Each story has its own unique rhythm, and the secret to strong pacing is finding the right rhythm for yours.
Read more3 Ways to Use Setting to Enhance Tension
The environment your characters inhabit can intensify emotions and heighten tension, making scenes feel even more electric.
Read moreWriting Magical Scenes
Magic is about more than just sparkle, and writing a magical scene is about more than special effects and mystical moments.
Read moreMagic As a Tool for Character Development
Magic isn't just about what characters can do; it’s also about who they are.
Read moreMagic Across Genres
Magic shows up in more than just fantasy.
Read moreShow, Don’t Tell: A Practical Take
Given this vague advice, many writers find ourselves resorting to adjectives—lots of adjectives—to describe everything on the page in great detail.
Read moreIs White Room Syndrome Taking All the Color Out of Your Fictional World?
One thing I’m consistently guilty of in my fiction drafts is “White Room Syndrome.” I’ll have pages and pages of dialogue with nothing to give it color or movement or sense of place. My scenes lack sensory details, leaving my characters floating in some sterile void.
If this challenge resonates with you, here are four revision strategies for eliminating white room syndrome and grounding your characters (and your readers) in space and time.
Read moreSensory Stories: Building Immersive Settings & Vivid Scenes
How do you translate everything you know about the world where your story takes place into scenes that evoke the senses while revealing more about your novel’s characters and themes?
Read moreWriting Self-Love in Fiction
I’d guess that your protagonist doesn’t have a fully developed sense of philautia on page one — or, if she does, it’s about to get seriously challenged.
Read moreObsessive Love: Writing Mania in Fiction
Think of mania like too much eros and not enough philautia and/or ludus. The result can be destructive.
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