Blog

The New Character Template

The Character Template: Build a Character You Can Come Back To Every writer has a graveyard of half-finished character sheets. Mine used to live in Word documents named things like char_notes_FINAL_v3.docx. The template was fine. The problem was everything around it: no consisten…

Introducing the Studio

Craft Tools Accessible from Anywhere Most of the tools we lean on as writers live somewhere else. The character sheet is a Word doc in a folder we forget the name of. The worldbuilding notes are scattered across three apps. The "read it out loud and catch the lumps" pass happens …

The Writing Resources Page

I keep my working craft notes on one page of this site. It's called Writing Resources, and reaching it costs nothing but a free account. I mean the actual notes. The template I fill in before I name a character. The ten-part slog I went through to build a believable world for my …

Understanding Character Depth Through the Lens of Who

I recently started to get caught up on Writing Excuses, Season 20 while commenting into work. Specifically, Episode 5: Lens 1 - Who. The discussion introduces “the lens of who” — which means talking about characters. This is a great refresher on making characters that are multi-d…

Essential Editing Tips for Novelists: Filling Plot Holes

Last week I discussed ongoing editing of my current work in progress. The difference between creating and editing has been a motivational struggle, but I feel I have gotten into a rhythm over the past week. Here are a few accomplishments and observations since that last post. Plo…

Navigating Writing Challenges: Tips for Revising Your Manuscript

I've been off of writing for a couple of weeks due to company visiting around the holidays. One reason I pushed to complete my NaNoWriMo well before the end of November was to give me the breathing room to prepare for guest. After taking a break, I've gone back into my work in pr…

Flash Fiction: Applying the MICE Model

I mentioned previously that I've been watching Brandon Sanderson's lectures on writing Science Fiction and Fantasy at BYU. Lecture #7 features a guest lecturer, Mary Robinette Kowal. In the lecture, she covers the MICE quotient and has the class apply it to a piece of flash ficti…

Architect or Gardner?

I've recently been going through Brandon Sanderson's Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy lectures at BYU. If you are interested in writing, I encourage you to check the lectures out. In the introductory lecture, he discusses author's approaches to how they plan and write their stor…

Writing Exercise 7: Draft a Short Story

This is part of my writing exercises workbook, available to members. This is a longer exercise, depending on your writing style.  However, it is not intended that you try to write a full, polished, ready to publish tale in a single setting.  It’s about getting your creative juice…

Writing Exercise 6: Plot Outlines

This is part of my writing exercises workbook, available to members. Outlining a story involves breaking down its main components into manageable parts. First, start with an introduction or hook that captures readers' attention and sets the stage for what is to come. Then move on…

Writing Exercise 5: Conflict Sketches

This is part of my writing exercises workbook, available to members. Conflict drives the story forward by challenging characters, testing their values, and pushing them to make difficult decisions. Without conflict, stories can feel flat or predictable. By skillfully weaving conf…

Challenge and Response

In my last post, I challenged you to complete an exercise focused just on the economic aspects that may not even have direct impact on a story. I asked you to: Pick a favorite story or novel. List how one group of people in the story make a living. Use the five why's to explore w…