FightWrite™: Female Serial Killers
In this article, author and trained fighter Carla Hoch answers a writer's question about how to handle writing a female serial killer in their work-in-progress.
Evoking Emotion in Fiction: Seven Pragmatic Ways to Make Readers Give a Damn
Evoking emotion on the page begins with the man or woman at the keyboard. Dustin Grinnell serves up seven straightforward tactics for writing tear-jerking stories that make your readers empathize with your characters.
Learn Better World-Building Strategies Through World of Warcraft and the New Shadowlands Expansion
WD editor and fantasy writer Moriah Richard shares five unique ways in which writers can use World of Warcraft to better build their worlds—without playing the game.
Three Keys to Crafting Chemistry Between Characters
Romance author Michelle Major explains her three go-to tips for ensuring your characters have believable chemistry.
10 Tips For Writing a Family Drama Novel
Bestselling author Clare Mackintosh shares the 10 things she learned when writing a family drama and reveals what will be key when writing your own.
Inside the Mind of a Villain: 8 Journeys and Motives Behind Evildoers, Antiheroes, & Antagonists
Using fictional and human examples, Dustin Grinnell takes a deep dive into how and why evil develops in story and in real life and how you can apply these concepts when writing villains.
Vintage WD: It Starts With Voice
This WD article from 1993 offers an in-depth look at how a writer's voice makes or breaks their work and provides some tips that will help writers of all genres.
Not Just a Side Dish: How to Create Supporting Roles in Fiction
Heather Griffin shares her tips on how to create supporting roles in fiction that come off as more than just a flavorless side dish. Rather, supporting roles can sometimes steal the show.
3 Characteristics of Extraordinary Heroes From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World
According to literary agent Donald Maass, a protagonist is defined as the subject of a story, whereas a hero is someone with extraordinary qualities. Here, Dustin Grinnell offers examples of such extraordinary heroes from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and dissects what it takes to write them.
What They Don't Teach You in MFA Programs: 5 Rules for Writing Stories That Work
Bestselling author and creative writing instructor Chris Mooney shares his five rules for writing successful stories that they don't often teach in MFA programs.
Vintage WD: Just Say No
This August 1989 Writer's Digest articles encourages writers to say no to their characters—in other words, create compelling conflicts in their stories.
20 Ways How to Write Characters Better: Protagonists, Antagonists, Minor Characters, and More!
Here is the post you've been looking for: A complete guide of ways how to write characters better, whether you're looking to create protagonists, antagonists, or minor characters from a range of award-winning and bestselling authors.
Writing Multiple Points of View
Wendy Heard, author of The Kill Club, offers 5 tips for making writing in multiple points of view easier for you and more satisfying for your readers.
POV: Choosing Between First-Person and Third-Person
Choosing which POV (point of view) to write in can be challenging. Writing instructor Pooja Mittal Biswas shares her suggestions for choosing the best POV for your story and genre.
Gaslighting and Writing Villains Who Make Your Spine Tingle
Writing villains can be a challenge but one approach is having them use gaslighting techniques on their victims. Learn more from this excerpt from Fight Write by Carla Hoch.
Take Two: Creating Multi-Layered Villains You Love to Hate
The villains we remember most aren't just bad, they have layers of goodness weaved in. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman explains how every character can have their own antagonist within your story.
Three Ways to Discover Who Your Characters Really Are
Don't "create" characters; get to know them instead. John Jamison has used the power of story in various roles—from pastor to brand development consultant—and he has some unique methods for getting to know his characters.
Take Two: Improve Character Development by Putting Your Characters on a Therapy Couch
Before we can create rich characters, we need to understand their wounds and potential for growth. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman suggests using the therapy couch to improve character development.
How I Wrote My Son As the Hero of His Own Adventure Novel
When John Peragine's son became sick, turning him into the hero of a children's novel became part of the family's journey to healing.
Representation in Fiction: How to Write Characters Whose Experiences Are Outside of Your Own
As publishing endeavors to address inclusion and diverse representation in fiction, an inevitable question arises: Can authors write characters whose experience is outside of their own?
Third-Person Limited: Analyzing Fiction's Most Flexible Point of View
From fast-paced action to intimate drama, third-person limited POV can be adapted to any scene or situation.
4 Essential Steps to Making Your Protagonist Real, Even When They’re Nothing Like You
Writing your protagonist always requires deep thought and consideration, but crafting believable, realistic protagonists who are nothing like you presents unique challenges. Author Donna Levin offers four essential tips to help you work through these challenges.
No More Mr. Nice Guys: How to Write Flawed Characters & Antiheroes
Flawed characters and antiheroes make for fascinating protagonists—but their behavior can risk alienating readers. Follow this blueprint for flawed-yet-relatable heroes who can still provoke empathy.
Adding Dimension to Characters: 10 Sly Character Development Techniques
These underhanded character development techniques are designed to relax your “thinky” brain and to draw instead on your curiosity, intuition and slightly devious sense of play in order to help your characters reveal their own inner workings.