OK, look. I’m not a full-time professional writer. (Yet.)
But people have paid me to write things, and over a few years of doing that, I think I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks. So I figured I may as well share them!
This is a hub for writing tips and resources of all kinds: worldbuilding, dialogue, characters, descriptions, and more. And, just to get this out of the way, it probably looks a bit like I’m writing things in a way that I hope will be good for SEO and maybe get some more attention. That’s because… well, I am doing that. Sorry!
This is still very much a work in progress – some articles are done and some are upcoming. If you see one you like the sound of in the upcoming category, let me know and I’ll try to get to it sooner! Or, of course, if there’s something you’d really like some tips about and it’s not there, just shout and I’ll see if I can think of anything useful to say about it.
Categories
I’ve divided things up into a few main categories, so here’s what you’ll find here:
- How to Build Your Fantasy World
- Creating Compelling Characters
- Making Your Prose More Interesting
- Planning and Structuring a Story
- How To Actually Write When Writing Is Hard
This is a living document, with the plan being to add more and more stuff whenever I think of something new to include!
Most important, though, is that you should write things your way. Yeah, there are ways people say you should do things, but those people are… well, sort of wrong. If you want people to read and enjoy your work, you might need to stick to at least some rules and conventions. But you should create what you want to create, and anything here is just a suggestion.
If you like what you find, put it into practice and see if it helps you write what you want to write. If you don’t, just don’t use it!
How to Build Your Fantasy World
If you’re creating a secondary world – that is, one that’s different from the real world we live in – you need to fill it up with Things! Even if your world only deviates a little bit from reality, you need to make sure your worldbuilding is consistent and serves the story you want to tell.
Articles in this series:
- Exploring the Implications of Fantasy Elements
How to change just one thing about your world and map out its effects on society. - Five Tips for Creating Unique Locations
Generate buildings, settlements, abandoned places, and natural features that make your world feel bigger and more magical. - Games You Can Play to Populate Your Universe (upcoming)
Simple, fun exercises and games that help you create worlds from scratch or fill in gaps.
Creating Compelling Characters
Characters are what most people remember about stories. At least, I think so. There are few stories that don’t have characters (although there are some that play fast and loose with the definition of a character), so creating characters who feel like living, breathing, interesting people is key to hooking readers on your work.
Articles in this series:
- How to Give Your Characters Effective Arcs (upcoming)
Tips for fitting each character’s journey into the overall structure and themes of your story. - Three Ways to Avoid Useless Antagonist Syndrome
Make your villains more compelling and ensure they don’t feel stale or ineffective. - The Animal Metaphor Trick for Entertaining Character Descriptions
One simple trick to make characters more vivid and memorable. - Five Exercises to Get to Know Your Characters
Quick and easy activities to help you learn more about who your characters are.
Making Your Prose More Interesting
Different stories require different voices. For some, the bare-bones Hemingwayesque route is ideal. For others, full-on purple prose might be what the story demands. Either way, the specific words you use to tell your stories matter.
Articles in this series:
- Synaesthetic Imagery
How to borrow from different senses to create unusual and evocative descriptions. - Three Things To Write Instead Of ‘Said’
Alternative options to overused dialogue tags, and indeed ways of avoiding dialogue tags entirely.
Planning and Structuring a Story
Are you a planner, a pantser, or a plantser? Do you like beat sheets like Save the Cat, or are you more a fan of the snowflake method? There are countless ways to outline, structure, and plan your story, and finding the one that works best for you can be incredibly helpful for untangling knots and making progress.
Articles in this series:
- Three Popular Methods for Outlining Your Story (upcoming)
A brief introduction to some of the well-known approaches to structuring and planning - The Vignettes And Themes Approach
A slightly different method for ideating a story from scratch or collecting snippets of ideas into a plan for a story.
How to Actually Write When Writing Is Hard
I know a lot of writers, and a lot of us have the same problem: we love writing, but it can be hard. Sometimes the words just won’t come – and that’s OK. Some days just aren’t writing days. But if you want to finish writing anything, you do sometimes just need to make yourself write words. (So unfair, I know.)
Articles in this series:
- Four Ways to Beat Writers’ Block (Maybe)
Simple suggestions for how to make yourself get started and keep going. - Things You Can Do Instead of Writing That Still Help You as a Writer (upcoming)
For when you simply can’t get the words out, a few things you can do instead that you don’t have to feel guilty about. - Why You Shouldn’t Feel Bad About Not Writing (upcoming)
Because none of us can be writing all the time, and sometimes you just need to remind yourself that that’s OK.
If you’ve found any of the resources on my site useful, you’re under absolutely no obligation whatsoever to support me in any way.
But, if you’d like to, you can!
Quick links to buy all my books, listen to my music, or donate to my Ko-fi page are all available on Linktree at linktr.ee/chrisdurston.
Chris Durston 