It's not uncommon for writers to call their WIP their "baby" or treat their characters like their children. It makes sense. After all, we're nurturing these stories and watching them grow from vague concepts floating around our heads to deep and meaningful stories that evoke emotions in our readers. It's a long, strenuous, rewarding process. Writers hold their projects close. We pour ourselves onto the page, opening old wounds as we heal. Cherished memories, secrets buried in

Last week, we explored plot armor and how to incorporate it into your writing with a sense of realism. This is something of an offshoot. I originally intended for there to be a section within that initial post discussing injuries in relation to plot armor, but it ultimately made more sense to cover that topic on its own. So here we are. To recap the aforementioned post, plot armor is a layer of protection given to fictional characters, most often the protagonist, in order to

Have you ever read a book where a character survives injuries that should have caused severe damage? Are they able to walk away from combat wholly unscathed? Do they inexplicably make it out alive of something that would have surely killed anyone who is not a fictional character landing in the safety net that is suspension of disbelief? Chances are, they're wearing plot armor. Plot armor refers to how characters manage to come out of dangerous scenarios with minimal damage if

It's rare that there is only one approach to writing or one single way to go about storytelling. Writers find their own ways of handling things, and their methods evolve over time. Long-time readers of the blog know I prefer writing my first drafts by hand whenever possible. It's not the most efficient method, as it's time-consuming not only to do the writing itself but type everything up in whichever software I'm using, but I've found it's easier to write when the distractio

Protagonists are at the center of a story. Their conflicts are the motivation driving things. No matter if you're writing in third-person or first-person , in past tense or in present , your readers will be alongside them for the journey, so it's important to foster a connection between them. This has plenty to do with likeability. Readers want characters they can root for. We want to celebrate their wins and lament their losses just as they do. Even when they are far from