I recently studied a Jason Bourne fight scene in The Bourne Identity to learn all I could about writing a good fight.
Category: Writing Advice
How I Wrote a Character-Driven Story
I had to begin not with a fully outlined plot, but with a fully-fleshed person.
Building and Fixing Your Causal Chain
Have you received feedback saying that your characters feel manipulated by the author? If so, you might have a broken causal chain.
Does your Story have a Causal Chain?
Create a sense of the inevitable.
Why Writing the Other is Always Radical (Part I)
Photo by Ali Arif Soydaş on Unsplash Writing the other is an inherently political act, especially when the dominant culture wants to turn the other into a “them.” An “us” is a person of dignity with whom we can empathize and recognize as a human being. An “us” is someone we can relate to and …
Continue reading Why Writing the Other is Always Radical (Part I)
Harness the Power of Dialectical Opposites to Enhance Your Storytelling
The inherent rule behind storytelling is to be found in dialectics.
How to Write a Fully-Rounded Adventure Story Protagonist
Are you writing adventure fiction? Samuel Delany has suggestions on how to writer more credible main characters.
My Critters List of the 5 Most Common Weaknesses in Fiction
Ever since I became serious as a freelance editor/proofreader and a participant on Critters.org, the oldest online writer's critique group, I have encountered the same weakness in fiction over and over again. Partly, I think this is because people send early drafts to critiques and forego revision until they receive their first round of feedback. …
Continue reading My Critters List of the 5 Most Common Weaknesses in Fiction
Matthew Rettino 