A Jessica Jones Experiment – Take the TMI Test
So Season 2 of Jessica Jones is out. And this time it’s almost perfect. As a show, Jessica… how do I say this? Her first season was the only series that’s ever made me rethink Buffy The Vampire-Slayer...
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Who’s On First – A Character System for Variety in Scenes
Are you using all your story? All the characters, all the possibilities and combinations that a tale has ready to unleash? On the one hand, it’s a lifelong study—we writers try to make every book dig...
View ArticleBeen There Done That? Similar Problems with Writing Similar Scenes
There are stories that rely on their central concept to shape much of their plot into their favorite kind of sequence, and try to make it our favorite too. It could be: a type of action the hero takes,...
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Babylon 5’s One Key to Character Arcs
One way. There just might be one irresistible way to track and reveal how a character evolves—and make the most of how that arc drives the whole story. In my last post, I said the key I found was...
View ArticleWriting a Character Arc – Through Other Characters
If the heart of a story is the conflicts it puts a character through, and especially the choices he has to make… could there be a pattern underlying that to guide a plot into deeper insights and keep...
View ArticleDarth Vader Missed It and Dracula Never Tried – Character Plot Twists that...
What single choice could make a story? Sure, we writers have dozens of strengths we might weave into a tale, but could there be one clear decision that pushes it to a whole other level? It’s been on my...
View ArticleThe Plot-Device Machine – Strength
Welcome to the whole story… or at least a chance to step back from looking at single aspects of writing, like the last two Plot-Device posts did. Now that we’ve explored how characters’ movement and...
View ArticleThe Plot-Device Machine – Knowledge
“You can run but you can’t hide.” It’s simple truth, that getting distance from a problem may be no match for how “Knowledge is power.” And that’s only one side to how “who knows what” defines the...
View ArticleThe Plot-Device Machine – Movement
I’m about to share with you my all-purpose tool for the all-purpose question that my characters (and I’d bet yours) are constantly asking. That question is, “How do I get out of this one?” (The Unified...
View ArticleWorth Fighting For – choosing stakes for characters
When I’m first putting my sense of a story together, there’s one question that can turn the different pieces into a whole, sometimes faster than any other choice I make. And that is: what does a...
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How All Writing is Suspense
Why is my writing all about suspense? I think a better question is, is there any story that isn’t really about building uncertainty, making the reader wonder about what comes next, making them care?...
View ArticleZero to Heroes
On February 16, I’ll be at Orccon in Los Angeles giving another of my talks on writing. Here’s what I’ll be leading people through: (The Unified Writing Field Theory — searchings and findings on what...
View ArticleQuiet Scene or Boring Scene? What can make the difference
We call them “character moments” or “pacing breaks” when we write them, or “boring scenes” when somebody else tries and fails. We know the story isn’t complete if it’s all twists and suspense, but...
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The Prologue Checklist
“What’s past is prologue.” –William Shakespeare, The Tempest It’s only natural—you’ve got a powerful story to write, so you open with a prologue. It’s your chance to show off a clever idea, it...
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Deals, Decoys, and Dirty Tricks for your Characters
Your hero’s trapped by his enemies, no way to run or fight—unless he can take what those goons really want and use it against them. Your villain needs to slip past the police lines to work his sinister...
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The Plot-Device Machine – Motive
A story is its people. We all know that, and that’s why Motive is different from the other Plot Device points. We’ve seen how Movement and especially Knowledge can organize the plot around the...
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The Plot-Device Machine – Strength
Welcome to the whole story… or at least a chance to step back from looking at single aspects of writing, like the last two Plot-Device posts did. Now that we’ve explored how characters’ movement and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Plot-Device Machine – Knowledge
Share/Bookmark“You can run but you can’t hide.” It’s simple truth, that getting distance from a problem may be no match for how “Knowledge is power.” And that’s only one side to how “who knows what”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Plot-Device Machine – Movement
Share/BookmarkI’m about to share with you my all-purpose tool for the all-purpose question that my characters (and I’d bet yours) are constantly asking. That question is, “How do I get out of this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Worth Fighting For – choosing stakes for characters
Share/BookmarkWhen I’m first putting my sense of a story together, there’s one question that can turn the different pieces into a whole, sometimes faster than any other choice I make. And that is: what...
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