How to Write a Genre Story: Conflict
How to Generate ConflictConflict results from the clash of two things: a character's goal and the opposition to that goal. It follows that every scene needs two opposing forces, in genre fiction these...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Setting (Part 1)
There are many stories that don't fit the hero’s journey. For example, the movies Psycho and The Princess Bride. And that's great! There are as many ways to write a story as there are writers. I...
View ArticleWriting a Horror Story: Or, how to scare the pants off someone! (Part 2)
(FYI, this post is part of my How to Write a Genre Story series. By rights I should have titled it How to Write a Genre Story: Setting and Mood (Part 2), but I couldn't resist the more evocative title:...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Setting and Character (Part 3)
This post is a continuation of yesterday's post BUT in what follows I don't talk about horror stories. Alas. Horror stories are very fun to talk about--or even to write about. Here I go on about the...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Setting and the Hero's Journey (Part 1)
In the last few posts I’ve discussed a story’s setting. Today I want to discuss a story’s setting and how it changes in the context of the hero's journey.Setting Reflects ChangesThe setting of a story...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Setting: How to Show Not Tell (Part 2)
Summary: Setting is an essential part of good writing because a well developed setting helps a writer show rather than tell. Each object in a story has a function, a purpose, a goal. This implies that...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Characterization and Character Description
(Note: I'm starting a series of interviews with other writers. If you would like to discuss being interviewed, please contact me on Twitter (@WoodwardKaren) or via email: karenwoodwardemail@gmail.com....
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Characters: Homo Fictus
Characters--Homo Fictus--are the raw material from which stories are created, but who are these entities who populate our stories and how do they differ from flesh-and-blood people?Homo...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Characters: How to Show Not Tell
Supporting Characters versus Main CharactersWe want some characters to be one-dimensional, characters such as the impatient pizza delivery person or the chatty cabby. They walk on and off the page and...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Making a Character Memorable: Strengths and Flaws
What makes a character memorable?Deborah Chester writes in her article, Bonding with Your Characters:"We want readers to either love or hate our characters. What we don’t want is a 'meh' reaction. Or...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Characters: An Introduction to Character Tags
Let’s talk about character tags. In a later post I’ll talk more about how Dwight V. Swain and others thought of tags and traits. In this post I'll provide an overview. Hopefully this post will give you...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Dwight V. Swain and the Dominant Impression
"A tag is a label, but a limited, specialized label. It identifies a character and helps your readers distinguish one story person from another." (Dwight V. Swain, Creating Characters: How To Build...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: A Character's Dominant Attitude
I’ve already gone over Swain’s idea of a character’s dominant impression, now let’s talk about their dominant attitude.A character’s attitude“Attitude is a matter of behavior patterns—a character’s...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Make Your Character Memorable & Unique: Tags
In a previous post, How to Write a Genre Story: Characters: An Introduction to Character Tags, I talked about why tags are important for characterization (essentially, it is because they help describe...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Character Introduction: Exaggeration
Story Openings: Introducing a Main CharacterYou never get a second chance to make a first impression. Today I want to talk about character introductions. First, an acknowledgement. This post is...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Character Introduction: Unusual Position
Today I continue my series on how to create a memorable character. In my last post (How to Write a Genre Story: Character Introduction: Exaggeration) I went over Exaggeration. In this post I would like...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Character Introduction: Characteristic Entry Action
Introductions are important. Do you remember the first time you introduced your Significant Other to a parent? There are few things in life you need to get right the first time but that’s one of them!...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Character Introduction: Verisimilitude
This post continues my mini-series about how to introduce a character. I’ve already written about Exaggeration, Unusual Position and introducing characters in Action. Today I’m covering Verisimilitude...
View ArticleHow to Write a Genre Story: Character Introduction: Empathy
The end goal of character creation, the Holy Grail, is for your reader to feel empathy for your character. Jim Butcher writes:“...if you can make people love who you want them to love and hate who you...
View ArticleLester Dent's Short Story Fiction Formula: Introduction
In previous posts I’ve written about Lester Dent’s short story formula.Lester Dent was perhaps the best of the pulp-fiction writers of the 1930s and 1940s. He created the hugely popular character of...
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