Category Archives: Newsletter

Plotting Your Book: Establish Characters’ Intentions in Every Scene Every time you start a story, you want to quickly establish a problem for the main character to solve and their intention of solving it. Maybe a hacked up dead body is found, and a detective intends to bring the murderer to justice. Possibly a divorced womanContinue reading “Establish Characters’ Intentions in Every Scene – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for June 10, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Allow Main Character to Experience Crisis of FaithA man vs. himself conflict often elevates a story’s suspense and depth. When a character must face a confrontation with himself, most readers can relate to him. Because of this, many writers introduce a crisis of faith into their story. READ MORE Self-Publishing Advice: How to Upload Your PaperbackContinue reading “Allow Main Character to Experience Crisis of Faith – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for June 3, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Utilize Both Internal and External Conflicts All stories center on conflict; arguably, the whole point of a story is to resolve some type of conflict. One way of thinking about conflict is to divide it into categories – internal and external. READ MORE Self-Publishing Advice: How to Design Your Paperback CoverMost potential readersContinue reading “Utilize Both Internal and External Conflicts – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for May 27, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Build Rising Action Scenes Around ConflictAnytime you’re writing a scene in the story’s rising action, you’ll want to treat it as a short story in and of itself. That means focusing on conflict. READ MORE How to Format Your Paperback: Easy to Understand, Practical TipsYour paperback needs to look good. Readers depend upon a clean,Continue reading “Build Rising Action Scenes Around Conflict – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for May 20, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Basic Guidelines for Your Story’s Rising ActionWhen developing the rising action section of your story, there a few simple guidelines to follow. Ensuring these guidelines aren’t violated will help keep the story moving forward and increase the dramatic tension. READ MORE Everything You Must Know to Self-Publish Your EbookYou’ve written a book andContinue reading “Basic Guidelines for Your Story’s Rising Action – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for May 13, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Establish Tone During Story’s Opening LinesEach story expresses an emotional climate or tone; creating tone involves a complex array of techniques such as diction, pacing and color. READ MORE Self-Publishing Tips: How to Upload Your EbookFor those new to self-publishing, uploading your ebook often is a complex and frustrating process. Unfamiliar termsContinue reading “Establish Tone During Story’s Opening Lines – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for May 6, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Hint at Story’s Theme in Opening LinesEven the most action-packed, blood-and-gore story has some message or point. A proposition that is argued or an aspect of human experience that is examined in your story is its theme. For example, the theme of the novel Moby Dick is revenge and obsession. Those dual passionsContinue reading “Hint at Story’s Theme in Opening Lines – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for April 29, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Establish Story’s Point of View in Opening LinesEvery story has an angle or perspective from which it is told. You establish this perspective, called point of view, in a story’s opening lines. Which point of view you select deeply affects the way the story can be told. READ MORE How to Format YourContinue reading “Establish Story’s Point of View in Opening Lines – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for April 22, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Open Story by Hinting at Some Mysterious ElementStraight-up information about a character or a setting rarely marks a great way to start a story. Instead, the opening lines need to hint at some mysterious element. READ MORE The Ultimate Guide to Self-Publishing Your BookYou’ve written a book that’s languishing on your computer hardContinue reading “Open Story by Hinting at Some Mysterious Element – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for April 15, 2025”

Plotting Your Book: Make Story Interesting by Establishing StakesThe plot of a story is more interesting and exciting if the characters have something to gain or lose. Because of this, the characters in your story should have something at stake, or some personal interest in or motivation for solving the story’s conflict. READ MORE Writing Advice:Continue reading “Make Story Interesting by Establishing Stakes – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for April 8, 2025”