Category: Writing Craft

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  David Farland on Using Crucibles to Strengthen Story Conflict

  David Farland’s story-crucible technique shows how settings, relationships, and conditions can trap characters together and intensify conflict. Read more.

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  Writing Fireworks: Why First Drafts Need Time to Cool

  Why writers should let a first draft rest before revision, what to do during the break, and how to revise… Read more.

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  Avoiding Clichés in Fiction: Three Types and How to Twist Them

  Learn to identify and revise clichéd phrases, plots, and characters by adding specificity, consequence, and purposeful twists. Read more.

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  Depicting Immorality vs. Amorality in Fiction

  A practical discussion of depicting wrongdoing in fiction while acknowledging harm, consequence, moral complexity, and character agency. Read more.

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  Varying Sentence Beginnings: A Dialogue Revision Exercise

  A practical dialogue exercise for varying sentence beginnings, using action beats purposefully, and avoiding a repetitive tennis-match rhythm. Read more.

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  How to Hook Readers from the First Page

  Learn how to create a first-page hook with curiosity, meaningful change, clear stakes, vivid details, and an honest promise about… Read more.

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  Sentence Soup: How to Vary Sentence Structure

  Use the sentence-soup analogy to improve prose by varying sentence length, beginnings, verbs, description, punctuation, and pacing. Read more.

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  Organizing Your Novel: Plot and Character Planning Methods

  Flexible methods for organizing a novel’s plot and characters, including scene cards, timelines, idea webs, continuity files, and voice exercises. Read more.

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  Dialogue Tags: When to Use “Said” and Avoid Bookisms

  Learn when to use “said,” why distracting bookisms weaken dialogue, and how action beats can identify speakers while adding meaning. Read more.

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  How to Revise a Novel Without Losing Its Heart

  A layered approach to revising a novel, protecting its emotional core, using outside readers, maintaining continuity, and cutting with purpose. Read more.