​Today I’m going to finish talking about what makes great action scenes. In Part 1 of this double post, I covered stakes and variety. In this second part, I’ll finish with twists and consequences, and then provide a sample action scene using all four aspects.
 
(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

Today I’m going to be talking about what makes great action scenes. (If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

In any great action scene, your number-one duty as a writer is simply to keep your reader engaged—both in that particular scene and in anticipation for future action scenes. There are four elements that I want to discuss to do with achieving this. They are: stakes, variety, twists, and consequences.

​Today I’m going to be discussing what makes a great character and how to write them. By “great character” in this context, I’m referring to a specific type of character: one that readers want to invest in, empathize with, spend more time with, and read more of.
 
(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

Today I’m going to be discussing telling the truth in narrative writing. Now, when I’m referring here to “telling the truth,” I’m not talking about internal consistency within a book’s universe, and I’m not talking about giving a message or commentary within the book—although these are both very valid topics. What I’m going to be talking about today, however, is the thing that’s most often brought up in conversations about the ethics of writing, and that’s having your narrative itself tell the truth.

(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

Today I’m going to finish discussing how to write great stakes in your book. (Click here to read part 1 of this double post.) Stakes are the answer to the reader’s question of “Yes, but why should I care?”

(If you’d like to view this post and the previous one in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

​Today I’m going to be discussing how to write great stakes in your book. Stakes are the answer to the reader’s question of “Yes, but why should I care?” Stakes can be internal or external—and, for the most part, are both—and they should have a quite narrow focus; imminent, world-devastating effects; and finally, it should be possible for the protagonist to either win or lose.

(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

​Today I’m going to be discussing narrative promises. Have you ever read a book only to, by the end, feel let down, even betrayed by it? Have you ever read one that really builds up romantic tension between two characters, only to let it fizzle out with no real resolution? Or maybe you’ve read an action book and they’ve really built up to a heist, chapter after chapter, and then the next chapter’s just talking about “Oh yeah, that heist went well” without ever letting you read it? Or, perhaps, you’ve been following two groups of people who are at odds, clashing, and you know that they have to work together if they’re going to save the world, and then they all do a 180 and they’re perfectly fine with one another and there’s no conflict—what were you worried about? . . . Well, frankly, I don’t blame you if you feel betrayed or let down or confused or disappointed if any of these things happened, because what these things are is when a narrative does not fulfill its narrative promises.
 
(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

In my last post, I explained how to write great explicit and implicit exposition for your book. This time, I’m going to explain how to write non-exposition and a great way to combine all three forms of exposition together.
 
(If you’d like to view these two combined posts in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

​Today I’m going to be discussing how to write great exposition for your book. But first, let’s establish: what is exposition? It’s a literary device to communicate background information to your reader, whether about the characters, the setting, an event that happened before the story began that the reader needs to know about to understand the plot better, or etc.
 
(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)

All books have to start somewhere! But how can you write the opening of your book so that the reader is compelled to keep turning pages? Today I’m going to be discussing what makes a great beginning for your book.
 
(If you’d like to view this post in video format, click here. It’s part of our “Advice from an Editor” series on YouTube.)