Watch this video on YouTube Forget wrangling the old “flawed character turned good” trope - there is a much easier way to develop a character arc that makes sense to your readers, and makes for much more likeable characters! In this video I share a tip for developing a key piece of the puzzle of your novel planning such that, if you find this piece and you place this piece first, the rest of the pieces will slot into place so easily and beautifully and you'll just love this. Set up your character’s Wants in opposition to their Needs. This allows for a beautiful plot integration where the character is trying to do something and the plot is working against them trying to force them to eventually work out what they need and how they have to actually let go of their wants. The character’s wants should be very understandable and relatable. Readers or viewers are going to root for that character to get what they want because it's sensible, it makes sense, and then gradually thro...

  Sometimes life (and death) gets in the way. Don’t lose your great idea just because you didn’t capture it somehow. Even pantsers love my Planning Blueprint because it makes it super simple to plan out as much or as little as you like while leaving room to grow your story organically. Or use it AFTER you’ve written to work out any revision issues.  Need help?  Make planning (and writing) your novel easy. Grab The Novel Approach Planning Worksheet for just $9 (AU).  Or join my free Facebook group The Novel Approach for Aspiring Authors . I’m also running a Novel Planning Intensive every Wednesday in May. You’ll work on your plan before and/or during the session. Every participant will get a chance to ask for advice on any part of their story where they are feeling stuck, or ask questions in general. Observer tickets are also available. Observers will get to see an overview of the Blueprint and how it works, but will leave the call before participants begin sharing. ...

Okay Dearies, Style Maven's Snarky Cousin is back after an extended time away. I do hope everyone had a simply marvelous good time while I was gone, writing those wonderful words of gold. I've abandoned my own words of gold to pop in to remind you darling new writers about a few basic elements of craft. In writing a book, it's not enough to put words on a computer screen and hit publish. Really it's not. It can have the most disastrous effect on readers. There was a time when one took classes - creative writing classes - in which we darling new writers learned important craft elements. One of which is the proper use of dialogue. For instance, if you have two longtime friends sharing a bit of bubbly and some juicy gossip, you totally spoil the moment with awkward exposition. What? You don't know what awkward exposition is? OMG, as the young people might say. Let me bring you in out of the cold. Your two lovely characters are chatting away when they start...

In my book, Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict , I discuss the difference between premise (the story concept) and the promise you make by the genre you pick. I explored the theme further in an earlier post: Keeping Your Promise . Writers unleashed in the independent publishing arena might feel they can fire genre expectations entirely since they no longer have to tick boxes for agents or editors. They may feel they no longer need to write the dreaded synopsis. Not so. Why? Reader expectation still matters . Let's say you go to a new restaurant with friends. It isn't your usual chain restaurant. Unless you are a foodie and love to experiment, you hope to find something on the menu that is recognizable. Something you know you will enjoy, perhaps a good burger. When you order a burger you have certain basic expectations: a bun, some kind of meat patty, and condiments. There are millions of variations of burgers, from tofu and soy meat, to bunless burge...