The Dragons' Pen The Dragons' Pen

Pacing can make or break your story. So, how do you make sure your pacing is right on point? Is this action scene you worked on just an empty CGI extravaganza or bears significance to the story as a whole?

I will be talking about creating and managing conflict, building tension and handling pacing of the stories you write.

Writer's block is a boogieman of creative writing. Everyone fears it, everyone talks about it, but yet not many aspiring authors all willing to face it once it shows up. Some of them even stop writing alltogether, which is a shame.

Here are some tips on how to deal with your writer's block. Maybe they'll help you to get a little bit inspired and puch trough.

The first draft of your novel is done. You type "the end" after the last few lines and you celebrate. Or do you? There is a lot of reading, editing and changing stuff around before you can call your novel truly done. What is there to celbrate, right?

It is really a matter of perspective and your mindset how "done" you really are and how nigh "the end" really is.

There is a lot you can run into when attempting to finish your first draft. It is not just about your discipline and willpower. Sometimes it is about creativity or rather...  Aiming that creativity in the right way.

Writing can be tiring, but it should not be exhausting. At least not all the time.

I have heard a lot of "well, it is messy, but I am a discovery writer". Discovery writing is very powerful approach to writing, yet at the same time many aspiring authors use it as sort of an excuse to let their texts wonder.

There is a lot to know when you start discovering otherwise you'll might end up being stuck in your own text.

A group of teenagers is trapped at the cabin with a serial killer, one of the characters tries to call for help, looks at their phone, but only "no service" message glows on the screen. Many aspiring authors take these shortcuts to limit their characters option to solve the situation at hand.

But limiting your characters options is no fun for the reader. It is in fact pretty frustrating and can turn on you very quickly. How can you make your dangerous situations mount tension and make the believable at the same time?