In every scene of your story, your characters should want something. What they want can vary wildly and often contradicts what other characters want. This is a part of creating conflict and tension. Today however, we’re talking a little bit about actions and reactions. More specifically, we’re discussing how emotional arcs work in scenes. With… Continue reading Emotional Arcs
Dialogue is a powerful tool, but it’s very rare that anyone—even characters—will come out and say exactly what they think or feel at any given moment. Instead, body language and action can help convey these things. As an exercise: Take a moment and write a slice-of-life flash fiction, showing how your characters interact with each… Continue reading Exercise: Quiet Moments
Of the three cornerstones of storytelling, characters have to put up with a lot. Not only do they have to respond and react to the movements of plot, but they do so within the constrains of their setting. Their motives are constantly questioned and everyone almost always wants to know what their goal is. It’s… Continue reading The Emotion Wheel
Originally I'd planned today's post to be on co-authoring, but in light of the reaction to COVID-19, I wanted to address the concerns plaguing the world. The fact is, the reactions we've seen are massive. Here in the US schools are closed or are having their spring breaks extended. In my state, there has been… Continue reading Everyone Is Afraid
Internal conflict is the result of a character having two opposing goals or desires. These goals might be personal to the character, affecting their arc, or they might impact the main conflict of the plot. Some stories focus on internal conflict as the main conflict. With internal conflict, ultimately, a character must choose which of… Continue reading Internal Conflict, Scenes and Characters
The Written Vixen 