Following up on chapter one insights, these next three posts will focus on three specific aspects of the beginning of a story. Your first chapter is the first words
The first chapter isn’t necessarily more difficult in a technical sense of writing, but it is one of the most scrutinized pieces of a story. First chapters are
Trust your reader. This should be a sign hanging somewhere near your writing station, next to one that says “I am a writer” because they’re both important. There
Most fiction stories have two simultaneous threads through them: the emotional arc and the narrative arc, which together form the plot. The emotional arc is about the internal
Archetype Archetype is a word with Greek roots. Approximately translated, it means “original pattern”. Writers often deal with archetypes as an aspect of evaluating or crafting their characters.
Protagonists are not always the most cooperative bunch. You need them to knuckle down and get serious about fighting the good fight, and they’re still worried about Aunt