What the heck is an unreliable narrator?
Shouldn’t, of all people in a story, we be able to trust the person telling the story to us?
Not necessarily.
Month: January 2019
Sometimes writers try to make their characters interesting by giving them a “gray” morality.
But what exactly is gray morality? And how can we use it to create good characters?
Let’s find out!
How do you start a story that takes place in the future?
Do you jump right into it and potentially confuse the reader? Or do you bring someone from our time into the future so they can ask all the same questions we’d be asking?
There is another choice, and book that shows it off very well is Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.
If you only ever read one article on improving your writing, make it this one.
This is one of the easiest, quickest ways to improve your writing skills.
All it takes is a little… murder.
GeoGuessr is a website where you are thrown into a random spot in the world on Google Maps streetview, and you have to try and guess where you are.
It’s fun to play just by itself, to see how close you can get, but it’s even more fun when you put a spin on it: writing a description of each random area you’re given.
I’m a huge fan of the Japanese cleaning-up legend Marie Kondo and her philosophy about “tidying up” your home and life.
In fact, seeing her made me wonder if it was possible to apply her idea about “sparking joy” into story-writing as well.
As it turns out, yes, it is not only possible, but it works great!
Starting a story is one of the most difficult parts of writing.
It’s easy to get caught up in all the different ideas you have, all the possible ways it could begin, and then ending up overwhelmed and with nothing to show for it.
So let’s break down how to start a story into three easy steps.
One of the most fun ways to play card games is by “drafting.”
You get packs of random cards, pick one card you like, pass the rest to people sitting with you, and repeat until all the cards are gone. Then you use what you picked to build a deck.
So if drafting cards is so much fun, would it be possible to “draft” a story?
Many beginner writers think that “editing” means running spell check, grammar check, changing a few words, and then calling it a day.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth!
Editing is a long, long road paved with blood, tears and sweat.
I recently watched Netflix’s “Bird Box” and I felt disappointed because there was a lot of setup, but little payoff.
What better way to vent my frustration than to come up with some new payoffs together with chat!