Resources, insights, and inspiration for writers at every stage of their journey.
From the instructors who have helped over 100,000 aspiring authors learn their craft.
Recent Articles
- If Your Scene Needs a Caption, It’s Still a Draft
You wrote a scene. Two characters argue in a kitchen. Dialogue crackles. Then you get nervous. The reader might not get it. So you add: “The tension between them had been building for weeks, ever… - Your Characters Keep Frowning Through Every Emotion
“She frowned.” “He looked angry.” “She smiled sadly.” Three guesses what the reader actually sees. Nothing. A blank face doing a generic thing. Frowning is the default setting for a face. Telling me a character… - Your Genre Decides Your POV Before You Write Chapter One
A thriller written in omniscient third person. A romance in distant third. A literary novel switching to second person mid-chapter because the writer thought it would be interesting. Each is a viewpoint mismatch. The reader… - Your Weak Verbs Are Hiding Behind Helping Verbs
“She was walking toward the door.” “He had been thinking about it.” “They were running.” Every one of those sentences has a verb buried inside it. The verb is hiding behind a helping verb, draining… - The Conversation Your Characters Won’t Have Is the Most Important One
Two people sit at a dinner table. One says, “We need to talk about what happened Saturday.” The other picks up the salt shaker, examines it like evidence, and says, “Did you try the new… - The Best Clues Are the Ones the Reader Already Saw
The worst kind of mystery ending is the one that introduces new information in the final chapter. The detective reveals a letter nobody mentioned. A witness appears from nowhere. A clue the reader never saw… - Your Character Is Defined by What They Want Now, Not What Happened to Them
Backstory is seductive. It explains everything—why the character fears commitment, why they distrust authority, why they can’t enter small rooms. A rich backstory feels like character development. But here’s the problem: backstory explains motivation, it… - Your Ending Resolves the Plot but Not the Promise
A satisfying ending does two things: it resolves the plot and it pays off the emotional promise. Most writers nail the first and miss the second. The mystery is solved, the battle is won, the… - Your First Chapter Is Starting in the Wrong Place
Most first chapters contain thirty percent story and seventy percent preparation. The writer is warming up—establishing the world, introducing the characters, setting the mood, building context. It feels necessary. It reads like throat-clearing. The reader… - The Plotter vs. Pantser Debate Misses the Real Question
Writers love to divide themselves into plotters and pantsers. Outliners versus discovery writers. Architects versus gardeners. The debate implies you must pick a side, but after twenty-five years of teaching, I can tell you the… - Tension Lives in the Gap Between What the Reader Knows and What the Character Doesn’t
Most writers think tension comes from danger. A character trapped in a basement with rising water. A bomb ticking under a table. These create suspense, but they’re the blunt instrument version. The sharper tool is… - The Midpoint Shift: Why Your Second Act Turns to Mush
Somewhere around the middle of your novel, the protagonist needs to stop reacting and start acting. This is the midpoint shift, and without it, your second act becomes a swamp of passive response. Things happen…
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Steve Alcorn
USA Today bestselling author of twenty novels and non-fiction books, including mysteries, young adult novels, children’s books, and the acclaimed writer’s guide How to Fix Your Novel. Steve also founded Alcorn McBride Inc, which provides audio and video systems for theme parks worldwide.
Dani Alcorn
Author, instructor, editor, and mentor. Dani trained in screenwriting at Northwestern University and the University of British Columbia and worked as a professional medical writer. She is the author of screenplays and a science fiction novel.