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One of my biggest struggles as an emerging writer was understanding the concept of a scene and how it differed from the overall events of the book. After all, if I plotted the beats* in my novel, wouldn’t each scene naturally fall into place?
Short answer: No.
If you rely only on your outline to establish the overall arc of your story, you’ll end up with a lot of transition… read more
Protagonist vs. Antagonist
Every story needs a main cast, but which characters qualify? How do we know who is important and who plays a supporting role? Let's talk about characters!
Stories have heroes. Stories also have villains. Sometimes stories have neither. But that's a special case. Let's break things down first.
Protagonists
"Exposition" can be a scary word. In some writing circles, "experts" will warn you to exercise extreme caution when using it, or they'll make it out to be a difficult but necessary evil. But ultimately, exposition is just another writing tool, and it's used in all sorts of writing, even beyond fiction. Think of it this way: no matter what you're writing, you want your… read more
All good story beginnings should accomplish four things: Introduce the Character, Introduce the World, Introduce the Themes, and Introduce the Conflict.
Introduce the Character
This is the first time we meet your protagonist. You’re going to want to offer the reader an introduction to their mood, their general way of speaking or thinking, and any facts about this… read more
