Conflict is one of if not the most important story element in a short story or novel because it's what helps keep readers engrossed within stories and books. Similar to plot, conflict is an engine that moves a story forward. After all, if nothing is going on and there's nothing to overcome, there's no story to tell. External conflict is the obstacles and complications outside of characters in their story world, such as an altercation between two opposing attorneys, a fore

External conflict is the impact of outside forces that come against characters in a story. There are a number of different types of conflict, obstacles, and challenges characters could face during the plotline, but specifically there are six forces that characters are more than likely to deal with in some way or another. These include natural disasters or storms , supernatural or evil spirits , governments or institutions , people or villains, animals or creatures, and socia

In previous blog posts, I've discussed the four operations in characters, and the generic and complex emotions characters feel when...

Let's say you're a hiker lost in a national park while being on a camping trip. You're troubled and concerned about your safety; but...

Imagine you're a firefighter that rushes to an emergency house fire. The burning flames and suffocating smoke of the house fire is the...

One of my all-time favorite board games to play is Clue . You know, the one with the colorful suspects where players have to identify the...

When we think about the writing process, it's quite similar to an assembly factory or the water cycle many of us learned in science class...

When we think about tropes, the first two genres that come to mind are oftentimes fantasy or romance. However, Christian fiction also has...

If writers really think about it, story structure can be similar to the functionality and foundation of different systems of the human body. There are four specific components of the anatomy of story structure that together make up the DNA of a cohesive, well-organized story. These four components include goals, characters, plot or story arcs, and scenes.

Plotting and outlining together are the third stage of writing. These two forms of writing are sometimes used interchangeably; but...

When it comes to writing, some writers advise you to "Write what you know." However, this doesn't mean writers can't write about things...

Just as there are steps for a recipe , there are different stages of writing. Knowing the stages of writing can be beneficial in breaking...

One of the great pleasures of writing a book series is the different ways that writers can do them.

Writing a standalone novel is one thing, but completing a whole book series is another and much more challenging. On the flip side,...

Character development is the internal and external transformation characters go through during and after the course of the story.

Plot is the setup and sequence of events that make up the beginning, the middle, and the ending of a story.

When it comes to writing short stories, books, or novels, there are three main parts: the beginning , the middle , and the ending. ...