Your character’s life begins before the story does. They were a person before you even wrote that first chapter, and they’ll probably still exist after your story is over. Your character’s past is called character backstory in the literary world. I believe many of you are familiar with that concept and even have written a character backstory before. However, writing backstory is only the easy part; writing a natural backstory…
One thing many writers struggle with is revealing character backstory, which I completely understand. It’s a delicate matter. It’s important because it explains why the character is who they are. Nevertheless, you have to reveal the character’s backstory without giving out too much information and ending up boring the readers. I know, it’s always more complicated than it needs to be. However, I won’t let you struggle alone. In this…
Writing believable male characters is no easy task. Many writers worry that their male characters are stereotypical or flat. It is ordinary to worry about such issues because they are indeed common in the writing community. Furthermore, writing a believable male character sometimes feels unattainable. You might sometimes, while writing, think about whether you’re making the male characters a cliche or just a male version of a female character. We’re…
There are a few things writers can’t agree on, and how to write female characters is one of them. Any discussion around female characters is controversial. It’s a minefield where all the bombs are changing location, so you step on them every time. The worst part of the discussion around female characters is that it shouldn’t have to be like that. I mean, female characters are a portrayal of women,…
Do you want to deliver the perfect plot twist? Most writers do. The problem is, readers are smart and getting smarter with every book they read. They tend to sniff the plot twist right out, even if you hid it well. That’s why I’m introducing this game changer called a red herring. Red herring in literature is the art of creating a false trail in a story so your readers…
Do you know the feeling when you can’t turn the pages fast enough? You’re barely registering any of the words written on the page because you want to keep reading. Then the bomb drops, and everything changes 180 degrees. That’s the art of a plot twist. A plot twist is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a point where the whole plot twists and turns around. From that moment, the…
All we ever talk about is the protagonist. You know, the hero, the main character, the center of the universe in their story, but side characters need love, too. In most stories, I fall in love with the side characters. Most of the time, the side characters are just as, if not more, interesting than the protagonist. Side characters are as much a part of the story as your protagonist.…
One of the most important, if not the most important, elements in storytelling is theme. In many ways, the theme is the core of a story. It’s also the glue keeping all the other storytelling elements together. Although everybody talks about the theme, it’s also one of the hardest things to fully understand. There are many different definitions of what a theme is and isn’t. Furthermore, many writers argue the…
There comes a time in every writer’s life when they’ll write a fictional world, and it might be the hardest thing they’ll ever have to do in their career. Don’t take me the wrong way; there’s nothing easy about writing, but some things are just more difficult. You want to write a good story. I want you to write a good story so I might someday get the pleasure of…
Depending on what kind of writer you are, worldbuilding history can either be the most boring or exciting thing you’ve done so far in your book. Although I enjoy creating a fictional history, I know many writers don’t like to plan a lot before writing. I’m happy to inform you that I know a simple worldbuilding history framework for both those who like to plan and those who don’t. The…
