This is tricky, and a little strange, but … you’ve got to trust your characters. If you’re ever not sure what a character would say in a particular moment, try asking them. Here’s how. In your mind, just stop thinking and start listening. What happens is, your imagination will enter the process – if you […]
Read More Tips for Young Writers 3: Let your characters speak and act for themselves.Readers love wondering ‘What’s going to happen next?’ or ‘How are they going to get out of this?’ or sometimes even, ‘What exactly is this all about?’ Your job, as an author, is to get them wondering that stuff. Try starting your story with something that immediately gets your readers wondering, like, maybe … ‘Joe […]
Read More Tips for Young Writers 2: Raise questions in the reader’s mind.
There’s nothing a reader likes more than seeing someone suffer … then triumph. We love watching people find their way through really difficult times – we learn a lot from that and we gain a great deal of inspiration. So give your hero the hardest time you can possible conjure. And then show us how […]
Read More Tips for Young Writers 1: Make your hero suffer.