This week, Kristen Lamb delves into the traits of a perfect villain and reminds us of the importance of story mastery above all else. Anne R. Allen offers advice on writing that challenging first chapter while Marie Eberle would like to see less of certain hackneyed character types in SF and Fantasy.
It’s a foregone conclusion that conflict is the heart of storytelling, but what about conflict management? L. Deborah Sword discusses.
Over at Writer Unboxed, Jim Dempsey encourages us to delve into our characters’ values to find their ultimate motivation, and speaking of characters, Donald Maass suggests examining psychological archetypes as a means for crafting character arcs.
If you’re struggling to build a readership, there may be a good reason for that. In fact, as Shannon Ashley reveals, there might be at least twelve reasons.
All that and a little more. Enjoy!
On Writing: Why Mastery Should Matter To the Serious Author by Kristen Lamb
The Villain: Crafting Scoundrels, Sinners, and Substance of Legends by Kristen Lamb
Finding and Using Competing Book Titles in Your Book Marketing by Penny Sansevieri
Writing that First Chapter: 10 Dos and Don’ts for Starting a Novel by Anne R. Allen
Avoid these Crutch Words by Dana Isaacson
Story Conflict: It’s Not as Simple as We Think by L. Deborah Sword via Jami Gold
Nine Ways for Your Hero to Earn the Clues They Need by Chris Winkle
The Two Types of Archetype by Donald Maass
What Really Drives Your Characters? by Jim Dempsey
12 Reasons Nobody Wants to Read Your Writing by Shannon Ashley
3 Types of Fantasy and Sci-Fi Characters We’ve Seen Enough Of by Marie Eberle
What is a Vignette & How Do I Write One? by Amanda Patterson