Help with Characters Archives

How Culture Shock Can Help Your Writing

June 3, 2015
Student Contributor
Culture, Guest posts, Help with Characters, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
4 Comments

Jake Buller, Guest Contributor The very first time I set foot on African soil, I went straight to a village of mud-brick houses and took selfies with Liberian kids. Then, after nine months of helping people better themselves, I returned to the USA and slipped right back into my old life. Just kidding. That's not actually how it went.

5 Tips for Writing a Strong Short Story

March 12, 2015
Student Contributor
Help with Characters, Writing Tips and Tools
11 Comments

Caleb Galloway, Guest Contributor Writing short stories can be daunting for beginning writers. For a long time I did not even try because I believed failure was inevitable. But once I actually forced myself to give it a go, I realized that it’s really a lot less intimidating than it seems!

Am I Too Old for “The One Year Adventure Novel”?

October 23, 2014
Student Contributor
Giving and Receiving Critique, Help with Characters, Push Your Imagination, Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
2 Comments

Michelle Gonzalez, Guest Contributor I think all post-highschool writers can empathize with my struggle to make time for my novel. Whether your job is demanding, you have children, are caring for a sick family member, or are just fighting the daily battle against dirty dishes and laundry, life crowds out writing. Here are my tips for making OYAN actually work for you and your writing dream.

How to Write Evil, Awesome Villains

December 12, 2013
Student Contributor
Help with Characters, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
11 Comments

Rebecca Harrison, Guest Contributor Villains can be some of the most difficult characters to write and they can be the difference between a stagnant story and a powerful one.

When Your “Perfect” Story Falls Flat

November 14, 2013
Daniel Schwabauer
Daniel's Writing Log, Help with Characters, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
9 Comments

Daniel Schwabauer I had re-written the novel, then titled Baht, in 2012, as 70,000+ words of first-person narrative. Only in writing the second-to-last chapter did I realize the book wasn’t working. Though it had a lot going for it (in my opinion, anyway), it still lacked something. It lacked oomph. Drive. A sense of compulsion. I wasn’t being pulled along by the story; I was driving the story ahead of me with a cattle-prod.