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5 ways to subvert character clichés and archetypes

This guest contribution by the team at Reedsy explores ways to subvert character clichés for a less predictable story. Creating the next Harry Potter or Holden Caulfield is no easy feat! When writing secondary characters in particular, it’s easy to fall back on clichéd archetypes and stock ch...

September 6th, 2018

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How to write mystery: 6 ways to create suspense

Learning how to write mystery is easy when you understand the ingredients of mystery and suspense. Every good story has unknowns readers want answered, yet a good mystery makes us need to know. Here are 6 ways to create suspense and build mystery: First, what are mystery and suspense? ...

September 3rd, 2018

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10 dialogue tips to hook readers

Understanding how to write dialogue in a story enables you to bring characters to life using their individual voices. Great dialogue moves your story along at a good pace, giving your reader a break from non-stop narrative prose. Try these dialogue tips for writing effective speech: How to us...

August 30th, 2018

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Finding sentences to start a story: 7 methods

The beginning sentence of a story is often what we'll tweak last. Finding sentences to start a story is easier, after all, when you know later developments you could echo. Read 7 examples of effective opening sentences and the options they suggest for ways to begin: 1. Introduce a key charact...

August 27th, 2018

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How to develop story themes: 5 theme examples

The recurring ideas or broad themes of books give us insights into ideas such as 'love', 'honor', 'good vs evil' and much more. Read 5 common theme examples from books that show how to take your story's 'big ideas' and use them to create additional characters and subplots: What is a them...

August 23rd, 2018

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Character flaw list: 30 intriguing character flaws

Great, character-driven stories often have deeply flawed characters at their heart. Human flaws such as lust for power, greed and jealousy explain the errors many tragic figures from books make, from Mr Kurtz to Lord Voldemort. Let's briefly look at three types of character flaws. A minor ch...

August 20th, 2018

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