Hint at Protagonist’s Internal Motivations – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Mar. 25, 2025

Plotting Your Book: Hint at Protagonist’s Internal Motivations
Merely presenting a protagonist who will solve the story’s main problem the isn’t enough. Instead, you need to give reasons why the protagonist would even want to do so. READ MORE

Writing Tip: How to Follow a Writing Process for Fiction
One of the biggest mistakes aspiring authors make is denying that they’re following a process when writing a short story or a novel. These writers often say they write “from the seat of their pants.” Yet, every story goes through five basic steps if the author finishes and publishes it. Understanding those five basic steps can help authors identify why they’re having trouble writing a story. Maybe their story idea isn’t very good. Possibly they haven’t thought through the story enough. Maybe they’re not revising it efficiently. Following a Writing Process for Fiction describes the five steps of the writing process. Among the many topics covered include brainstorming story ideas, outlining the story, drafting it, revising your drafts, formatting, and how to troubleshoot your story to find which step you need to spend more time on. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Use Caution when Employing Empathic Universe
A common technique that genre writers use is customizing the environment of their story so it matches the main character’s mood. In doing so, the author creates an empathic universe. Examples would be a lightning flash in the opening lines of a Gothic horror story or rain falling during a funeral. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Is Your Manuscript Ready to be Self-Published?
If you’ve finished writing your manuscript, congratulations! Now the bad news: A completed manuscript doesn’t just mean that you’ve got a book ready to be self-published. There’s a lot more to it than that. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Use Fragments for Rhetorical Effect
Should you use fragments in your writing? Your high school English teacher almost certainly said “No!” and marked it with a red pen. Was s/he right? LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Try BlueSky for a Saner Social Media Experience
Don’t feel like you’re reaching many people on Xitter (X/Twitter) anymore? Tired of your Xitter feed being filled with mean-spirited political propaganda? Then come over to BlueSky for an invigorating, friendlier experience with fellow writers. The new social media platform works like Xitter used to function before the Russian bots took over and you know who bought it. So far, we’re at 33.1 million plus users and growing. Yeah, that’s still small compared to Xitter, but with every person who joins BlueSky after leaving Xitter, the larger we grow and the smaller they get (See how that works?). GO TO BLUESKY

Client Spotlight: “The Mombie” by A.S. Huffman
A recent editing client of mine – A.S. Huffman – has just published her first children’s book, The Mombie! What happens when children misbehave and don’t use good manners? The Mombie appears! Follow the adventures of Sophia and Emily as they try to turn their Mombie, a Mom zombie, back into Mommy. CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires April 1, 2025. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 400 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.