I learned recently that, while it’s really fun to write prologues, flashbacks, and epilogues, a lot of readers actually hate reading them. In this post I’ll focus mainly on prologues and flashbacks.

WRITING A PROLOGUE

There are many different ways to introduce a prologue, but one thing I personally — and I’m sure a lot of others do, too — find important is setting the scene. I’ve read prologues that, really, aren’t actually prologues, but more of a three paragraph excerpt of something that happened but really doesn’t seem to have any apparent connection to the story that follows. This is an example of a prologue that most readers will NOT enjoy. It might be an interesting, well written section, but it’s not a prologue and shouldn’t be treated as one.
Here’s a list of some great ways to create a prologue.

#1. The prologue is written from a perspective that is never used again after the prologue ends. Take, for example the book “The Beyonders: A World Without Heroes” by Brandon Mull. When the book opens, it starts with a prologue, where we witness Maldor’s horrific evil through the prince’s eyes. When the first chapter picks up, however, the rest of the story is carried by Jason’s perspective, and occasionally Rachel’s, but never from the same perspective of the prince, who is now much older. This ties in with the next option…

#2. The prologue occurs long before the main story. We enter the story in the dungeon, where the prince is manacled to the wall and dreaming about Maldor’s destruction. This entire scene takes places years before Jason and Rachel ever step into the story. If it happened days, weeks, or even a couple of months before the main story begins, it wouldn’t a good choice for a prologue, but rather as a first chapter. It’s important to know where your story starts!

#3. The prologue is actually the ending to your story, making the entire story a flashback. This one speaks for itself. If you want to accomplish this, however (I’m looking at all of you new writers who like to make things up as they go along) you will need to establish a plot line beforehand.

That’s just three ways, but there are more that I won’t go into. Overall, prologues are generally a very vulnerable part of the story. Because of this they need to be that much stronger. Your prologue should be able to stand alone. If your prologue takes anything away from the opening to the main story, it’s best to just leave it out, no matter how much you want to include it, because your readers most likely won’t enjoy it was much as you do.

As for flashbacks, there’s only one thing I can say. DON’T START THE STORY WITH A FLASHBACK. This is almost as bad as starting the story off with a really cruddy prologue, if not worse. Flashbacks throughout the story kind of depend on your character’s situation.

Say a character (whom I’ll call Lucas) has amnesia. He’s woken up on the side of a rural road beaten, sore, and bloodied, and not far away is a mangled bike. He can’t remember anything. Throughout the story, if he experiences flashbacks, they’ll typically be brought on by random little things that jog his memory. Sometimes they’ll scare him or confuse him. Sometimes they’ll give him a headache. Sometimes he’ll remember little things that he didn’t expect to still remember. Sometimes he’ll remember a scene, but not the faces, and if he remembers the faces, he won’t recognize them.

Or, say a character (whom I’ll call Amanda) is going about everyday life. Don’t mind the plot, but when it comes to the flashbacks, people typically only get flashbacks when they see/hear/smell/taste/touch something that reminds them of something else that happened in the past. And in a book, flashbacks (should) only happen either then, or when something has just happened, and the narrator explains briefly what has led to this moment, but only after said thing has happened.

Anyway, that’s all for this post. If you have any questions or would like to add something of your own, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you personally!

Whether it’s a simple brain fart or you honestly can’t remember, sometimes you can’t remember which similar word means what. So I’ve created a helpful tab with some words that are commonly mixed up. Some may be obvious, and some may surprise you, but this may come in handy when you need it.

–1–

• There: [adverb] is used to locate an object/person, or to call attention to that thing. It is sometimes used to comfort someone (There, there, it’ll be alright) or as an exclamation. (There, I told you it would work!) — Example sentence: We set up camp over there.
• They’re: [contraction of plural subject and verb] Is used to show the action of multiple objects or identify them. — Example sentence: They’re building a scale model for the class. — Example sentence 2: They’re not the friendliest people I’ve ever met, to say the least.
  
• Their: [adjective; possessive pronoun] used to show possession/ownership of an object — Example sentence: I saw their dog in the woods.

–2–

• Wonder: [verb] the act of thinking or being curious, considering, or doubting. Or, if used as a [noun]: surprise mixed with admiration, awe, or fascination, typically caused by something beautiful.
• Wander: [verb] to roam casually or aimlessly

• You’re: [contraction of singular subject and verb] used to show action or identify a person. — Example sentence: You’re sure you saw them at the grocery store, right? — Example sentence 2: You’re not very considerate.
• Your: [adjective; possessive pronoun] used to show ownership — Example sentence: I thought your birthday was next week.

–3–

• Accept: [verb] to agree with, or to receive — Example sentence: I accepted the fact that we were lost fairly well. — Example sentence 2: They accepted us into their home, and for that we are grateful.
• Except: [adverb; verb] not including, to exclude — Example sentence: We brought everything except the dessert. — Example sentence 2: We excepted her from the team. (more commonly used as an adverb, as in example sentence 1)

–4–

• Advise: [verb] to recommend something, typically to guide someone’s decision-making — Example sentence: We carefully advised her against leaving the house.
• Advice: [noun] recommendation(s) on what to do or what decision to make — Example sentence: Her advice was extremely helpful.

–5–

• Affect: [verb] to change or make a difference to — Example sentence: The price drop greatly affected the store’s income.
• Effect: [noun;verb] a result; to bring about a result — Example sentence: The effect of selfish pride is never good. — Example sentence 2: The board effected a change in conduct.

These are only a few. If you’d like to add to the list, leave a comment and we’ll make the additions.

Lastly, there is something about the English language that has confused even native English-speakers for practically forever. The word “permit” has two different functions in a sentence, and the way to tell them apart is to change the emphasis on either syllable. Here’s an example.

Permit: [noun] an official document giving someone permission to do something
Permit: [verb] to allow someone to do something

See how, when the emphasis is placed on the first syllable, the word becomes a noun? And when the emphasis is placed on the second syllable, the word becomes a verb. This usually applies to two-syllable words.

Contract: [noun] a written or spoken agreement, typically between an employer and employee
Contract: [verb] to decrease in size or number; to enter into a legally binding agreement (relative to the noun version of the word)

Decrease: [noun] a drop in number or amount
Decrease: [verb] to drop in number or amount
(the same goes for the antonym, increase)

So there they are, some basic tips on keeping your words straight. As always, if you have anything to add or any questions to ask, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you personally.

When you create your own magic system, there really are no limits. It’s a lot like world-building. Anything is possible, and it doesn’t even have to be logical or limited to human understanding. It can literally be whatever crazy thing you can think up. To keep your magic system believable and authentic, though, you’ll want to keep track of some things — once again, just like world-building. It would help much more to create a file (online or off) for your magic system that you can refer back to!

QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT YOUR MAGIC SYSTEM

1. What does it do?
2. How available is it? (Do people with higher positions have more access to more powerful magic?)
3. Is it illegal, or no? Are there any parts of it that are illegal?
4. How is it learned?
5. How long do its affects last? (This can vary. One “spell” might take an eternity to fade and another could wear out within a few minutes. Whatever you want.)
6. Are people born with magical abilities, or must the magic attained? Or both?
7. How do people respond to it? (Is some magic good and some magic bad, one, or the other?)
8. What is its cost? (What toll does it take on the wielder’s body/mind?)
9. What can’t it do? What limits does it have, or is it unlimited?
10. Is the magic’s existence common knowledge, or do most people not believe in magic?
11. Are there magical creatures?
12. What defense is there against magic?

Aside from these basic questions, let your imagination go wild!
Now, if your magic system is more of a superpower-sci-fi type of thing and less of a medieval-wizard type of thing, these still apply.

If you’d like to have names for certain abilities, such as telekinesis and telepathy, it’s perfectly fine to create a name from your own mind. But, if you’re like me and would rather be realistic, I’ve added a link to a site all about superpowers that could help you.

That’s all for now! If you have anything to add or any questions to ask, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you personally.

List of Kinetic Abilities

When you create your own world from scratch, it’s extremely important that you make sure your world is believable and enticing. Just like getting to know your characters, you must get to know your world.

There are no rules when it comes to creating a world. It can be anything you want it to be, anything you can possibly imagine. Before you put your new world into a story, however, you should be able to keep track of some very important things that will help your audience understand and believe your world. I’ll go over those things in this post.

Below I’ve listed some questions that you should ask yourself about your world. I highly, highly suggest that you either write these down on paper, type them up in a document, or record them in some way so that you can easily refer back to them.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF ABOUT YOUR WORLD

• What languages are spoken?
• If you are writing a fantasy, explain to yourself on paper how your magic system works so that you won’t deviate from your own design. Don’t forget that magic can be unpredictable and unbounded by human understanding!
• How are messages shared and information spread?
• What cultures reside in your world? (It’s often helpful to connect each culture to the languages they speak.)
• How does the economy work? Is it good or bad? Is it based on currency, trade, a mix of each, or something else?
• Just like our real world, there should be jokes, “memes”, expressions, etc. in your world that someone from another world wouldn’t understand. What are they, what do they mean, and how did they originate? (Or its possible that no one knows how they orginated and it’s just something people still say.)
• What is your world’s cuisine like, and how does it vary among different cultures?
• Are there schools? If so, what type of schools, and what is taught there?
• How does the government work in your world? (How strict are the laws? What types of punishment are available? How are powerful positions chosen or passed? What branches of government are there?) Keep in mind the answers to these uestions will vary among different cultures.
• What about religion?
• What unique creatures/plants live in your world and where can they be found?
• What holidays are celebrated in your world, and what traditions come with them? (This can vary among cultures.)
• How does one travel short and long distances?

Anyway, there are many other questions you can ask yourself. I would recommend researching and finding finding even more articles that cover world building!

One last tip: Draw a map of your world. Nothing crazy, just lay out the land so you know where everything is. This is especially helpful if your characters go on a long journey across country, because you can make the distances and obstacles much more believable. On that note, if you have created any creatures, plants, etc. to go along with your world, drawing quick sketches of those can help your memory as well.For more on creating magic systems, see Magic Systems.

If you have anything to add or any questions to ask, leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you personally.

Things to Search:
writing a magic system
worldbuilding tips

Ah, every fandom’s favorite subject. The ship. But how do you make a ship believable? How do you make the audience want it?

To start off, there are different types of romantic relationships, and different reasons that Person A and B got together. Sometimes they get together to make themselves feel validated, or to try it out and see if it sticks. There are weak romantic relationships and strong ones. In this post, I will focus mainly on ways to build a ship that your readers will want to invest in.

BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP

#1. Make your readers want it. If you make the relationship seem too easy, too perfect, or too plastic, your readers won’t be interested. Let the relationship take time. Don’t draw it out to where it’s agonizingly slow, but don’t make it happen so fast that the audience doesn’t have time to realize they really, really want it. People tend to want something even more when they feel they can’t have it.

#2. Most of the time, people don’t start dating or hanging out all the time just a day or two after they meet. Good relationships take time. Not every moment is cute and romantic, and the guy or girl isn’t always going to be a pro at reading cues. Let there be some doubt, denial, or caution. I’m not saying that a person can’t be naturally flirtatious right of the bat, because some people are just like that. Just be careful with how fast you make things go down.

#3. Person A and B aren’t always going to be paired together and they won’t be personally involved in all of each other’s problems. It gets a little cliché when they do everything together, and go along with everything their other half says. Don’t force them to be constantly close. Spread them out, show them as real people experiencing real life as individuals, each with their own struggles and views. The good thing is that they always have each other to turn to when things get too rough to handle. (Or sometimes Person A will refrain from telling B about their struggles so as not to stress them out. Stuff like this I like to call known as destructive compassion.)

#4. Conflict is insanely important. If the love is real, not every moment is going to be sunny days, dates, and chocolates. Give them hardships. Maybe they get annoyed at each other over stupid stuff but still fight for each other. Maybe something personAL is going on, or maybe they’re afraid that they’re drifting apart. The point is, in every real relationship, either internal or external conflict will be present to some degree.

Of course, you can switch this around. If you do want to create a weak relationship between two characters, make it seem perfectly romantic on the outside, but on the inside both are doubting and falung away because there’s no real love there. Maybe they were just meant to be friends.

#5. Please don’t pull a knight-in-shining-armor trick. The guy won’t always save the girl, and the girl isn’t incapable of defending herself if she must. There are plenty of scenes in books and movies where the girl is cornered by some vile beast and she grabs a stick to fend it off, but barely manages to beat it over the head. Cue the weak grunts and pleas for help. Then the guy comes in, the heroic music starts up, and he tackles the beast to the dirt. I’m NOT trying to sound like a feminist, but as human beings, women will fight just as hard to survive and defend themselves or their loved ones, even to desperate measures.

I’m not saying you can’t have the guy save the girl. That often does happen. Just don’t make you female characters out to be unrealistically weak.

#6. The girl’s world doesn’t suddenly become centered around her romantic life with a guy when they get together, and vice versa. Something like this happened in Twilight. They’ll still have friends and other people they want to spend time with. Their unromantic relationships won’t be ripped apart by them having a bf/gf, unless there’s a deeper reason (for instance, if one of their friends used to date their current bf/gf, or if the romance is toxic and they become withdrawn because of shame or something like that.) The point is, don’t center everything the couple does around each other.

#7. This is a more flexible point because every plot line is different and you’re free to create your characters however you wish. However… Don’t make Person A and B (or only one of them) unrealistically perfect. When everyone thinks highly of them and everyone has a crush on them, and not one person finds anything about them a little off-putting… that’s unrealistic right there. So many times people try to make their characters attractive instead of realistic and it just doesn’t work.

#8. There’s got to be a story arc! I can’t emphasize this enough. When you’re writing a romance story, there has to be a climax, a problem, and a solid conclusion. I’ve read stories where it’s just chapter after chapter of the couple doing stuff together and going through life WHICH, in itself, is okay, because the rest of the factors have been taken care of. But there really isn’t any plot. It kinda reminds me of a reality TV show. The story has to have an underlying meaning, a hidden (or obvious) problem that is solved in the end. If it’s just incident after cute scene after incident after fight after blah, blah blah, with no end in sight and no foreshadowing of a final result… Well, all the tension the readers were hoping for turns bland. This is extremely prominent in fan-fics.

The point is, every story has an end and a beginning. Something has to grow and change throughout that period of time. How you tell the story is everything.

#9. Don’t. Over. Sexualize. Everything. Don’t overemphasize a person’s physical appearance. I’ve read some books where the author doesn’t know how to describe a person aside from “hot”, “muscled”, or *shudders* “sexy.” There’s no emotion in the character besides an arrogant, unreal physical attraction. At this point any personality the character could have is stripped away and they become a walking hunk of unrealistic attractiveness. Give them human emotions! Let them be more than just a block of styrofoam with the face of a model.

#10. Is there something that Person A wants, but has passively given up on for some reason? Have Person B work as hard as they possibly can to fulfill A’s dream. Better yet, have them do it in secret. Better yet, have them fail over and over and over again, but keep. on. going.

#11. If you want to stir your readers, make the truest, most beautiful relationship seem impossible. If the couple does end up together in the end, it’ll be even more satisfying.

#12. Introduce the love triangle! Person A cares for both B and C, but which does she love romantically and which does she love as a friend? This gets even juicier when Person A doesn’t know the answer herself. (If you really want to crush some hearts, have one of them die.)

#13. A pet peeve of mine is when a fictional couple overuses pet names, constantly calling each other “babe, “baby”, etc. It could just be me, but this gives the relationship a strong jock-ish vibe. I’m not saying pet names are against the rules, but don’t overload on them. The couple know each other’s names!

That’s all for now! If you have anything to add or any questions to ask, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you personally.

Fights scenes and battles can be tough to write, but don’t worry; just like everything else, your skill will improve with time. This post is to help those who are struggling to keep their fight scenes tense, exciting, and/or realistic.

WRITING A FIGHT/BATTLE SCENE

#1. Use short sentences. Choppy, powerful sentences, one action after the other after the other. When there’s a lull in the fight, use longer sentences as your character has time to evaluate the situation, the leap back into the action with snapping sentences.

#2. Focus on actions, not thoughts. Fights are all about survival and the heat of the moments. No theoretical contemplations, just don’t die. If your character dwells on thoughts during a fight, they’ll most likely get punched in the face.

#3. Just like with the sentences, use short, lashing words with strength and gusto. Long, lingering words have no place in a fight scene (unless of course there is no other wor you can use.)

#4. Use the strongest words you can think of, and eliminate as many adverbs as you possibly can. Plunder, slash, bellow, plunge, charge, heave, shatter, howl, shriek, shred.

#5. Even minor pain will stick with a character. When you bump your head hard, you still feel the bruise a few days later, as with burns and such.

#6. Don’t leave out a single sense. An intense fight will leave your character tasting metallic blood, salt from sweat. If there are exposed chemicals in the air or nearby, your character will taste and smell them too. Adrenaline will give them a dry mouth. And the sense of touch: sore muscles, aches and bruises, sometimes stabbing pain, headaches, blood pounding.

#7. Eyesight and focus will blur and sharpen in the heat of battle, depending on how much energy your character has spent. Quick/sudden movements, flashes of color, and loud noises catch attention.

#8. When you shift the character’s full attention to one thing, your readers’ attention shifts too.

#9. Fights are messy, messy, messy. Confusion, blood and sweat, injuries, and exhaustion greatly affect the fighter’s ability.

And for the tenth tip, here’s something I read that I really found fascinating…

#10. A lot of people think that adrenaline is what helps you in a fight. While it’s true that adrenaline will give you bursts of strength, it actually works against you. Adrenaline is what tires one out in a fight, making them shaky and inaccurate. They’re so focused on staying alive that their skill actually decreases. Adrenaline may keep you alive, but it doesn’t give you the ability to execute a pro karate kick to the opponent’s face. That kind of skill comes from training. Also, any extra strength/energy adrenaline gives you during the fight often pays off with heavier exhaustion once things have calmed down.

If you have anything to add or any questions to ask, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you personally.

Note: These tips have been collected from online and other writing forums, with added information.

If you’re not sure how to kill off your character, or how to make it as heart-wrenching as possible, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, I’ll give some inspiration on how to create a crushing and believable character death. (Sounds cheery, doesn’t it?)

First off, before you write the death scene, make sure you’ve established how you want the character to die. If it’s by stab wound, gunshot, blunt force trauma, or any other related injury, I would highly suggest researching the affect of each on the human body. There are a lot of articles out there, some actually written by doctors, that talk about this and would help you to write a realistic death. Also, if your character dies by poison, do research the symptoms and affects of the poison you use. (If it’s a fictional poison that you’ve created yourself, there’s obviously no need for this.)
Okay, now let’s move on to the emotional factor of your character’s death…

WAYS TO WRITE A HEARTBREAKING DEATH

• Have the character fight against it. The harder they fight to live, the sadder the death will be.
• Give them a goal. The more strongly they desire said goal, the more crushing it’ll be when their life ends without them having reached it.
• Don’t have them die of old age after a long, fulfilling life. While this can still be sad, it’s not heartbreaking.
• Give them extremely close friends or an intimate relationship with another character. The more loved they are by someone, the greater the loss will feel, especially if you show that loved one’s grievous reaction to their death.
• Don’t kill them off too soon in the story! Give your readers time to get attached.
• Have them sacrifice themselves to save someone else.
• In the middle of a battle/fight scene, where adrenaline levels are high and survival is the only priority, let the character have a sudden, unexpected death, where their friends never have a chance to help. (This works better if you include some of the other factors.) For more on writing fight scenes, see Fight Scenes.
• If you really want to be mean to your character, have him die alone.
• Have him die by his greatest fear. (Heights = falling from a high place, etc.)
• Have them die suddenly in the middle of a moment when they’re happy, or joking about something.
• Give them a slow, painful death. Even more emotional is when they’re unable to call out for help, though they can actually see their friends somewhere nearby.

Of course there a many other countless ways to add heartbreak to your character’s death, these might spur some inspiration.

Tip: If you want the character’s death to be fake, and have them reappear later in the story as a plot twist, make sure their fake death is survivable. If the character gets shot in the chest and shows up later alive and well… that character must have some pretty crazy superpowers they’re hiding. This ties in with what I mentioned earlier about researching the effects of traumatic injuries on a humans body. (Of course, if your character actually has superpowers, then you’re a lot more free to use your imagination with their “death.”)

As for how to write the death scene… Well, every death is unique. All I suggest to you is that you keep track of the many other topics I’ve mentioned in other sections. Use your most powerful words. Show the strongest emotions. Make it everything your reader can handle.

(Obviously if the character who has died is a more minor character, you shouldn’t dwell as much on it as you would with a major character, but any significant death should be even just a little bit jarring.)

Do you feel like your dialogue is flat? Most likely, the problem isn’t what your characters are saying, but how you have them say it, and what they’re doing while they say it. In this post I’ll go over some of the most common dialogue mistakes and how to correct them.

Throughout the demonstration, I will use the section of dialogue below, and fix each problem piece by piece until we end up with the section of dialogue you’ll see at the end. When you’ve finished reading, go back and compare the two. You’ll see a world of difference.

“There’s a whole lot of evil out there,” he sighed.
“There’s a whole lot of evil in here, too,” she said. “Are you scared?”
“A little, you?” He said.
“Kinda nervous,” she admitted.

OVERUSED DIALOGUE TAGS: This dialogue contains way too many dialogue tags. It leaves the conversation feeling repetitive and forced. Almost awkward. You don’t need to constantly be reminded who is speaking when it’s already clear enough. (In a conversation between three or more people, however, you will find the need for more dialogue tags to keep things clear.) Let’s fix this by removing some of those pestering tags.

“There’s a whole lot of evil out there,” he sighed.
“There’s a whole lot of evil in here, too,” she said. “Are you scared?”
“A little, you?”
“Kinda nervous.”

ADDING ATTITUDE: See? Now that the unnecessary dialogue tags are gone, the conversation feels a little more natural. But… something’s still missing. The word sighed gives us a hint at the emotions that are playing out in this scene, but hardly enough. Add in some small actions that show the mood of the characters.

He gazed out at the night surrounding
them and sighed. “There’s a whole lot
of evil out there.”
  “There’s a whole lot of evil in here,
too.”
  He lowered his head. For a while,
neither uttered a word. 
  “Are you scared?” She whispered.
  He glanced at her, expecting a chal-
lenging grin, but she her face seemed
clouded over. “A little,” he admitted.
“You?”
“Kinda.”

Notice how the simple actions set the mood? Now you can sense pauses in the conversation, and the words feel more alive. Notice how some words were taken out altogether or moved. This isn’t always necessary, but it shows that you can fiddle and switch things around until you get exactly what you want. I also added some paragraph indentations to make things a little clearer for you.

Keep in mind that just as dialogue tags can be overused, actions can as well. If you drop an action tag after ever single line of dialogue, you have the same problem as with the dialogue tags. Sometimes it’s best to just leave well enough alone.

Note: Typically if the pronouns (he, she, they, etc.) start to feel repetitive, you’ll want to replace them with the character’s name. I didn’t in this case, just as an example.

EXTRA

I often see dialogue that, overall, has been written wonderfully, but the punctuation leaves it a mess. Be careful with this!

#1. All punctuation must be INSIDE the quotation marks.

“This is crazy”! She exclaimed. “I can’t believe it”.

Incorrect. The period after the word exclaimed is perfect, but the exclamation point and the last period need to be moved inside the quotation marks.

#2. When you use action instead of a dialogue tag, do not use a comma at the end of the quote, but any other punctuation mark.

“This is crazy,” She shuddered, “I can’t believe it.” INCORRECT
“This is crazy.” She shuddered, “I can’t believe it.” INCORRECT
“This is crazy.” She shuddered. “I can’t believe it.” CORRECT
“This is crazy,” she whispered. “I can’t believe it.” CORRECT

In the first line, there are two misused commas. In the second, there is only one. It’s placement ties in with the error I’ll go over next. But for now, note how in the last line, a comma is used after the quote because a dialogue tag is used instead of an action.

#3. When you use dialogue tags in between two pieces of speech, as the dialogue lines above, use a period instead of a comma if the tag comes after a full sentence. If the tag cuts between a sentence, then use commas. In the third line you’ll notice a bit about tag placement as well.

“In case of an emergency.” Carol announced. “Please use the stairs.” INCORRECT
“In case of an emergency,” Carol announced, “please use the stairs.” CORRECT (note corrected capitalization)
“In case of,” Carol announced, “an emergency, please use the stairs.” INCORRECT (only split the sentence where there would already be a comma.)

“I didn’t know you were in town.” Bill said. “Have you seen the new restaurant?” INCORRECT
“I didn’t know you were in town.” Bill said, “Have you seen the new restaurant?” INCORRECT
“I didn’t know you were in town,” Bill said. “Have you seen the new restaurant?” CORRECT

Another extra tip: When people stumble over their words (when they’re nervous, terrified, embarrassed, or anything like that) they don’t normally talk like they can’t pronounce the word, stuttering and b-b-barely making sense. It’s more like they go back and repeat things or correct things, or mispronounce/mix some words together because they can’t quite think straight.

“I’m r-r-really sorry ab-bout y-y-your c-c-car.” The boy trembled. NO
“Hey, I’m… I’m really sorry about your… you know, your car.” BETTER

This of course doesn’t apply if you’re writing a character who has a speech impediment such as a stutter. Just don’t have them stutter on every. single. word. That would be unrealistic.

That’s all for now! If you have anything you’d like to add or any questions you’d like to ask, leave a comment, and I’ll get back to you personally.

For a new writer, plot twists can be one of the most brain-exhausting things to write. Don’t worry, that’s why you’re reading this!

PLANNING THE PLOT TWIST

The type of plot twists varies widely. You can choose from anything, from a betrayal, a supposedly bad character actually being good, or even a death. Or maybe someone we thought was dead is actually alive! Let your imagination run wild.

Tip #1: Never throw a plot twist in as an afterthought to spice up your story, UNLESS it’s a sudden death. (If you do decide to suddenly kill off a character, you’d better make sure you know how to continue the story without them.) What I mean is, if one character has been a good guy throughout the whole story without a single hint of switching sides… it would be pretty unrealistic if he suddenly decided to join the antagonist.

Tip #2: Like I mentioned before, a death kind of has its own rules as a plot twist. Death is almost never expected, so you won’t often have to hint toward it until the death has — BAM — already happened. For more on death scenes, see Writing a Character Death.

Tip #3: Foreshadowing is a huge part of writing a plot twist. The reader, once they have read the plot twist, should be able to look back and realize that there have been subtle clues and moments leading up to this point, but only now are they able to see it. This ties in with the thing about not throwing in a random plot twist. If the reader can’t find a single hint toward the plot twist, it won’t only leave them shocked; it will leave them utterly confused with unanswered questions. You want them to wonder how on earth they didn’t see that coming.

I read somewhere that one of the best ways to do this is to ask yourself, what does the reader expect at this point? What does the reader hope for? Then twist in a new direction that will entice and delight them even more.

Be careful not to be obvious, though! The best kind of plot twists are when the reader thinks they know what will happen… but then the complete opposite occurs. Keep your readers on their toes, and eliminate the obvious.

This doesn’t apply as much to minor characters. Imagine this: The protagonist is face to face with their enemy, but only now can they see that their enemy has been their “friend” all along. The enemy is joined by the rest of his bad guy crew — and one of them turns out to be the newspaper reporter that the protagonist has come across once or twice, but never really talked to.

For a minor character like the newspaper reporter, it’s okay for the reveal to be sudden and completely unexpected. However, the best way to do this would be to create subtle links that connect the main enemy — the protagonist’s friend-turned-evil — to the said newspaper reporter.

OVERALL

The thing about a good plot twist is: you don’t want the reader to feel tricked or insulted when they’ve read the twist. You want them to become even more invested. Avoid clichés.

If you have anything to add or have any questions to ask, leave a comment and I will get back to you personally!

Having trouble putting as much life as you can into your story? It’s possible you’re not making good word choices. Or maybe you’re using good words, just in bad places. Here, I’ll go over the different parts of speech and how you can get the best result out of your words.

ADJECTIVES

These bad boys are important. If you use adjectives that are generic, you’ll probably give your reader a generic impression. That’s a big no. I’m not saying you can’t use simple adjectives like purple or big, but it’s better only to use those when the thing you’re describing is only a passing thing.

It was a pretty big deal, but no one seemed to care.

The above sentence has no need for a more vibrant adjective. However, observe the descriptions below and see how a bland paragraph became more lively.

The truck was big and rusty, with large tires, and had been painted green. It looked like it had been dragged through the mud.

The truck was a massive hunk of metal, battered and rusted, with tires as big as a six-year-old was tall. It’s ugly green paint had been chipped, shredded, and covered in thick mud. It was a wonder the thing still ran at all.

See how some adjectives were exchanged for comparisons? Some were changed to more specific adjectives, and others were completely omitted. Notice the last sentence. It doesn’t directly modify the truck, but it lets the reader easily see that the truck is severely damaged.

As for replacing retired, overused adjectives with better ones, here’s some inspiration.

Big: grandiose, ginormous, magnificent, massive, immense, vast, spacious, gigantic, over-sized, heaping

Scary: alarming, hideous, horrifying, grotesque, sordid, horrid, startling

Amazing: brilliant, incredible, stupendous, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, unbelievable, genius, magnificent

Or you can easily use an online thesaurus to find synonyms!

Keep in mind that it’s often better not to use adjectives at all. For instance: Suddenly she felt dizzy.

Nope. Try this: The floor began to tilt and the room spun. She fell against the wall with a fluttering breath.

ADVERBS/VERBS

Adverbs are quite possibly the most overused writing tool ever. My tip is: don’t ever use an adverb unless it’s absolutely necessary (which won’t be often.) Replace “extremely tired” with “exhausted.” Change “said happily” to “said with a smile.” If there’s ever a single verb or adjective you can use, use it instead.

Ran wildly = barreled, tore through
Breathed heavily = gasped, panted,
rasped, (or use the phrase "his chest
heaved.")
etc.

There is also such a thing as a strong or weak adverb. If you say “she smiled happily,” happily is a weak adverb. She’s smiling, so we already know she’s happy. She smiled sadly; she smiled maliciously; she smiled hungrily; she smiled reluctantly — these are all stronger adverbs. What was mentioned before still applies, though — if there’s any way to use one concise, vibrant verb, try to use that verb instead of the adverb.

OTHER

If you’re wondering about nouns, don’t worry. These come a lot easier than the rest and it really just depends on what you as the author find most appealing. Sometimes you can even use nouns in place of adjectives, such authors in similes and comparisons.

He’s always been a deceitful snake.

Snake describes the person. Deceitful describes snake, and in turn describes the person as well.

That’s all for now! As always, if there’s anything I neglected to mention or if you have anything to add, any questions to ask, leave a comment and I’ll get back to you personally as soon as I can.

To finish off, here’s a wonderful quote from C. S. Lewis:

In writing, don’t use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was “terrible,” describe it so that we’ll be terrified. Don’t say it was “delightful”; make us say “delightful” when we’ve read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers, “Please do my job for me.”

C. S. Lewis