Category: Storyteller Secrets

The best plot twists feel inevitable in hindsight—not random, not cheap, not as if the author just threw a wrench into the story for shock value. A great twist doesn’t just surprise the reader; it recontextualizes everything that came before it. But writing a twist that actually works is harder than it looks. So how…

You start strong. The opening hooks readers, the world feels rich, the characters have clear goals. Everything is moving. And then… something shifts. The story slows down. The tension fades. The momentum that once pulled the reader forward evaporates, leaving behind a sagging, sluggish middle. Scenes start feeling repetitive. The conflict stalls. The book starts…

Some stories are complex. Others are just confusing. There’s a difference between a plot that keeps readers engaged and one that leaves them frustrated—between a story that challenges the mind and one that makes readers give up halfway through because they can’t keep track of what’s happening. A complicated plot isn’t necessarily a bad thing….

Readers love flawed characters—until they don’t. Give a protagonist too many weaknesses, and they become exhausting to read. Make them too self-destructive, and readers lose patience. Make them too selfish, and readers start wondering why they should root for them at all. So how do you strike the balance? How do you write a character…

You’ve done everything right. Your protagonist has a detailed backstory, clear goals, and a unique voice. They fit the genre, they have depth, they even struggle with inner conflicts. And yet… something isn’t Why Don’t My Readers Care About My Protagonist? (Continued) Introduction You’ve done everything right. Your protagonist has a detailed backstory, clear goals,…

A bad villain ruins a good story. If they’re too one-dimensional, they feel fake, like a placeholder rather than a person. If their motivations don’t make sense, they come across as cartoonish, evil just for the sake of being evil. Readers don’t fear them, don’t respect them, don’t even find them interesting. But the best…

Writing a character who’s smarter than you feels like a paradox. How do you make someone more intelligent than you say things you wouldn’t have thought of yourself? How do you craft a master manipulator, a strategic genius, or a detective who pieces together clues faster than you ever could—when you are the one writing…

You’ve done the work. You’ve built an intricate backstory for your protagonist—where they were born, what their childhood was like, the defining moment that shaped them, their deepest fear. On paper, they should feel real. But on the page? They don’t. The character moves through scenes, saying and doing the right things, but something’s missing….

Writers are constantly told to “find their voice,” to be unique, to write something that stands out. And that’s true—eventually. But there’s a trap that comes with chasing originality too soon. Some writers become so obsessed with being different that they forget to be good. They focus on unusual sentence structures, experimental storytelling, or hyper-stylized…

Some writers begin with a clear plot. Others begin with… everything but that. You have a world that feels real, filled with history, politics, geography. You have characters who feel alive, each with their own motivations, backstories, and voices. You have aesthetic, mood, and themes—you know how this book should feel, the type of story…