If you’re struggling to get started with your novel or short story, discover what you need to know about writing that all-important opening line.
Why you can’t write your story’s opening line until you’ve written the closing line Read More »
Discover when you should prioritise historical research and when you can lean on a bit of creative licence to write your historical novel.
Historical Accuracy in Fiction Writing (And Why Narrative Always Comes First) Read More »
How to Use Settings to Show and Influence Character Development When you think about “worldbuilding” in fiction, are you thinking… epic fantasy, dragons, magic, hereditary monarchies under threat from armies of goblins—that kind of thing? All of those things absolutely fall under worldbuilding. Building your storyworld can look like writing a thousand years of history
How to Use Settings to Support Plot and Character Growth Read More »
Can a novel have more than one protagonist? Can a novel have more than one protagonist? Looks like a simple enough question, doesn’t it? But the answer very much depends on who you ask. And that in turn opens up a fascinating debate about narrative focus, character development, and storytelling structure. Traditionally, novels are understood
Can a novel have more than one protagonist? Read More »
Why your story needs visible and invisible narratives Stories are rarely just about what happens on the surface. The best narratives work on more than one level—they have an external plot that keeps us turning pages or glued to the screen, but underneath that is a deeper, often invisible emotional journey. This is what I
Why your story needs visible and invisible narratives Read More »
Discover how subplots enhance your novel and learn how to create secondary storylines that support the main plot without overshadowing it
The role of subplots in your novel Read More »
The unnecessary prologue: How to avoid the info-dump trap I keep hearing that the publishing industry is fed up with prologues. I keep seeing new novels with prologues get published. Clearly, the publishing industry is not so fed up with prologues that it won’t publish novels with prologues. So what gives? Well, I’m not a
The unnecessary prologue: How to avoid the info-dump trap Read More »
Keep your fiction writing fresh by cutting down on info-dump. Learn how to use exposition that holds readers’ attention and moves your story forward.
Dump the info-dump: How to do exposition without boring your readers Read More »
The importance of the narrative climax in storytelling Ever set off a firework and instead of soaring majestically into the air and exploding into all the colours of the rainbow it just kind of… fizzles? I mean… no, neither have I. I’m actually scared of fireworks. But I’m imagining it, and I bet you can
The importance of the narrative climax in storytelling Read More »
How much backstory is too much? You may have heard it said that prologues are falling out of favour in the publishing industry. Like just about every rumour of its kind (“Publishers and agents are fed up with first-person present-tense narratives!” or “Young Adult dystopian fiction is on its way out…”) this one isn’t really
How much backstory is too much? Read More »
