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By Eamon Storer

Fighting Self-Doubt: The Rollercoaster of Writing

By Eamon on

When the results of your actions and hard work are as uncertain as it is when writing self-doubt is a certainty.

Doubting your skills and value as a writer is something EVERYBODY will go through at some point.

The writing world is scary.

It’s uncertain and that’s terrifying for me.

Not knowing how your audience will respond to what you put out there can be an agonizing thing to fret about.

The writing journey can be compared to riding a rollercoaster blindfolded and backward.

You have no idea what the hell is going on.

You’ll be up at one moment then you’ll hit your lowest low and there is no rhyme or reason.

The worst part is you are blind, you have no idea if you’ll ever make anything of yourself, and you don’t know how long this ride is.

However, the worst part is also why you’re on the rollercoaster.

You’re on the rollercoaster backward and blindfolded of your own free will.

It’s empowering to know you have put yourself in a difficult situation and are determined to see it through.

To be comfortable in yourself you need to. . .

Understand the Roots of Self-Doubt

Self-doubt is a result of various factors interplaying.

Once you understand each you can learn to point them out.

Acknowledging these reasons makes the feelings of self-doubt less spiky.

Fear of Failure and Perfectionism

If you are new to writing it’s extremely difficult to not be terrified of completing your first few pieces.

This is because you KNOW you don’t know enough to create a masterpiece but you can’t help but feel inadequate because when you release your writing you WILL fail.

That’s terrifying.

The brain deals with this fear by creating a mindset that delays this failure.

Perfectionism.

Meticulously going over your writing for ‘improvements’ and never being ready to finish it is just a distraction you do to yourself so you can delay the fear of failure.

Failure is normal.

It’s even encouraged.

If you don’t fail with your writing you don’t know what you don’t know.

The more you fail the more you understand what you don’t understand.

Which makes you a better writer.

You CAN’T become a better writer by passing with flying colors.

You NEED to write terrible stories.

Failure is REQUIRED.

Perfectionism and the Fear of Failure

Extrinsic Vs Intrinsic Motivation

When we understand motivation there are two ways you can be motivated.

Externally sourced motivation.

and

Internally sourced motivation.

Externally sourced motivation is stuff like what your parents will think about you, what the numbers say, and how people respond to your writing.

Externally sourced motivation is interchangeable with external validation.

They’re the same thing.

Intrinsic motivation however is stuff like the way you feel about your novel, how fulfilled finishing projects feels, and the pride you have in your work.

These two motivators are VERY different.

Often when you find yourself in the depths of self-doubt you are focused on external validation.

You are focused on how your writing will be received.

The thing about external validation is you have 0 control over it.

None.

You can’t control how people think (well at least I can’t and if you can you should be studied).

Intrinsic motivation, how you feel, IS under your control.

You CAN control whether you feel proud of yourself or not.

Great Stoic leaders of old know this fundamentally.

It is not in our control to have everything turn out exactly as we want, but it is in our control to control how we respond to what happens.

Epictetus

You NEED to be concerned with what is in your control.

What you can control is how you feel.

Focus on intrinsic motivation rather than external validation.

Imposter Syndrome

Imposter syndrome is when you constantly feel your success is not deserved or has been legitimately achieved, you feel like you’ve been given success by accident, by the Gods.

This persistent feeling of not being good enough is sure to sprout self-doubt in your writing.

In the writing world, imposter syndrome is where you are complemented on your work and don’t feel you deserve the credit, it’s where you are embarrassed to even share your work because who are you to write?

Imposter syndrome is common, especially among successful writers.

Neil Gaiman, a legendary writer, and creator of epic stories such as Coraline and The Sandman Comics struggles with imposter syndrome.

He CONSTANTLY feels despite his success he is one step away from being found out as a fraud.

It’s common and normal.

However, it’s not helpful.

The best way I have found to combat imposter syndrome is regular journaling.

Being able to go back over my past journal entries I can see just how much work I have put into my writing and can take pride in it.

Try it out.

In Conclusion. . .

There are so many reasons why you are self-doubting your writing that it’s completely normal.

I hope however our discussion of;

  • Fear of Failure
  • Perfectionism
  • Extrinsic vs Intrinsic Motivation
  • Imposter Syndrome

has helped you in some way and hopefully can deal with your self-doubt.

You’re awesome! Keep writing, the world is better off for it.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Perfectionism and the Fear of Failure

By Eamon on

A term that has become synonymous with any sort of meaningful work these days is perfectionism.

Perfectionism is the constant chasing of a perfect or ideal product often at the expense of your own output.

This rather nasty mindset WILL affect everybody at some point.

Taking 23 years to finish your first draft of your novel IS PERFECTIONISM

If you won’t date before you are ready too, THAT’S perfectionism.

Even putting off starting that project you’ve always wanted because you’re ‘not ready’ IS perfectionism.

Perfection Is A LIE!

Paralysis by Analysis

Constantly comparing yourself and your accomplishments to a perfect scenario is one sure way to hit writer’s block.

The problem with the idea of perfection is that it NEVER occurs naturally.

Anything considered completely perfect is actually a horrifying thing.

A perfectly round sphere is terrifying.

Perfectly white rooms are terrifying.

The peak perfection of anything you consider worthwhile is a terrible thing.

Imperfections are what MAKES your work.

This is because when you push the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is considered wrong you create art.

Art can NEVER be perfect.

Someone will ALWAYS have something negative to say about anything.

A great way to put this into perspective is to go online and read 1-star reviews for your favorite books, everything they have to say is complete nonsense to you but is an interesting well put together comment in their eyes.

Your perfect is NEVER the same as someone else’s perfect.

This is something I have only come to terms with recently.

I’m guilty of putting off starting things forever and ever because I’m ‘just not ready’ so start them.

This point of view springs from the idea that what I consider a ready writer, is the same as what you think makes up a ‘ready writer’.

Obviously, believing in this lie leads to paralysis by overanalysis, where I’ll go months without creating ANYTHING because “I’m just not ready”.

The thing is. . .

You’ll NEVER be Ready

Waiting for the ‘perfect’ time for anything is the same as asking for a sign from God himself before you start your day.

It just doesn’t make sense.

What I’ve come to understand about my writing is the MOST important part is showing up.

Showing up

Every,

Single,

Day

Rather than focusing on how good your work is or how it compares to others in your field, it’s so much more valuable to make sure you are just showing up.

A common phrase in recovering alcoholics is that

“You can only control the first drink”

Similarly, in your writing, you can only control whether you show up or not.

That’s it.

You don’t control how good your writing is.

You don’t control how many ideas come to you.

And you DEFINITELY don’t control if you’re ready or not to write

So rather than worrying about the finished product and getting paralyzed with fear focus on showing up every day, focus on controlling yourself enough to stick with your work, and the quality WILL follow.

The biggest block to showing up every day is. . .

The Fear of Failure

The thing is creating is a very vulnerable act.

Putting something you care about in front of impartial eyes is extremely daunting because once they react to your writing, you’ll know EXACTLY how good your work is for that person.

This aspect is terrifying for perfectionist artists, therefore perfectionism becomes a coping mechanism by which keeping your work to yourself because it’s ‘not good enough’ is not a matter of care for the reader’s experience but rather a desperate attempt to save their own feelings.

People are going to not like your writing.

It’s just how these things go, some things are just not someone’s thing.

And that’s ok.

Because there will be just as many people who absolutely adore your work.

Who are you to decide how good your writing is, when it’s different for everyone.

So the noble thing to do is to just put yourself and your work out there, consistently, no matter the feedback.

Another way to think about it is if 6 months from now god forbid you are terminally ill will you be content with all your unfinished projects? or would you be wishing with every fiber of your being that you just put yourself out there and wrote every day?

So, just do it.

Write every day.

Share your writing.

Make this world a little bit more interesting with your unique writing flair.

I thank you for your attention.

Good Luck and Get Writing 🙂

I write lots of stuff for writers who want to improve their writing, here’s a post about the power of writing with constraints;

Writing with Constraints: Embracing Limitations for Creativity

Writing with Constraints: Embracing Limitations for Creativity

By Eamon on

Although seemingly unproductive adding constraints to your writing WILL increase your creativity by tenfold.

Writing constraints are when you add restrictions such as word limits or time limits to your creative writing.

They are intentional limitations you place on the writing process that will specifically target a slump or low point in your creative ability.

There is a paradoxical relationship between creativity and constraints.

It only makes sense that adding limits to your writing will limit what ideas you can come up with because they have to specifically fit into the box you set.

In practice, however, the effect is the opposite.

When a creative person is given a restraint they have to come up with a way to fulfill their writing given they are limited in some way.

This FORCES the writer to use creative thinking and push to find innovative solutions and think outside of the box.

The BEST Writing Constraints

There are three main writing constraints I use to stimulate my creative senses;

  1. Time Constraints
  2. Word count limits
  3. Theme-Based Writing

Time Constraints

There’s a ‘law’ of reality that EVERY writer should know, it is called Parkinson’s Law;

Parkinsons’ Law is the idea that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion.

This idea explains procrastination PERFECTLY.

If you find yourself putting off a task until the last moment before the deadline, that’s Parkinson’s Law in action.

That’s why if you have a writing project without a deadline you will find yourself procrastinating about it more often than when a deadline is set for its completion.

Adding a specific time frame to your writing WILL force you to complete your project within the time frame, it’s just how it works.

There are a lot of different time frames you could pick depending on your writing speed.

However, you want to be setting time frames that CHALLENGE you but are still practically achievable.

For example, you COULD say you must complete an 80,000-word manuscript for your book within 24 hours and could complete it but it’s just not a sustainable practice.

Setting time frames and achieving them is practicing the art of finishing projects that WILL build your content library and your writing skills.

Word-Count Limits

Parkinson’s law comes in handy with this limit as well.

Remember, Work expands/ shrinks to fill the space allotted for its completion.

So when you set yourself a word limit you are forced to come up with creative ways to say more with fewer words, which is just a valuable writing skill in itself.

Similarly, word-count limits will force you to distill your message down to the bare bones and create a body of a story that fills itself right to the restriction.

This limit helps you practice the art of avoiding verbosity (using more words than needed).

Creating succinct and meaningful writing is a skill I am investing in daily.

Set word limits.

Theme-Based Writing

Restricting your writing to a theme such as a specific story structure, genre, or message forces you to look at that theme with creative eyes.

The way you are forced to look at a theme builds respect and passion for that theme.

Eventually, if you repeatedly explore unique themes you will have built a creative repertoire of ideas to build from.

I have recently started drawing and sketching, specifically creature design for my creature horror fiction and a pitfall new artists fall into all too often is they try to draw from their imagination but because they haven’t studied any models of anything their drawings are terrible.

Creating terrible things is painful but is a good indicator of what you don’t know.

The artist who tried to create their idea struggled. They had nothing to compare it to because they were new to drawing.

It works the same way for beginner writers.

They jump into writing their 400-page novel creating links between lots of different ideas when they’ve never actually explored one of them.

Restricting yourself to specific themes deletes this lack of knowledge.

The more topics you explore with your writing the larger your mental bank of ideas grows and becomes accessible for your writing.

In Conclusion. . .

There are so many benefits to these three writing constraints you are GUARANTEED to benefit creatively from any one of these limits;

  1. Time Constraints
  2. Word count limits
  3. Theme-Based Writing

Try out one limit and if it works for you try the others, I’m sure you won’t regret it.

Get out there, get creative, and get writing!

I talk about loads of stuff to help you as a writer here’s my most recent post about why you should use a writer’s sketchbook;

The Writer’s Sketchbook: Infinite Inspiration

The Writer’s Sketchbook: Infinite Inspiration

By Eamon on

You guys NEED to be getting a sketchbook for your writing. I have never felt more free to express what it is I’m trying to write by visually displaying the chaos in my brain.

A writer’s sketchbook is what you can use as a writer to get words onto the page. It’s not a means to write your stories but it does efficiently get ALL of your thoughts circling in your brain somewhere.

Once your ideas are trapped on the page you can go over them with a fine comb brush and pick out the gold.

I have recently begun a writing challenge I created called Tiles of Terror.

Tiles of Terror is where I use a tile from my bathroom to come up with a short story, one tile, and one short story a week.

This is how I am going to actually write my horror stories more.

The first time I used this sketchbook/ notebook was for this project.

Before getting the scribbles onto the page I had no real idea of what direction I was going, after using it ONCE I have seen benefits.

Creating Your Writer’s Sketchbook

It’s easy to get finicky with your book, the paper, and your pens, trust me I know.

That’s all just procrastination.

Focusing on the tools that you are going to create with IS NOT CREATING!

Creating is creating.

So, I want you to find the first notebook you have available.

It doesn’t matter if it’s partially full, rip out the pages.

If you have to just use loose-leaf paper.

You mustn’t spend too much time THINKING because the more you think the less you write.

One thing that you may want to consider is what sort of style you will sketch with.

You could be completely sketched, completely written, or a mix of both.

I find it incredibly powerful to have rough ideas for your story mixed in with loose sketches of the vibes you’re going for.

Benefits and Tips for Using Your Writer’s Sketchbook

Using this method is incredibly empowering.

Knowing that your ideas and sketches are completely your own, they don’t need to ever see the light of day creates a lightness and playfulness that often straight writing lacks.

Something you will find incredibly useful for sketching out your ideas is that your ideas are now out of your head.

They’re there.

On the page.

This means you can come back at any time and relive these ideas, which creates an infinite source of motivation and inspiration.

Why would you not use it for that benefit alone!?

You need to be very careful that this playful sketching and exploration of ideas doesn’t take away from your writing time.

Stephen King said something like you should be CONSTANTLY reading to become a better writer, but your reading should NEVER take away from your writing.

Because writing will make you better at writing.

It really is that simple.

In Conclusion. . .

I really hope I have persuaded you to take up your own writer’s sketchbook.

If you have tried this method out, which I highly recommend you do I would LOVE to see how you’ve set up your own pages.

Thank you ever so much for reading.

Get writing 🙂

If you enjoyed this post check out this one about how and why you should be writing from life;

Write from Life: Crafting Authentic Narratives that Resonate

Write from Life: Crafting Authentic Narratives that Resonate

By Eamon on

There are a few great pieces of advice beginner writers are given, my favorite of which is to write from life.

“Write from life” otherwise known as “write what you know” is a timeless piece of wisdom that still has plenty of adage.

It’s a principle that transcends genres and styles, urging writers to draw from their own experiences and emotions to breathe authenticity into their narratives.

Authenticity Through Reality

Worldbuilding is a very difficult thing for beginner writers especially to approach.

Luckily, there’s a way to build without the stress of planning.

Writing from life!

Writing what you see around you, and what you experience with different people is the best way to create an authentic world because it IS authentic it is the ONLY reality there is (that we know of).

Using your own emotions and experiences taps into a universal human truth of your experience.

Your writing is bound to resonate with other people because you are explaining their version of reality through your own truth.

Once you can gain authenticity with your readers, they’re hooked.

Creating an authentic reading experience is all we could ever ask for with our writing.

Write from your reality.

Mining Memories for Richness in Narrative

The hidden beauty of your daily experience is that it has sensory details built into the experience.

Noone has to describe the smell of smoke before you realise your house is on fire.

There is great power in actually stopping and witnessing the sensory details of your daily experience.

So use your personal experiences when describing sensory details, it will make the description that bit more interesting.

Another great way of using your memories of experience is finding common truths behind them.

Like experiences with ex-relationships may uncover a secret truth of what makes a person a bad spouse.

Truths like this can be transferred into themes that you can use in your writing.

Embracing Vulnerability for Connection

Having the courage to share your own personal truths is incredibly vulnerable.

Be sure to be vulnerable because that will inevitably open a connection between yourself and your reader.

To be vulnerable is to be authentic.

Writing from this place will only result in a compelling narrative.

In Conclusion. . .

Writing what you experience is THE best way to create an authentic connection with your reader and craft compelling narratives.

Thanks for Reading and Happy Writing 🙂

If you like this post I’m sure you’ll love this one about creating haunting villains;

Creating Haunting Characters: Monsters and Villains

Creating Haunting Characters: Monsters and Villains

By Eamon on

There’s truly nothing like an effective villain or monster. The feeling you get when you first encounter characters such as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Jigsaw or Hannibal Lecter is second to none.

I know especially as a younger teenager haunting characters such as It’s Pennywise and Aliens Xenomorph greatly influenced my writing of creature horror.

There’s something so alluring about a genuinely evil embodiment of fear and terror.

Creating your own haunting and memorable villains is a great way to embody fear and evil in your stories, which will have a greatly contrasting effect with your protagonist.

So here it is, some of my favorite techniques to create chilling characters that blend the supernatural with human fear and vulnerability.

The Psychology Behind Chilling Characters

In their essence, truly terrifying characters are the embodiment of common fears among humans.

These are called Primal Fears.

Primal fears are what kept our berry-gathering relatives safe from whatever they had to deal with back then.

Luckily for us, nature decided we still need those fears for our safety.

This is where great writers tap into these fears to create terrifying characters.

A few primal fears are;

  • Fear of the Dark
  • Fear of Heights
  • Fear of Snakes/ Spiders
  • Fear of Enclosed Spaces
  • Fear of Loud Noises
  • Fear of Predators
  • Fear of Abandonment
  • Fear of Drowning/ Fire

All of these primal fears can be traced back to stimuli in our hunter-gatherer relatives’ environments.

This is how producers create terrifying villains, they mix one or more of these primal fears to elicit a genuine fear response in us.

For example, the infamous jumpscare.

Jumpscares are when the viewer is treated to something jumping at their face paired with a loud noise that is completely unexpected.

This fear tactic works with the fear of loud noises, predators, and enclosed spaces to a degree.

Thus, creating a truly visceral fear reaction for poor viewers.

The interesting thing to note about jumpscares is that the thing jumping at you (the villain) doesn’t need to be something scary.

A good example I hate to say was in the Nun 2.

There’s a scene at the start of the film where the character is in a library in a basement sorta thing. The scene is silent when suddenly a soccer ball is kicked at a window making a large bang.

This scared the daylights out of me.

However it is important to note that fear is a response to a perceived threat, not necessarily an actual threat.

This is where creepiness comes in.

The Science of Creepiness

There’s a trend at the minute on TikTok around the Uncanny Valley concept.

Uncanny Valley is about things that look human but we can tell there’s something slightly off about them.

For example, the characters in The Polar Express have this eerie quality about them.

But why does this creep us out?

There’s nothing particularly scary about most of these things yet it is incredibly uncomfortable to look at.

This is because of how our brain processes danger.

The brain is always monitoring our environment for potential dangers, that’s why you can feel something is wrong before you even see the threat, your brain is always working.

When your brain comes across something that it’s not sure whether it’s a threat or not it will default to labeling it as a threat.

So we consider things creepy when they seem to be neither positive, negative, or neutral.

This is why when the brain notices something different about a character’s face such as in Uncanny Valley posts, you become creeped out/ uncomfortable.

Putting it Together

When crafting your villains if you want to elicit fear in your audience use primal fears and the science of creepy to create effective monsters.

You want your villains to have an immediate effect on your audience without even understanding their motives yet.

You can use primal fears by designing your villains to specifically target some primal fears.

For instance, Dracula targets fears of the dark, snakes/ spiders, enclosed spaces, and predators.

If you craft your character around a primal fear your readers WILL have an emotional reaction.

Similarly, use the power of creepiness to unnerve your readers.

Using Dracula again in Bram Stoker’s first descriptions of Count Dracula he is described as a thin pale man, with a long white mustache, pointed ears, and sharp teeth.

The addition of pale skin and long gangly limbs creates an image of a creature that is human adjacent but there’s something not quite right.

Use these techniques and scare the daylights out of your readers on a subconscious level.

Monstrous Depth: Building Multi-Dimensional Monsters

In their essence, effective villains are terrifying because of how close they are to me and you.

A great monster design highlights the similarities between this symbol of chaos and your identity.

A perfect example is Bruce the Shark from Jaws.

Bruce, the great white shark that is the monstrous man-eating creature for the Jaws franchise is all and all an embodiment of chaos and rage, however, the shark is given the human-like quality of intelligence.

This monster is a little too self-aware it acts in ways that give the audience a sense of intelligence.

Our self-aware intelligence mirrored in this monster is greatly unnerving.

For a great monster design, there needs to be a balance between malevolence and complexity.

Characters like Dracula, Jaws/ Bruce, and Frankenstein’s Monster walk the line between monstrousness and intelligence, that’s a major factor why they are so terrifying.

Adding Depth

The art of a great character design is the additional depth the monster is given.

Whether, you understand exactly how the villain is created such as in Frankenstein, or do not even know what the creature looks like such as the monsters from Bird Box, the additional information we are given as readers adds to the effect of the monster.

A common means of establishing a villain is to give them an empathetic backstory to contrast with their actions, which is greatly effective when considering monster design.

Make sure your characters are purposefully fed the backstory of your monster in as much or as little as you intend.

However, your details NEED to be purposeful, always anchoring on your primal fears a terrifying monster is bound to be created.

In Conclusion. . .

To recap the key techniques that can elevate your character development to spine-chilling heights;

  • Leverage the psychological impacts of primal fears
  • Use creepiness to unnerve your readers
  • Balance malevolence with intelligence
  • Create an interesting backstory to add depth

Finally, as you immerse yourself in the creative process of crafting characters that send shivers down the spine, embrace your creative instincts.

Push the boundaries of conventional storytelling, challenge yourself to subvert expectations, and let your imagination run wild. In the realm of haunting characters, there are no limits — only unexplored territories waiting for your unique touch.

So, fellow writers, as you venture forth into the realms of the unknown and the terrifying, remember the power you hold to create characters that linger in the shadows of your readers’ minds.

Embrace the fear, weave the supernatural with the human, and let your creativity be the guiding force in your pursuit of crafting truly haunting characters.

The world awaits the birth of your literary specters — may they haunt dreams and captivate minds for generations to come.

Happy Writing 🙂

If you enjoyed this post I’m sure you’ll love this one about effective worldbuilding;

Writing Effective Worldbuilding: The Power of Cow Tools

Writing Effective Worldbuilding: The Power of Cow Tools

By Eamon on

Worldbuilding is an incredibly satisfying endeavor when done correctly for both the writer and the reader.

In fiction having an immersive and interesting world is critical for creating believable situations.

Luckily, there are various tricks you can do to create an immersive world without much explanation.

Summarising all of these tips best is the cartoon Cow Tools

What is Cow Tools?

There’s a comic that is a perfect example of how to create interest and immerse your reader into a world.

Cow Tools

It’s glorious.

Cow Tools is a single-panel cartoon by Gary Larson published by The Far Side in October of 1982.

The cartoon was released as just a joke for the newspaper.

However, the comedy in the image is rather hard to understand. The cartoon confused so many readers that on mass they wrote or phoned into the newspaper seeking an explanation of the joke.

The idea of dialing a number, waiting, and asking a human being to explain a joke is the funniest thing to me.

Nevertheless, Cow Tools became somewhat of a meme before the internet was really a thing.

The image drove people crazy, and mystery created about what the other three tools meant was a feedback loop that was never closed.

Which made many many people come up with their own meanings for the panel.

The creator of the panel even did a press release about the image saying that it was nothing more than a silly image that wasn’t really a joke or had any particular meaning.

This is where Cow Tools becomes incredibly useful for us as writers.

The Power of Cow Tools

The fact that the meaning behind the image is not apparent at first glance is what makes this such a potent example of worldbuilding.

The scene revolves around a cow’s creation of their own tools, one clearly resembling a familiar human device, a saw.

Next to the saw is something resembling a cane or a walking stick of some kind.

Because two of the four items have some sort of foggy meaning to us it primes our monkey brains to think that the other two ‘tools’ must have some sort of human equivalent.

When you become invested in the meaning of these items you become sucked into the world of the creator.

What are Cow Tools?

Are they used for something?

Do humans exist in the world of Cow Tools?

The act of being sucked into a piece of content is exactly what we want to replicate for our writing.

Writing Cow Tools

The power of Cow Tools is what we want to duplicate in our fiction.

So, how do we do that?

To write like Cow Tools you need to understand one thing.

Often the best worldbuilding is the details your audience comes up with.

This is so so so valuable I’m going to even bold it this time.

Often the BEST worldbuilding is the details YOUR AUDIENCE comes up with.

It’s understanding that your world is yours as much as it is your readers, so why not let them join in?

To get your readers to come up with their own meanings you have to do two things.

  • Include highly specific details for similar things such as the type of government or food source
  • Then include odd details such as specific way of life differences and DON’T include details of their meaning

This technique is so powerful because it’s able to immerse your readers into your text by giving the impression that you know EXACTLY why every detail is in your world, making them assume that the things you write are all connected in some way.

Use this technique and I GUARANTEE you will create more immersive worlds for your audience.

Geneuinly, thank you so much for your attention.

Happy Writing 🙂

If you enjoy writing tips my content is all of that, so check out this post about the art of effective dialogue;

The Art of Effective Dialogue

The Art of Effective Dialogue

By Eamon on

Authentic dialogue is one of the hardest but most satisfying parts of writing fiction.

Creating a world where your characters form their own dialogue is the writer’s dream. Luckily, crafting such dialogue can be achieved by understanding a few basic concepts.

Concept 1. Characters are NOT people

People that you talk to every day are riddled with flaws. Talking to another person doesn’t often have a beautifully articulate exploration of themes but rather each person is barely making sense whilst also being crippled by filler words like umm and ahh.

Your characters are NOT people.

They are characters that represent an idea or belief.

Once you understand this concept your dialogue becomes so much more authentic and flows easier.

You have to treat conversation in your writing as a conflict between two core truths, and whatever the results are come out in your dialogue.

Concept 2. Your dialogue MUST be Conflict

Anything that you consider entertaining is conflict.

No one wants to see two people agree completely about their ideas, it’s just not interesting.

Another way to think about it is something I was asked by this random guy on a school trip;

Isn’t every funny joke at someone’s expense?

The short answer is yes. Comedy comes from reverting expectations so when you talk about a scenario or an individual’s actions in a twisted way it is seen as comical.

This is conflict.

Where you mix a person’s actions with another person’s perception of what they should be doing is greatly interesting.

That’s why observational comedy is often hilarious because it has conflict.

Conflict is interesting.

Concept 3. Your Characters Should NEVER Say What They Think

No one knows exactly what they’re thinking.

By the time you understand what thought you were thinking you’ve thought of twelve more, it’s impossible.

So your dialogue should not be filled with deeply insightful developed thoughts.

Your characters should be as confused about their true intentions as you are.

Think of it like this, people are irrational creatures, when you have two irrational creatures undergoing conflict you’re not going to get a linear thought process.

An interesting way I’ve heard about approaching dialogue is that you first understand the basic truth about what your characters believe. The next step is in your dialogue, your conflict, between characters act as if your characters can say anything to get their truth across but under no circumstances are to actually state it.

Using this method screens your dialogue in a way that allows your characters to never say what they actually think. Try it out.

Concept 4. Dialogue is NOT just Discussion

A thing that easily stumps beginner writers is dialogue because they think it’s just two people talking.

In real life, it’s NEVER just two people talking.

Something like 70 percent of our communication is non-verbal, stuff such as body language.

Without body language description your dialogue will be feeling 70 percent weaker.

Who wants that?

Your dialogue NEEDS to have descriptions in it.

You need to be showing your reader how your characters are physically reacting to what is being said.

Of course, there needs to be a balance you can’t routinely shift from something spoken to a physical reaction.

But to have your characters breathe like real people, they need to react to the conversation.

A great way to do this I go over in my post about how to Show Not Tell.

3 Ways to Show, Don’t Tell

Basically, you can’t be telling the reader how a character feels. That’s a big no-no.

Rather, you should show your character frowning, shifting, and balling up their fists.

They HAVE to react.

In Conclusion. . .

There are four major concepts to creating authentic dialogue;

  • Characters are NOT people
  • Dialogue MUST be conflict
  • Your characters should NEVER say what they think
  • Dialogue is NOT just a discussion

I hope these four ideas have resonated with you in some way, let me know if I’m missing anything important.

Take these ideas into your toolkit and get writing.

Nothing will get you better at writing than writing.

Thankyou so much for reading! Happy Writing 🙂

If you enjoyed this writing tips post I’m sure you’ll love this post about creating compelling characters;

Crafting Compelling Characters: A Writers Guide

Crafting Compelling Characters: A Writers Guide

By Eamon on

People will forget what you did, People will forget what you said but they will never forget the way you made them feel. [Source]

All of the content you consume is because of compelling characters.

Compelling characters stick with you because they make you feel a certain type of way that resonates with your soul.

You watch TikToks of compelling characters for you.

The shows you watch are based around relatable characters to you.

Even the things you buy contribute to how you perceive your own character.

Characters are the basis of ALL compelling media.

This is why its SO important that the characters in your writing are both compelling and relatable.

Characters set the tone for your writing in a way that no prose could touch. A compelling character brings life to your fictional world.

And here’s how to craft ’em.

Understanding Your Characters

As a writer, it is your responsibility to KNOW the ins and outs of your character’s psyche. You need to go beyond what they like to eat and how they sound to others.

You need to REALLY understand them.

What makes them tick?

At the very core of every real-life person are a set of morals and guidelines that they are willing to abide by, in the fictional world this is known as motivations and desires.

A character becomes compelling when we as a reader realize their desires and see how they are motivated to achieve these desires. This is what makes you root for a character.

That’s how you can have reprehensible characters like Joker (specifically in the movie Joker) where you have an individual who kills people just because he can but the way the movie is set up is we understand the struggles of Arthur Fleck (Joker) and hence we end up rooting for a character that by any reasonable standards is completely monstrous.

That’s the power of compelling characterization.

So, understand your character’s desires and show us their motivations to achieve them.

  • Actionable Tip #1: Get one of your characters you are making to write down what is their deepest desire and what are the motivations for that desire.

Creating Dimensions

A common tip for writers with their characters is that your characters should have at least 3 dimensions.

In terms of characters’ dimensions, it’s ultimately about adding flaws to your characters which makes them more appealing.

It’s the simple but effective traits like a massive strong character being softspoken and gentle, or a confident character coming from a traumatic stifling childhood.

Adding flaws to your characters ultimately shows the reader that this individual is human, that they have a soul, this sort of characterization is SO useful in creating compelling characters.

  • Actionable Tip #2: What is one of your character’s vulnerabilities or flaws?

People are complex.

There’s no one simple explanation for a person’s actions, that’s why we’re so interesting to watch.

If you put interesting people into interesting situations the resulting scenario is going to be greatly intriguing.

That’s exactly what you’re doing when you add dimensions to your characters and put them together.

Here’s a quick summary of each dimension;

The 1st Dimension

The first dimension is all of the externals of a character, what we see. This includes behaviors, mannerisms, quirks, and habits.

If you fail to move past this dimension your characters feel flat and fake because they have no motivations and thus we don’t relate to them.

The 2nd Dimension

This is the backstory level. This is where all your character’s fears and weaknesses, hatred, and bias are under the mask that they show the world. Everyone has these fears and weaknesses that’s why when you add in these vulnerabilities you create relatability with the character which keeps your readers invested.

The 3rd Dimension

This level is the morality and truth of that individual. Your characters act in their world, not because of their backstory or their internal conflict but rather the deep-down truths they believe about themselves and their world. It’s that moment where a character is so happy with someone that they could squeeze the life out of them with a hug but decide not to, this is because of some truth they believe in that alters their actions

Create 3-dimensional characters if you want to create truly compelling characters for your writing

The Power of Character Arcs

Character growth is the heartbeat of any compelling narrative.

It’s the evolution, the transformation that a character undergoes throughout the story.

Understanding the significance of this growth is paramount to crafting a truly resonant tale.

Characters are not static entities; they should be dynamic and responsive to the challenges presented in your narrative.

Consider the journey your character embarks upon as a crucial element in shaping the overall narrative arc. Whether it’s overcoming personal fears, challenging belief systems, or adapting to unforeseen circumstances, character growth is the emotional core that captivates readers and keeps them invested in the story.

Crafting a character transformation requires finesse and authenticity. Readers should feel the emotional weight of the character’s journey, and for that to happen, the transformation must be both compelling and believable.

Start by establishing a solid foundation for your character’s initial state – their fears, flaws, and aspirations (which you will have done by now).

As the story unfolds, gradually introduces challenges that force the character to confront these aspects.

The key is to make the transformation a natural progression, rooted in the character’s experiences and reactions to the evolving plot. By doing so, you create a narrative that resonates with readers on a deeper, emotional level.

In essence, the power of character arcs lies in their ability to mirror the human experience.

As your characters navigate the highs and lows of their journey, your readers will find reflections of their own growth, making the narrative not just a story but a shared exploration of the human condition.

And that’s all we want from consuming any content. To have a shared human experience.

In Conclusion. . .

As we wrap up our exploration into character development, let’s revisit the key strategies that contribute to crafting truly compelling characters;

  1. Vulnerabilities and Weaknesses: Create relatability through showing faults of your characters
  2. Depth and Dimension: Avoid one-dimensional characters by delving into their backgrounds, motivations, and unique traits.
  3. Authentic Transformation: Ensure character growth is not only significant but also believable. Let their journey be a natural evolution rooted in the challenges they face.

As writers, our ability to breathe life into characters is both a privilege and a responsibility.

Delve deep into the intricacies of character development, treating it as an art form that requires patience, observation, and a profound understanding of human nature.

Challenge yourself to uncover the layers that make each character unique.

Explore your own emotions, fears, and desires. It’s in these intricacies that characters become not just figments of imagination but beings that resonate with readers on a profound level.

The writing process is a journey of discovery, and characters are no exception. Embrace the joy of experimentation and evolution. Let your characters surprise you, taking unexpected turns and revealing facets you hadn’t initially imagined.

So, fellow writers, as you embark on your literary ventures, carry with you the tools to craft characters that resonate, captivate, and linger in the hearts of your readers.

May your characters be more than words on a page; may they be vessels of emotion, conduits of connection, and, ultimately, the soul of your storytelling craft.

Thank you ever so much for your attention. Happy Writing 🙂

If you enjoyed this post I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one it’s about 3 steps to plan your short stories;

3 Steps to Plan Your Short Stories

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3 Steps to Plan Your Short Stories

By Eamon on

If you fail to plan you plan to fail.

I’ve found this advice really helpful when writing both fiction and non-fiction. Some people can run into their story headfirst without any thought but not me, I like to have a solid understanding of where I’m going. I NEED a plan

Planning your story immerses you in the world of the narrative and makes you aware of your story’s premise potential before the blank page strands you.

However, I do want to acknowledge that there is a balance between planning and creative input, by no means will I plan exactly what happens in the story, especially not the ending.

I like to work off a premise that I explore in my plan but the way the story ends up going is completely up to the creative process.

If you find this intriguing, here’s the three-step method I employ to plan my short stories.

Step 1 – Crafting a Solid Foundation: Ideation and Characterization

Two things are key to my writing planning, the idea and the characters. Once I’ve mastered these two concepts, the story flows effortlessly.

Generate Compelling Ideas

First of all we want to have a system to create our idea for our short story.

This optimized three-step plan allows you to sit down with no idea of what your story will be and emerge with a solidly planned narrative.

The two best idea genereation methods are Mind-Mapping and the What if? method.

Mind Mapping

Mind-Mapping for me is drawing links between two completely different things.

This happens by setting up my page with three or four random words that I then create bubbles attached to each word until there is a series of ideas that link all of the core words.

I find this method especially useful for creature design. I’ll just get 3 or 4 random animals and create an idea of some atrocity based off them.

Mind mapping can be any way that works for you, you can draw, scribble, sing, whatever gets the creative juices flowing.

The next method is the What if? technique.

The What If? Method

This method draws inspiration from the Marvel series of the same name. The series explores, in each episode, what would have happened if a different choice were made in a Marvel movie.

The concept of What if? greatly inspires me.

Some examples of What If’s you could use for ideas could be;

  • What if there were 5 species of humans?
  • What if Atlantis was discovered?
  • What if monsters were real?
  • What if there was a creature that were attracted to humans since the beginning of time, responsible for what is thought to be a natural process, death? (oooh I just made that up, might actually use that)

Once you’ve got an idea for a situation or an event from these two techniques you now want to select a central theme or concept.

Horror in particular works really well when the story is based around a central theme.

Some common themes for stories are;

  • Coming of Age
  • Good versus Evil
  • Survival
  • Revenge
  • Mental Illness

Find a central point that you want the story to pivot around and stick to it, it really doesn’t matter what central theme you pick most stories can be written with different central themes and still function similarly.

Now you should have a solid idea on core concept you want to develop your central characters.

Building Memorable Characters

The core of any story is good characters. If your characters aren’t relatable or believable then the whole story will crumble from the inside.

So you want to create a protagonist and an antagonist. Now a protagonist is usually a human but an antagonist can have more leniency, for example in horror an antagonist is often a supernatural entity or creature so the development of them as en entity can be altered but fundamentally they need to be believable.

The best way to make your characters believable and have a life of their own is establish their goals and motivations.

Understand what your character wants more than anything and what they are willing to get it.

The difference between an protagonist and an antagonist is an antagonist has less restrictions of what they will do to achieve their goals thats why they can be so scary, because they’re so unpredictable.

Now you understand your characters goals and motivations you’ll need to contrast them with the goals and motivations of other characters.

Ultimately, your characters should have such a life of their own that the interactions between these characters are extremely lifelike and interesting.

Creating character relationships and dynamics is crucial to having a well planned story as dynamics are what pushes the plot ultimately, through interpersonal actions.

Step 2 – Plotting the Course: Structuring Your Short Story

When understanding the structure of events of your story there are a couple of things you as the writer should know.

  • Mapping the Three-Act Structure

and

  • Outlinging key plot points accordingly

Mapping the Three-Act Structure

Storytellers and more importantly filmakers have a tendency of defining the three act structure as adamantly refusing its importance or swearing by it.

The three-act structure is a structure for your story that keeps your beginning seperate from your middle and your middle seperate from your end.

It does this by telling the story in three acts (Act 1, Act 2 and Act 3).

Each act is given a goal and purpose within the narrative.

Act 1 is the setup where it setsup the world, characters, character motivations, conflicts and obstacles to achieve their goals.

The second Act is the Conflict or Confrontation where the stakes for the character to achieve their goal is raised increasing conflict.

Act 3 is the resolution where the story is resolved with an achievement of the goal or a failure.

When planning our three acts all we really need to be worried about in our short stories is when and what each segment of the story is started and ended. These points are called plot points.

The first plot point is for the begining of the first Act. In our short story this is often the opening paragraph/ opening sentence, what initiates your story to happen?

You do this with each act asking yourself what triggers this act to start and for it to progress to the next.

Once you outline the rough sketch of each of your acts you can now move onto plotting.

Outlining Key Plot Points

Our key plot points are events that occur to mark a significant section of the story arc or as a turning point.

So you want to go through each act and add in your important plot points that should happen.

These points can be as genereal or specific as you want.

Personally I keep my plot points very general as I can have an understanding of where my story SHOULD go then when writing I find where the story NEEDS to go.

With that we move onto the final step of the three step planning process, the refinement.

Refining and Polishing: Editing and Final Touches

Refining and polishing your plans is about getting into the specifics of story, this step can be as in depth or general as you want for your personal writing style.

Effective Dialogue and Setting

Dialogue is the lifeblood of your characters, providing readers with insight into their personalities, relationships, and the world they inhabit. Ensure your dialogue feels genuine and serves a purpose, propelling the story forward.

  • Actionable Tip: Read your dialogue aloud to ensure its natural flow and rhythm, mimicking real conversations.

The setting of your short story is more than just a backdrop; it’s a crucial element that enhances the reader’s experience. Paint a vivid picture of your world, invoking emotions and immersing readers in the story’s atmosphere.

  • Actionable Tip: Utilize sensory details to evoke the five senses, allowing readers to visualize, hear, smell, taste, and touch the surroundings.

Fine Tuning and Revising

Now for the final touches is about revising your plan.

Take a step back and evaluate the overarching structure of your short story.

Ensure that each element serves a purpose and contributes to the narrative’s coherence. Check for any inconsistencies or plot holes that may disrupt the reader’s experience.

External perspectives can provide invaluable insights.

Share your short story with trusted peers or a writing group, seeking constructive feedback. Other writers can offer fresh perspectives and identify areas for improvement that you might have overlooked.

Also self-editing is a crucial skill for any writer.

Develop a systematic approach to review your work, addressing grammar, punctuation, and style issues. Pay attention to word choice and sentence structure to ensure clarity and impact.

By focusing on dialogue, setting, and the fine-tuning process, you’ll transform your narrative into a compelling and polished piece of work.

In Conclusion. . .

As we wrap up this exploration of the three-step process to plan your short story, let’s take a moment to recap the key elements and encourage your creative experimentation.

  1. Crafting a Solid Foundation: Ideation and Characterization
  2. Plotting the Course: Structuring your Short Story
  3. Refining and Polishing: Editing and Final Touches

Writing is an art, and your creative process is uniquely yours.

Embrace the opportunity to experiment within each step of your planning process.

Tweak, adjust, and tailor these guidelines to suit your individual style and the specific needs of your story. Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to storytelling.

Writing is a continual journey of growth and refinement.

No story is ever truly finished; it evolves with each draft and edit.

Embrace the learning process, seek feedback, and be open to adapting your approach. The craft of storytelling is as much about discovery as it is about creation, and your commitment to honing your skills is a testament to your dedication as a writer.

As you embark on your next short story, remember that each word you write is a step forward in your artistic journey.

Get Creating and Happy writing!

If you enjoyed this post I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one about 3 ways to better Show, Not Tell;

3 Ways to Show, Don’t Tell

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