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How to plan a story in scenes: 5 steps

In novels, screenwriting, and play-writing a scene is a useful structuring device for deciding what happens, where, to whom, and why. There are many ways to outline a story, but planning scene by scene is a useful way to make sure every scene has purpose, intrigue, and the other ingredients of a...

December 10th, 2018

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World building: Writing the natural environment

In epic fantasy world building, natural environments provide possible hazards (freezing cold, dangerous volcanoes) and mood or atmosphere. Even in 'realist' fiction set in our own world, environment (such as the details that make a coastal city familiar, for example), is a key part of setting. R...

December 6th, 2018

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Scene writing tips: 5 ways to avoid filler

Great scene writing makes each part count towards the whole. This is particularly important when working in shorter forms such as short stories or one-hour TV episodes. Keep your scenes lean using these 5 scene writing tips: 1. Remove scene scaffolding Critics often marvel at the spare or ...

December 3rd, 2018

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Writing tools: Now Novel's Scene and World Builder

When we asked readers to share their number one writing challenges with us, two areas of writing came up repeatedly. The first was plotting and planning. The second was worldbuilding. So we're excited to bring you two additional writing tools, the Scene Builder and World Builder. Here are 8 ways...

November 26th, 2018

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How to plot a series: 8 steps for multi-book arcs

Plotting just one novel is challenging, never mind plotting a multi-book arc. Having structure and a plan helps. Here's how to plot a series in 8 structured steps. Let's first briefly define what a series is. They can be a set of stories broken down in to a few stories, or books, such as the ...

November 22nd, 2018

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How do you describe a place? 6 setting tips

The setting of your story is key to readers being able to imagine 'being there'. How do you describe a place so it is characterful and contributes effectively to your story? What physical descriptions can you provide to create a vivid image in your reader's mind? Try these 6 tips: How to...

November 19th, 2018

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