by Jacque | Jan 30, 2023 | Conflict, five requirements, Powerful Stories, Structure, Uncategorized
For years now, I’ve preached about The Five Requirements of Story. It’s been a pillar I’ve stood on and has driven everything from the way I edit and coach, to my personal writing and marketing. As much as I’ve had faith in these requirements, there has always been a...
by Jacque | Oct 13, 2021 | Essential Scenes, five requirements, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, Structure, Uncategorized
Mystery or Romance? Sci-Fi or Fantasy? Literary or Non-sense? The single most important question asked is, “What’s my genre?” This can be a confusing topic for most contemporary writers. Your story is set in the future, contains a murder, and the protagonist gets...
by Jacque | Dec 9, 2020 | five requirements, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, Show, Structure, Uncategorized
NaNoWriMo is finally over, yay! Did you finish? Did you get to 50K…or more? Even if you didn’t but you still started a writing habit, congrats! That’s a big deal. Now that the highs and lows of a writing marathon are over, what’s next? My favorite part…editing! But...
by Jacque | Jun 10, 2020 | Conflict, five requirements, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, step 6, Structure, Supersets, Uncategorized
The Best Way to Create Conflict Imagine the scene you’re reading involves the characters all sitting around a table eating dinner. The image is clear because you’ve had dinner at a table before, so you understand what goes on. During this scene, everyone is in a good...
by Jacque | Mar 11, 2020 | five requirements, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, Structure, Uncategorized
The way a story ends is just as important as the way it begins. While the beginning should hook you in and drive you to continue reading, the ending should bring closure. At this point, the climax has answered many of the plot’s questions, so the ending should show...
by Jacque | Jan 8, 2020 | five requirements, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, Structure, Uncategorized
This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, isn’t it? The most exciting part of the story, what everything has been building up to, the part when you’re begging for a release of tension: The Climax! In a previous post, I discussed the predicament, the big event that...
