How do I keep the reader engaged in the middle of the story? How do I write the middle?

1. First Write the START and the END
2. Build Up To a BIG EVENT — the Middle of the Middle — Then Ride the Ride to the End
3. Design 3 GREAT SCENES (and No Bad Scenes)
4. Load Up on SETTINGS and SET PIECES
...

Napoleon, a survivor from the Mutiny of the Bounty, and a demonic killer in the cobblestoned streets of Toulon, 1793.

This is Part 7 of the story.
If you haven't read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , Part 5 or Part 6 yet, please start there.

A BLOW IN THE DARK

TOUL...

How do I captivate the reader by writing a great beginning? How do I start a story?

• Know the end - it will help you pick the best way to start.
  
  

• Zoom Out to decide which type of beginning the story needs. There are 7 types of story beginnings to hold the reader CAPTIVE:

  • CHARACTE
  ...

Napoleon, a survivor from the Mutiny of the Bounty, and a demonic killer in the cobblestoned streets of Toulon, 1793.

This is Part 6 of the story.
If you haven't read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , or Part 5 yet, please start there.

A SKIRMISH OF WITS

TOULON, NOVEMBER ...

How do I “stick the landing” and write a great ending to a story?

• Start with the end - then you know where the story is going

• Zoom Out to decide which type of ending the story needs. There are 6 types of story endings:

  • RESOLVED - tie everything up neatly

  • UNRESOLVED - lea

    ...

"Sweetie, look, this was just delivered. It's from ...," my wife reads the card while unboxing the birthday present, peeling off red gift wrapping, "... your Aunt Salomé."

"That's nice — wait, Aunt Salomé? But — "

The red gift wrapping blooms into an orange fireball.

The shockwave pushes me, s...

The short story "Valentine" was written in the "Pantser" method, one of the 3 ways to develop an idea into a story. That is: by the seat of my pants, using no outline, making it up as I went along. 

Of course, there are **spoilers**, so if you haven't read the story yet, do that first, using ...

The flash fiction story "Kill The Messenger" was written in the "Pantser" method, one of the 3 ways to develop an idea into a story. That is: by the seat of my pants, using no outline, making it up as I went along. 

Of course, there are **spoilers**, so if you haven't read the story yet, do t...

The flash fiction story “The Monsters” was written in the “Character” method, one of the 3 ways to develop an idea into a story. That is: taking a character through a transformation.

Of course, there are spoilers, so if you haven’t read the story yet, do that first, using the link in the firs...

1567
Edinburgh

“I’ll gie ye a skelpit lug!”

His father followed through on his promise, landing a slap on Brod’s ear so hard it made the inside of the young boy’s head ring like a great bell.

Brod began keening, tears running down his soot-smudged cheeks.

“Haud yer wheesht, and stop y...

Gunshots, then a loud crash, then the doors to the casino flew open, a man ran out, gun in hand, three men in pursuit, then more gunshots, the man crumbling into a shivering heap on the wet pavement under the yellow streetlight, rain mixing with dark blood, then the heap stopped shivering, and...

I want to write well rounded characters that go through changes — meaningful transformations. How do I write character arcs in a story? These are 12 aspects of writing character arcs:

1. Story Arc vs Character Arc
2. Idea to STORY: The Character Method
3. Lies and Truth
4. Bliss and Fears
5. Wants
...