How to Write a Fight Scene Readers Will Love

How to Write a Fight Scene Readers Will Love

If your story involves one or more fight scenes, you have a great opportunity. You can thrill your audience, change the course of the plot, and reveal new depths to your characters . . . or you can bore your viewers to tears, and make them wish that the battle would please just end already.

I’m going to give you six tips for writing better fight scenes, so you can keep your audience on the edge of their seats while giving a whole new level of depth to your story and cast.

How to Write a Story 101: Conflict

How to Write a Story 101: Conflict

You desperately want to write a story. You carry a pad of paper with you in case you get an idea. You can’t decide if your main character should have short hair or long hair. But for now, put aside what your character looks like and think about what they want.

In this post, we’re going to look at how to write a story by focusing on one of the most important elements of any story: conflict.

One Essential Writing Tip From Mark Twain

One Essential Writing Tip From Mark Twain

Mark Twain is one of my favorite writers. When I read his essays last year, I came across a bit of revising gold in a 1906 essay titled “William Dean Howells.” Most of the essay praises Howells’s prose in general, but the final paragraphs address what Twain calls “stage directions.”

In a play, stage directions are only visible to the audience through the movement and actor’s inflection during the performance. In a novel, we rely on description to set scenes, give context, and deepen characterization. When done well, stage directions don’t distract from the character or action.

When done poorly, however, Twain has something to say about them.

How to Write Like Stephen King

How to Write Like Stephen King

There are many ways to approach writing a story: you can interview your characters first, plot the story before you start writing, or use Stephen King’s approach, which is to start with the situation.

Do you plan your stories before you write them? Do you start with a character or a situation? Do you know where your story will end before you begin writing?

These are all valid ways to write stories. But today, perhaps you might try beginning with a situation and following a character who will lead you to the end.