If your character returns to the bar later in your story, ensure something has changed. Most likely your character has learned something along the way. Seen through your wiser character’s eyes, perhaps the bar looks different now, or the character notices things missed on the earlier visit. ...
In it, a scientist discovers that time itself is coming to an end, not just on Earth but throughout the universe, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. But just maybe the Mayans were trying to tell us something about that. May all your disasters be the written kind; that’s ...
Following up on that, Jodie Archer and Matthew L Jockers wroteThe Bestseller Code, a book about their algorithm (the “bestseller-o-meter”) that analyzes character, plot, setting, style, and theme to make its predictions. According to an article inBBC Culture, this strangely named algorithm ...
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution showed how animal species evolve from earlier forms and sometimes split into two or more species. This freed writers from the humanoid anatomy, so aliens branched out in all directions, exploding into the universe of fiction. They filled all niches. Their at...
Or you can’t decide on a setting or character name. The late Steve Jobs of Apple has a method of solving your problem. The Problem You’re determined to write the story. The flame within you still burns, but it’s sputtering. Whatever form the roadblock takes, you can’t seem to ...