The written word holds a power both bewitching and dread. The right words can topple kingdoms, grant immortality—even change the course of the world. Join me in The Laboratory as I delve into the foundations and principles of writing, from developing ideas and crafting an authorial voice to caring for yourself and building your community as a writer. New episodes are released every other Wednesday. Pull up a chair and settle in amongst the bubbling brews and frothing phials of the writer’s craft.
I Can’t Look: Plotting Killer Scenes
What keeps a reader turning the page and hungering to find out what happens next? Killer scenes. No, they don’t always need to feature an actual murderer (though some might), but all great scenes feature at least one major element of effective storytelling: tension.
Tension comes from knowing your characters well. Writers must understand a character’s motivations, their moral compass and how they tend to interact with the world around them to craft layers of tension in scenes that then build up until they reach a crescendo.
Tension and a great sense of underlying conflict are some of the greatest tools in the writer’s arsenal. Join us in today’s episode to learn more about wielding these weapons with accuracy and finesse.
When to Tell & Not Show
Someone mentioned to me the other day that there was a healthy debate going on in their writing group between showing versus telling as a narrative approach. To writers who have heard the refrain “show, don’t tell,” throughout their careers, this might be a bit of a shock. It would seem that not all are in agreement about what is often considered a writing standard.
Evoking Setting & Mood
Atmosphere can make or break the immersion that writers strive to achieve, both in fiction and nonfiction. Let’s learn how to craft an effective one in this week’s blog.