This advice seems to be everywhere lately, Squiders. Have you seen it? The basic gist is that using speech tags when you write is amateurish and distracting. I feel like this advice can be really confusing to people, especially newer
Thoughts on Worldbuilding
Afternoon, Squiders. Not much has happened since we last spoke, which I find frustrating, but I have finished editing my short stories and have sent the whole lot out on rotation (which I haven’t done in a while). So here’s
Is It Really All Fear?
For storycraft on Tuesday night, we discussed the bane of so many writers: Writer’s Block. Before the meeting, I trolled about on the Internet for a bit to help formulate points for discussion. And I came across this post, which
The Rule of Three
Threes are important throughout human society, mythology, and literature. There’s something very ancient and instinctual about using threes, and you’ll find them everywhere. Storytelling is no different in this. One of the most common story structures is the three act
The Midpoint Reversal and the Dark Moment
Another info sheet for you today, Squiders. I’m afraid I spent the time I would have used composing something else (oh well, Thursday I guess) was spent playing Lego Star Wars “with” the not-so-small one. (He held a controller and
The Inciting Incident
I’m running a storycraft meeting on inciting incidents tonight, Squiders, and since y’all liked my pacing info sheet so much, I thought I’d share my info sheet for inciting incidents as well. What is an Inciting Incident? An inciting incident
Character-Driven vs. Plot-Driven
Evening, Squiders. I hope it’s not as hot where you are as it is here. When we were talking about pacing last week, we mentioned that slower pacing tends to emphasize character over plot, and faster pacing tends to emphasize
What is Pacing?
I wrote up this pacing info sheet to use for discussion at my writing group’s storycraft meeting the other day, and I thought the rest of you might enjoy it as well. Pacing is interesting–it’s mostly organic and instinctual, and
Value in Old Writing Magazines?
I went by my mother’s today, and she asked me to help her clear out her old writing magazines to make room for some other re-arranging. (She was somewhat disappointed because she thought she had tons of magazines, but over
Character Archetypes: Wrap-up
Well, Squiders, I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at some of the character archetypes. We could go on forever, honestly. Some people denote eight different character archetypes, others twelve. Still others can break down each archetype into another six or
