There’s a version of grief in fiction that exists to make readers cry and nothing else. Nobody in the book is changed by it in any lasting way. Readers feel this even when they can’t name it. Here’s the difference between grief that exploits and grief that actually does something.
Writing Grief, Trauma, and Loss Without Exploiting It Read More »
Every writer has heard it. Every writing group repeats it. “Show don’t tell” gets passed around like it’s a commandment and nobody ever explains what it means. That’s the problem. Ask ten writers what it means and you’ll get ten different answers, half of which contradict each other.
Show vs. Tell Is Bad Advice: Here’s What It Actually Means Read More »
There’s a note every writer has written to themselves at some point. It lives in the margin of a draft, or in the back of your head while you’re moving too fast to stop. “Fix this later. I’ll remember what I meant to do here.” You won’t. And it will cost you more than you think.
The Revision Myth That Will Cost You Years: “I’ll Fix It Later” Read More »
Teen narrators fail in two directions and writers rarely see which one they’re doing. The cleaned-up narrator who processes grief like a licensed therapist. The performed narrator who’s so aggressively teenager they read like a parody. The voice that actually works lives somewhere more specific and harder to manufacture.
YA Focus: Writing a Teen Narrator Adults Will Still Believe Read More »
Multiple POVs get a bad reputation, and most of the time it’s because writers treated different characters as different cameras rather than different people. A camera just records. A person interprets, misses things, gets things wrong, carries their history into everything they see.
Multiple POVs Done Right and Wrong Read More »
There’s a version of first person that keeps readers at arm’s length without the writer ever realizing it. The narrator is present, the voice is there — and somehow the reader is watching instead of living inside it. Most of the time, the thing sitting between them and the character is the narrator explaining themselves.
Deep POV: Getting Out of Your Own Way as a Narrator Read More »
First person and third person aren’t interchangeable. They do different things to a reader, create different relationships with a character, and serve different kinds of stories. Here’s how to choose the one your story actually needs.
First vs. Third Person: Choosing the POV That Serves the Story Read More »
Most writers think tension requires something to happen. It doesn’t. Some of the scariest fiction ever written contains almost no action at all. Here’s how to build dread before the plot has earned it.
The Slow Burn: Why Tension Doesn’t Always Mean Action Read More »
The instinct when writing a chase scene is to go fast. That’s usually the wrong call. Speed creates motion, not fear. Here’s how to slow down in exactly the right places.
Thriller/Horror Focus: How to Pace a Chase or Crisis Scene Read More »
Sentence length is one of the quietest craft decisions a writer makes. Nobody clocks it consciously—they just feel the urgency or the stillness, the chaos or the calm. Here’s how to use both on purpose.
Short Sentences vs. Long Ones: When to Use Each for Maximum Effect Read More »
