Write Your Novel
Step By StepFollow StoryWeaver's path of 200 interactive Story Cards from concept to completion of your novel or screenplay.
Every step of the way you'll know what you need to do and get examples of how to do it, continually evovling, expanding and improving your story.
You'll develop your story's world, who's in it, what happens to them, and what it all means.
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Author Archives: Melanie Anne Phillips
Tear Your Story Apart
By necessity, authors are so focused on what they are putting into their stories that they often don’t think about what isn’t there. Yet the early stages of story development only create a framework – a skeleton – and for … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Writing, Story Development
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Writing Stories with a Collective Goal
Some novice writers become so wrapped up in interesting events and bits of action that they forget to have a central unifying goal that gives purpose to all the other events that take place. This creates a plot without a … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Writing, Plot
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What Drives Your Main Character?
A story begins when the Main Character is stuck up in the highest level of justification. Nobody gets there because they are stupid or mean. They get there because their unique life experience has brought them repeated exposures to what … Continue reading
Posted in Characters
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The Master Storyteller Method
Perhaps the greatest hurdle in writing is the attempt to bring structure to a story without putting your Muse in a straight jacket. Often structure is brought into the picture too soon, clamping your passion into an iron maiden that … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Writing, Featured Articles, Novel Writing, Story Development
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Don’t Be Afraid of Story Structure
Our monthly ad for our all new version 4 StoryWeaver Story Development Software Get 25% off with coupon code sw25 You really ought to give it a spin. Try it risk-free for 90 days and if it isn’t for you, … Continue reading
Posted in Announcements
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Have Your Characters Write Their Own Life Stories
For your characters to be compelling, your readers will need to think of them as real people, not just dramatic functionaries or collections of traits. To help make this happen, have each of your characters write a short one-page autobiographical … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters, Creative Writing, Novel Writing, Practical Tips
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Use Nicknames to Enrich Your Characters
Nicknames are wonderful dramatic devices because they can work with the character’s apparent physical nature or personality, work against it for humiliating or comedic effect, play into the plot by telegraphing the activities in which the character will engage, create … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Writing
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Novels Aren’t Stories
A novel does not have to be a story. It can just be extremely free forms, such as in Virginia Woolf’s books where the entire narrative is a single subjective stream of consciousness. Other narratives e are simply explorations of … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Writing
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Be Your Own Critic Without Being Critical
Be your own critic without being critical Here’s how: First write a single descriptive sentence. Now look at that sentence not as an author, but as a reader or critic. You can see what’s there, but what’s not there? To … Continue reading
Posted in Creative Writing
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You Got Me! (Both Of Us!)
Arthur says: I’m a great Dramatica fan so I’m a bit reluctant to take up Melanie’s challenge to refute the Dramatica Theory. My question was virtually identical to Armando’s but he put it better. Theory without practical application is not … Continue reading
Posted in Dramatica
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