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Create Character Arc for Better Story – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Nov. 11, 2025
Plotting Your Book: Create Character Arc for Better StoryFor a story to move forward, it needs a character arc. An arc is how a three-dimensional character changes and grows through the tale. READ MORE Self-Publishing Tip: How to Design Your Ebook CoverMost potential readers of your ebook will first encounter it online as an image – the…
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Zip Two Disparate Stories Into One Tale – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Nov. 4, 2025
Plotting Your Book: Zip Two Disparate Stories Into One TaleRather than follow a lone main character through every chapter of a short story or novel, your tale might follow the experiences of two main characters or of two groups of principal characters that alternate. This is called a zipper story. READ MORE How to Format Your…
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How to Select a Font for Your Children’s Book
A common mistake among aspiring children’s book authors is to go with a font that remind them of childhood. That’s usually not the best approach. Think of it from the perspective of your reader – the child. When children read, they generally do so letter by letter, as they learn to blend sounds and form…
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Vary Story Structure with ‘Fate Plot’ – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Oct. 28, 2025
Plotting Your Book: Vary Story Structure with ‘Fate Plot’Another variation on the traditional five-part story structure is the fate plot. In a fate plot, the climax occurs at the beginning of story. The rest of story is a traditional tale that essentially is a flashback, showing and explaining how the climax was reached. The end of…
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Give Depth to Story by Using an Allusion
One way to add depth to your story is to use an allusion. An allusion is the reference to a character, setting or object from another writing in your own. The reference usually is not overtly stated but layered into the story. One good example of an allusion is the opening line of J.D. Salinger’s…
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Great Writing Quotes by Author Chris Cleave
We cannot choose where to start and stop. Our stories are the tellers of us. I could not stop talking because now I had started my story, it wanted to be finished. I write in the novel’s afterword that our recent wars “finish not with victory or defeat but with a calendar draw-down date and…
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Writing Inspiration: Read Trashy Writing
Do you dream of becoming a writer but find yourself questioning your own ability to write? You night just need a little inner encouragement. Begin by not comparing your writing to great authors. They spent years developing their skills and talents. Instead, read extremely trashy works by hack authors or in a genre that you…
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Writing Inspiration: Be in Right Mindset
Part of motivating yourself to do anything is to be in the right mindset. Before sitting down to write today, tell yourself the following: “I am writing for my own pleasure. The more I write, the better I will get at it. If my writing today is horrible, that doesn’t matter; it soon will get…
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Don’t Let Fear Hamper You: Dare to Write
For many, writing remains merely a hobby. If you find satisfaction in that, that’s all right. Many people enjoy sewing but don’t make clothes for a living; many people enjoy hiking but don’t become wilderness guides. A beloved pastime need not be turned into a career, and a written story or poem never need be…
