, and how to avoid the pitfalls that come with …
[Read more...] about How To Master Similes And Metaphors In Your Writing – Part 2
When it comes to improving your craft, a mastery of imagery is key. Being able to present the world outside the literal truth opens up a vista of possibilities that are otherwise closed off. Suddenly, characters, locations, and events can be anything, if only for a moment, vastly enhancing your ability to write unique, emotive prose. To that end, today I’ll be talking about similes …
[Read more...] about How To Master Similes And Metaphors In Your Writing – Part 1
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