Last week, I overheard a conversation at a neighboring table where a woman said, “He’s always trying to prove himself. It makes him look less competent than he is.” I didn’t know the parties involved, but I grabbed a napkin and jotted it down. When I added it to my notebook, I realized characters with something to prove often undermine their own success. And those insecurities make for an amazing writing prompt.
Often, backstory is simply told to the reader in the opening or a prologue; this slows down the pace and comes across as a massive info dump. In those instances, the reader might decide to put the book down.
And that’s not what you want. But before you throw out backstory altogether, let’s look at one way to reveal well-developed backstory in a more organic way: through the setting.
Much of writing is instinctual, but there are some tools every writer needs to make their story professional and effective. Today, I’m talking about the elements of fiction: character, plot, setting, point-of-view, theme, and style.
I often hear the same questions from writers, questions like, “How do I make a living as a writer?” or, “How do I write a bestselling book?”
These are the wrong questions, and that’s a huge problem because I believe the questions you ask yourself can change your mindset and how you approach your writing.
What are the right questions? In this article, I’m going to share the five essential questions every writer should ask themselves.
Have you ever had a great book idea, or started a story but failed to finish it? Did you try setting writing goals to finish your story, but couldn’t keep up with your giant ambitions?
Did failing to meet your writing goals end in your giving up?
Goal setting is not as straightforward as it seems. Bad goals reinforce bad habits. If you want to become a writer and finish your writing projects, you need to set goals that you can meet—while also pushing you to complete your writing projects.
In this article, you will learn the two types of goals every writer can set and accomplish. You’ll also learn four major reasons every writer needs to actually finish their writing projects—along with tips on how to do this.
There are several ways to reveal who your character is in a story: through how they dress, their posture, and through what they value. But the best way to determine who your character is is through their action.
Not sure what your character might do? Put them through the Starbucks Character Test.
