by Stephanie Morrill | Apr 22, 2019 | Antagonists, Characters, First Drafts, The Craft of Writing
**Today is the last day to enter the 100-word contest! Get your entries in by 9pm central. Details here.** Recently, I’ve come across something in a few different young adult and middle grade books that’s bothered me: The child character is absolutely...
by Jill Williamson | Apr 3, 2019 | Brainstorming, Characters
It’s spring break here, so I’m off today to the beach with my family. I’ve been working terribly hard on a Tenth Anniversary of By Darkness Hid surprise. Alas, I didn’t get it done before the little beach trip, so it will launch (hopefully)...
by Shannon Dittemore | Mar 8, 2019 | Characters
Happy Friday, all! I am off on an adventure today with my husband. We’re celebrating 17 years of marriage this weekend, so if I’m slow to reply to comments, I’m sure you’ll understand. The post below is a reprise–originally published here...
by Jill Williamson | Feb 27, 2019 | Brainstorming, Characters, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction
It’s been a busy few weeks for me, and I’m closing in on finishing the rough draft of my novel. How are you all doing? If you’d like, report your status in the comments so we can cheer each other on. I managed to find time to edit another Storyworld...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jan 21, 2019 | Antagonists, Brainstorming, Characters, Plot, The Craft of Writing, Writing
(Did you miss part one? You can find it here.) This second part of this series is what I believe is the most critical component of if a story works or not: Character Motivation. Do you have plot holes? A theme that isn’t resonating? Flat characters? My guess is...
by Stephanie Morrill | Nov 19, 2018 | Antagonists, Grow An Author, Plot, Story Endings, Story Structure
Here’s something that confused me about story structure back when I wrote contemporary young adult fiction: Any teaching on the hero’s journey/three act structure tends to focus on stories with traditional villains. And in the third act when teachers talk...
