by Jacque | May 15, 2024 | Genre, strong connection, Structure, Uncategorized
Do you remember when you first started writing? What drove you to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)? For me, like for many writers, it was a story that just wouldn’t leave me alone. I’d always been a daydreamer, coming up with different scenarios or events,...
by Jacque | Aug 12, 2020 | Conflict, Powerful Stories, Step 3: Story Conflict, Supersets, Uncategorized
You Need Overarching Conflict I hesitate to call books that have a specific genre with authors who intend to sell commercial fiction. It sounds a bit … icky, as if there’s no art behind it. It taints those authors with a feeling of “selling out” as opposed to those...
by Jacque | Jul 8, 2020 | Character, Genre, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, Structure, Uncategorized
If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you know that I believe genre guides every decision you make while writing your story. This is especially true when it comes to fulfilling the Five Requirements and finding your controlling theme. Have any of these go...
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 | Feb 12, 2020 | Controlling Theme, Essential Scenes, Powerful Stories, Self-Editing, Step 2, Structure, Supersets, Uncategorized
Controlling theme. Sounds a bit daunting, doesn’t it? As if there’s this point that needs to be made with your story, some lesson that you must prove. Well…there kinda is. But your story doesn’t have to be a grand statement or literary masterpiece, especially if...
by Jacque | Sep 25, 2019 | Genre, Powerful Stories, step 1, Structure, Supersets, Uncategorized
How would you describe a dog? Four legs, a nose, and a tail, right? Easy enough. But that can also describe a cat, a horse, or even an elephant! Because a dog is such a common animal, we don’t think twice about the difference between a dog and a cat, we just know. We...
