“`html Why Readers Don’t Fear Your Villain I’ve read thousands of pages of submitted fiction as a workshop facilitator, and here’s what I’ve learned—spotting a...

“`html Why Secondary Characters Go Flat — And Why It Matters Secondary characters in your novel go flat for a pretty simple reason: most writers...

“`html Why Telling Stops Readers Cold The moment a reader encounters telling instead of showing in your novel, something breaks. Not catastrophically at first—more like...

“`html Why Readers Reject Your Character’s Choices Your character decides to rob a bank in Chapter 3. She’s desperate. She needs the money. And your...

The Ending Symptom Checklist Diagnosing a broken ending has gotten complicated with all the vague writing advice flying around. “Make it emotional.” “Stick the landing.”...

Why Your Subplot Is Killing Your Main Story Subplot management has gotten complicated with all the conflicting writing advice flying around. I spent six months...

How POV Confusion Actually Happens Writing point of view has gotten complicated with all the conflicting advice flying around. “Stay in one head.” “Omniscient is...

Opening Hooks Have Gotten Complicated With All the Bad Advice Flying Around As someone who has edited hundreds of manuscripts, I learned everything there is...

The Real Reason Tags Slow Your Dialogue Down Dialogue craft has gotten complicated with all the conflicting advice flying around. “Use said.” “Never use said.”...

The Middle Act Has a Specific Pacing Problem Middle act pacing has gotten complicated with all the conflicting advice flying around. Raise the stakes. Cut...