As you begin to write each scene, determining the character goals is essential, but without stakes the goals will have no impact on your reader. What are stakes? Stakes are …
Brainstorming Strategy #6: Highlighting Opposites
No writer wants to hear that their characters are “vanilla” or too much alike. We all want our characters to pop so our readers love them as much as we …
Brainstorm Strategy #5: Brainstorming Settings to Create Mood
Setting up the mood in a scene requires the right words, but it also requires a setting that can boost your mood impact. Think of all of the scary movies …
Brainstorming Strategy #4: Brainstorming Peripheral Plot Possibilities
There are sometimes when we just get slammed unexpectedly with something in life. Out of the blue an old flame returns to town, our car breaks down, our mother-in-law comes …
Strategy #3: Brainstorming Secrets
As a young girl my friends and I used to pinky-swear that we wouldn’t share each other’s secrets. It became a sign of loyalty if you could keep the secrets …