There is a trap of discovery writing for inexperienced writers. The trap is this: discovery writing often turns into scattered story beats that aren't connected in a satisfying way for the reader. To fix your plot in such cases, use the "but, Therefore" rule to ensure a through line for each story ...
The “But, Therefore” Rule: How to Fix Scattered Plots and Weak Character Arcs
What Writers Can Learn From Magician: Apprentice
Raymond E. Feist's Magician: Apprentice was published in 1982, and more than forty years later I think it teaches fantasy writers some lessons that modern books often forget. So today I want to look at what this novel gets right—and a couple things I think it gets wrong. Magician: ...
Should I Start Over? 5 Questions to Help You Decide
"Should I start over?" is a question asked frequently by most writers at some point or another. It doesn't happen with every project, but I would venture to say that it's probably happened to everybody at least once. Every person has to develop their own writing process. And because the writing ...
Why Your Writing Feels Boring (And How to Fix It)
When writing, there is an old saying that says, “If you’re bored, then your reader was bored 10 pages ago.” This principle is generally true, but this isn’t necessarily always the case. If you’ve spent an inordinate amount of time with one story, then it’s likely that the story becomes boring ...
Book Review: Magician: Apprentice Written by Raymond E. Feist
Plot: Magician: Apprentice follows the adventures of Pug, a thirteen year orphan boy, as he becomes a magicians apprentice. Pugs storyline is a long and drawn out coming of age story—it’s a bit of slow burn. As is the case in all coming of age stories, Pug struggles with what he wants, who he is, ...