At the time of publishing this post, it’s almost Valentine’s Day! But regardless of when you’re reading this, romance in literature is still fun for both the author and the reader. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen me talking about tropes before. Some romance tropes are very popular among readers, and what’s…
How do you know if your novel’s pacing is right? What changes can you make to adjust the pacing and keep readers hooked? There are a few different elements of your manuscript you can play with to create effective pacing. Let’s get started. What is pacing? Simply put, pacing is the speed at which your…
Though the ends of scenes and chapters may line up, how can you play with the structure of your novel to keep readers turning the page? Hannah and Leah discuss the difference between scenes and chapters and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage. You can also find more information about scenes and…
One helpful way to organize your characters in your notes/plot is by level. The three common ‘levels’ of characters are primary, secondary, and tertiary characters. These aren’t titles you’ll prescribe to them in your story, but it can make your plotting and story development a little smoother behind-the-scenes. Three Levels of Characters Before we dig…
Magic is one of the defining characteristics of the fantasy genre. Whether your characters need spells to cast, can control the elements, or something else, your magic system can be as defined or loose as you want/need. Before we get into this topic, it’s important to remember that your way of creating a magic system…
As an author, you want to create compelling, interesting stories, right? No matter what genre you write in, one important aspect of a compelling story is the subplot. What are subplots? Subplots are simply secondary storylines, and all forms of story have them. Novels, TV shows, movies, and even video games have secondary stories within…
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