Third-person narratives are one of the most commonly used points of view. This may give new writers the impression that it’s a fairly simple viewpoint to write. However, it’s easy to fall into pitfalls and clichés without even realizing it. Knowing the ins and outs of writing...

Maybe you’re writing a first-person narrator for the first time. Or maybe you’ve written a first-person narrative, but the voice isn’t as strong as you’d like. Whichever stage you’re at, knowing how to use first-person effectively will make the difference between a...

Research is vital when it comes to storytelling. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a historical romance, a contemporary YA thriller, or an epic fantasy set in a world borne solely of your imagination. There’s going to be at least one detail—whether it is a type of food,...

One of the joys of getting lost in a good book is when you read something that completely blows your mind. It’s unexpected. It’s intriguing. Now you’re flipping pages as fast as you can, not caring that your alarm will be going off in a few hours and you haven’t slept. You...

Many stylistic choices go into a new project. Who will your main character be? Will it be in first or third person? What is your setting? But one you may not have considered is whether your story will be in past or present tense. This is partly because as we start writing, our words automatically...

How does a #1 New York Times bestselling author add conflict to her scenes? Find out in this exclusive Writing Mastery interview!

From the moment Marissa Meyer hit the young adult fiction scene back in 2012, she's been on a skyrocket ride to the top. Her first novel, Cinder, (the first...

You’ve heard it a million times: “Show, don't tell.” But what does "show, don’t tell" really mean? How do we spot telling in our own writing? And is showing always the better choice, or are there instances where telling might be better? We have answers to help...

How can you develop characters that will keep your readers glued to the pages? Their backstory plays a huge part in getting it right—characters don’t come into existence on the first page of your story. 

But don’t worry, you don’t need to chronicle your...

Action scenes are an absolute treat when they’re done well. They can speed up pacing, provide huge advances in the plot, and push characters to their physical and emotional limits.

When action scenes are not done well, however, they can actually make the story drag, causing the reader to...

Learning to fast draft a novel isn’t just about speeding up your writing process, giving yourself deadlines, or whipping out pages in record time. It’s also about teaching yourself how not to be one of those authors who eagerly starts a new and amazing project, then loses steam...

When crafting a story, we usually focus on our characters and how they evolve as they grow and change throughout our carefully crafted plots. The setting can be overlooked (with no sense of the story's world) or overcooked (when it feels like you’re reading a travel guide instead of a...

Writing may be a solitary endeavor, but one companion plagues every author from time to time: Fear. 

Writer’s block, fear of rejection, and imposter syndrome (the fear of being exposed as a fraud) are all examples of fear popping up in a writer's life. If that weren’t enough,...