Which is Best: Character- or Plot-driven Stories? – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Dec. 23, 2025

Plotting Your Book: Which is Best: Character- or Plot-driven Stories?
Generally, stories can be classified as either character- or plot-driven. One is not necessarily better than the other, though readers usually respond more positively to the former. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Everything You Need to Know to Self-Publish Your Paperback
You’ve written a book and want to publish it as a paperback. But how do you do that? Maybe you’ve watched a video about it, but your self-publishing house keeps rejecting what you’ve created. Or maybe they’ve accepted it, but its appearance is a bit ugly when compared to all of the other books out there. My book Self-Publish Your Paperback Bundle addresses all of those problems and more. A collection of guidebooks in the popular Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, this bundle includes Format Your Paperback, Design Your Paperback Cover, and Upload Your Paperback to KindleDP. The three titles take you through the entire self-publishing process. They answer all of your questions in a brief, easy to understand format and cut to the chase by providing practical, useful information that can be followed step-by-step. SEE BOOK

Writing Tip: Rotate Third-Person Limited to Avoid Issues
Sometimes writers structure their book so that the third-person limited point of view alternates from scene to scene between major characters in a book. However, within each scene, only one of those characters’ point of view is used. This literary device is known as third-person rotating limited. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: When Formatting, Establish a Paragraph Style
When formatting your paperback to be self-published, you need to determine your paragraph style. This is a major decision to make, as the style you choose signals readers that a new paragraph has begun. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Avoid Shifting Point of View in Your Story
Novice writers often are tempted to shift the point of view in their stories. While a few published writers do so in their novels and short stories, this generally is uncommon, and you probably are best not to do so either. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Try Pulse-pricing to Boost Book Sales
Once you set the price of your book, it need not remain that number forever. In fact, keeping a static price actually may hurt book sales. READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “The Necromancer’s Choice” by C.S. Sydney
A recent editing client, C.S. Sydney, has just published her latest novel, The Necromancer’s Choice. The novel tells the story of Nadya, who sealed her fate by resurrecting a man with a Lalovian artifact that should be hers by rights. Now she must protect a tyrant who’s only earned her hate. The king seeks to employ her, use her necromancy powers for his own gain – and he’s not the only one. The court despises her until they need her services. Nadya is pulled in every direction but one, back to the home she knows and loves. The man she saved is the catalyst to her loss of freedom, a fact Nadya struggles to remember as his ocean eyes pull her into their tide – one that will surely drown her. If he wants her heart, he’ll have to win her soul first. She already owns his. Note: My wife owns a bookstore and her two copies of this book sold immediately! 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 Dec. 30, 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.