Stakes

Cohesion: The Key to Powerful Story

Cohesion: The Key to Powerful Story

A key issue I often see in stories that aren’t quite working as well as they could is that no…
Relationships and unexpressed longing

Relationships, Character, and the Unexpressed Longing

Unspoken desires are so often at the root of what may seem like arguments, misunderstandings, and conflict—and it’s a powerful…
Storytelling Makes the Story

Analysis: How Storytelling Makes the Story

If you’d like to receive my blog in your in-box each week, click here. My roommate when I lived in New…
Character Stakes: The Key to Making Readers Care

Character Stakes: The Key to Making Readers Care

Stakes are crucial to story, one of the central legs of the holy trinity of character plot and stakes, because…
keeping readers invested

Lucky Breaks and Tough Shakes

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How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo stakes foxprint

How to Write a First Draft, Part 3: Set the Stakes

If you’d like to receive my blog in your in-box each week, click here. Whether you’re a meticulous plotter who likes…