Killing your characters: when, why, and how
Character deaths are powerful. They can be the emotional high point of a story — or they can feel cheap, manipulative, and pointless. The difference is in…
Posts tagged: editing
Clear filter ×
Visual storytelling
Film is a visual medium. This sounds obvious, but the implications for how you write a screenplay are profound. Everything in your screenplay must be visible.…
How to write action scenes that work
Action scenes should be the exciting bits. So why are they so often boring on the page? The problem is, and it's one I learned the hard way, that what works…
Getting edited hurts, but do it anyway
I'm currently working with Jo Fletcher on my latest fantasy novel. Jo is a legend — one of the most respected editors in the genre, responsible for launching…
Pacing: when to speed up and when to slow down
Pacing is invisible when it's working. You only notice it when something feels wrong — the story dragging, or rushing past moments that should have weight.…
Why your dialogue sounds fake (and how to fix it)
Dialogue is one of those things that feels like it should be easy. We all talk. We've been listening to conversations our entire life. How hard can it be to…
Pantsing is just writing a very long, expensive outline
There's a long-running debate in writing circles between “plotters” and “pantsers.” Plotters outline their stories in advance. Pantsers fly by the seat…
The three questions every scene must answer
David Mamet — playwright, screenwriter, and famously direct writing teacher — articulated three questions that I now use constantly. Whenever a scene isn't…
Trust your readers
One thing I've really had to rely on while cutting the book down was the idea that your readers are smarter than you think. They don't need every connection…
Say it loud
Following on from yesterday's post on how I cut 45,000 words without losing my story, I've realised there's one more trick for getting your word-count down.…