How to Write Compelling and Balanced Backstory
It’s not an overstatement to say that backstory can make or break your book. Too much, and your readers may be bored to tears—too little, and they won’t know what’s…
9 Simple and Powerful Ways to Write Body Language
Dialogue is a great tool to establish relationships between your characters and deepen emotional connection to your readers. But if you rely on dialogue alone to show how your characters…
A Perfectionist’s Guide to a Crappy First Draft
Nanowrimo: A Perfectionist's Guide to Crappy First Drafts. Hi NanoWriMo-ers and non-NaNo-ers. I was all set to write a post this week about how it's okay to write a crappy first draft...
How to Escape the Show, Don’t Tell Trap
You read it again and again, repeating in your mind: I thought I was showing. This looks like showing to me! So, how do you get out of the show, don't tell trap? Read on.
Soggy Middle Troubleshooting
Last weekend at the Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival, I spoke with several writers who have gotten stuck in the middle of their book--what I call the 'soggy middle.'
Essentials for Writers: Loglines
In 2022, we started asking for loglines as part of the submission process for the RevPit Annual Contest. Because this was new to the contest and a lot of the…
Book Twitter’s New Home?
With the Twitter writing community scrambling to find a back-up home in case Twitter does indeed collapse, a lot of people in the publishing world have been trying out some…
Showing Character Reactions
The best way to show your character arc and agency is through reactions. Nine out of ten times when an author is getting "can't connect" feedbback, there's not enough character reaction on the page.
The Basics of 3 Act Structure
3 Act Structure is the standard for the publishing industry so I think every writer should have a good basic understanding of it.
The Plot – Character Connection
In the best stories, plot and character are so intricately linked that you couldn't pull one out without the whole thing unraveling. If you can, it's going to lead to "can't connect" or "didn't love it." This is called the plot - character connection.