Writing Lessons Everywhere
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The latest posts from Writing Lessons Everywhere, pulled from Substack automatically.
The Usual Advice on Unlikeable Characters Is Wrong. Here’s How to Write A-holesIn Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh builds an emotional journey around an A-hole while ignoring standard writing tips
How to Stop Agents and Readers From Skipping Your Prologue (Writing Lesson from Wildwood)“Wildwood” shows writers how to craft an unmissable opening scene
Your Act 1 Doesn’t Have to Be an “Ordinary Day” (Writing Lesson from Sense and Sensibility)How Sense and Sensibility defines normal life by taking it away, and how your opening can too
The Most Telling Detail of “You Can See Everything” is Tiny and You Definitely Missed ItA small detail of a single shot unravels the whole mystery
Why Bigger Stakes Aren't Making Your Story Feel BiggerBigger explosions don’t make a bigger story. Other Mommy escalates on two levels at once. Here’s how to do it in your own writing.
A Long Monologue Has More than One Audience (Writing Lesson from “Digger”)The polarizing film contains important lessons for writers crafting monologues
7 Jobs Dialect Can Do in Your NovelAll writers can learn from Abi Daré’s masterclass in narrative dialect
How to Use a “Story-Within-a-Story”The benefits and limits of nesting a secondary tale within your main story
The Rules Are What Make It FunUnclear character capabilities can leave your audience high and dry
On Loss and WritingA life (and death) lesson for writers
What Coyote vs. Acme Knows About Frenemies (And How to Steal It)The two-layer recipe for a delicious frenemy dynamic
The Fast and the Furious and The Devil Wears Prada Are Secretly the Same MovieHow two seemingly different films reveal the blueprint for writing an outsider who gains acceptance
"This Starts Too Slow": Why the Obvious Fix Makes It WorseDon’t borrow momentum from later in your story to fix a slow opening. The Rivals of Amziah King shows how to get it right.
Why Your Suspect List Feels ThinHow to steal a foundational writing skill from Karin Slaughter's The Secrets We Hide
The Best Character Foils Aren't Actually OppositesHulu's Furious shows how great foils come from overlap, not opposites
6 Ways to Head-Hop Without Losing Your ReaderA Nobel-winning author displays how to skillfully switch POV mid-scene
"Margo's Got Money Troubles" Has Inciting Incident TroublesHow the Apple TV+ show can help writers avoid investing in a decoy story-starter
The Gimmick Is Not the PointA lesson from the silent revenge thriller Motor City: how to test whether your structural gimmick is serving your story or steering it
Your Hero Can Backslide at the ClimaxThe Odyssey's climax contradicts its hero's whole journey. Here's why it still works.
Why Your Funny Story Can't Land Its Emotional BeatsHow Maddie's Secret undercuts decades-old comedy tropes to unlock true emotion (and how you can, too!)