Showing your story to your readers instead of telling it is a cardinal rule in fiction writing, yet much easier said than done. One very effective way to change telling into showing is a concept called motivation-reaction units (MRUs). What are MRUs? They were first introduced by Dwight V. Swain, in his book Techniques of the Selling […]
The Dot-to-Dot Method of Plotting a Story
Writing is a very personal activity, and there are probably as many “methods” of writing as there are authors. What works for one person may not work for someone else. In some instances–such as the outliner vs. the seat-of-the-pants writer–methods can be complete opposites, yet they both get the job done for different sets of […]
Keeping Track of the Details
The old saying says that the devil is in the details, meaning that problems in the details can ruin the whole project. When applied to novel-writing, it can refer to the following type of mistakes: – He’s wearing jeans and a Cardinals t-shirt when they leave the house, but camo pants and an Army t-shirt […]