What Are You Waiting For?
You have a story you’re afraid to write.
You know the one I’m talking about. The big one. The dangerous one. The one you’ve been putting off. The one you just don’t have time for.
Are You Capturing Your Zeitgeist?
It’s interesting to note that past and overexplored themes keep coming up in new writing, like: world wars, civil wars, racial discrimination, idealized love affairs, and romanticized train journeys etc. etc.
All the mentioned topics are interesting and it seems they have a bigger appeal because they happened in the past, a time marked in literature, history, film. Yet, only because those times seem far away and something not personally witnessed it doesn’t mean the present should be annulled. You own the present, and living it should consequentially shape up majority of the stories you write. What seems boring to you now may sound intriguing to the future generations.
Live a Story. Then Write It Well.
One of my favorite pastimes is discovering real-life situations that, if seen in a fiction story, I would find totally unbelievable.
Why You Need to Embrace the Conflict in Your Story
I recently read a novel that, on the surface, was nearly perfect. It had an action packed plot, a love triangle, and a feel good ending.
However, as I read, I noticed that every time a major conflict in the story would come up, the author would back off. She would briefly show the conflict, but then skip on to the next scene, leaving you, the reader, to sort everything out. It was almost as if the author knew she needed conflict, but was so uncomfortable with it, she wanted to slip the conflict into the story and get out as soon as possible.
How to Create a New Word
Some of the best stories in history have words that the authors made up themselves. Think about Harry Potter and the words “muggle” and “squib.” Think about the Lord of the Rings. J. R. R. Tolkien not only created words, he created languages.
Have you ever thought about creating a new word to use in your story? Here are two ways to create a new word.
