Writing Roots

When it comes to rules of writing, the rules regarding prologues is important for getting readers engaged and interested right away. Prologues have the power to either pull a reader into a world or to drive them away from the story entirely. The audience has expectations that you need to understand if you choose to write a prologue. We discuss the rules and how to break them in the best ways for an effective prologue in this episode.

For a podcast all about helping you learn how to write and craft your stories, we're not big fans of rules. Or, perhaps, we just like knowing that most so-called "writing rules" are there to be broken. Throughout April, we will be discussing some of the most common rules and how to best break them in order to tell a better story. In this episode, we talk about why these rules exist, and why they should be followed in most cases, especially if you're starting your journey.

One way to create unique and relatable characters is to make some that are neurodivergent in some way. The more common diagnoses associated with neurodivergent include ADHD and autism, both of which often suffer from extreme stereotyping when portrayed through story. There are plenty of examples of poorly written characters with traits of autism that have done nothing to help stigmas real people have to deal with daily.

In this episode, our hosts discuss how to wriite ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dyspraxia. Most importantly, remember that there is no one single way these present themselves. The best way to write accurate neurodivergent representation is to find a sensitivity reader who can share their experience and give advice from their perspective.

Along with that moment of hope mentioned earlier this month, characters will often have a moment of getting a second wind. First, you have to show them exhausted. Not just tired or sleepy, but exhausted to the point where they want to give up. This can be more than just a physical exhaustion as well. Listen for tips on how to write exhaustion and the burst of energy that can help drive a character beyond what they thought was possible.

Everyone is unique, but portraying it on the page is difficult. Among new writers, we often see the concern that their story - whether plot, characters or world - isn't unique enough. In this episode, we address each of these, including how a character's loneliness can help support being unique within the world.

There will come a time in your story where your characters don't feel up to the task ahead. Though there are a myriad of reason why this could be, the most common is inferiority. They do not feel good enough, strong enough or powerful enough to take on that final task. Inferiority can also be laced into a character from the beginning. Perhaps they've been bullied for a long time, or perhaps they've turned to bullying as an outlet for their own feelings of inferiority. Whatever it is, you can use it in your story to create depth in your characters.

In the darkest times, your characters need something to give them a spark of hope. Something to get them back on their feet and willing to continue the fight. That is why as an author, you need to know how to write the emotions of hope and inspiration. From rallying speeches to the physical appearance of a character gaining hope again, we discuss how to represent these key emotions in your story.

Though not exactly an emotion, hunger does have a huge impact on people as they move through their daily lives. Different levels of hunger come with their own emotions. Food can also play a strong role in building companionship and community. If you're struggling with how to get two characters to work together, food may be your answer.

In this episode, our hosts talk about the different emotions that can come with hunger, how food plays a role in society, and how you can use this to your advantage in storytelling.

All characters have secrets. Sometimes it's their true feelings for another character, and sometimes it's about a dark time in their life. You can use the reveal of these secrets through confessions to help drive your story, create twists, and to create tension as you approach the finale.

To learn more about how to use confessions and the emotions that go with them, listen to this episode.

Boredom can be a key element for writing your stories, but it is difficult to strike that balance between showing a bored character and making your readers bored. After all, we've said before you should cut scenes where nothing actually happens.

So how do you find that balance? How do you use boredom to help move a story forward? Listen to this episode to learn more about the tips and tricks to writing this emotion.