This infographic provides a quick reference guide that you can use to help you get started with narrative writing.

The Creative Writing Prompts page includes writing prompts, workshop lessons, and writing exercises.

Notes from the book Write Like Hemingway by R. Andrew Wilson

In this lecture from Authors Publish, Emily Colin explains how to write opening pages that engage readers and publishers.

How to Write a Dynamic Act One from Authors Publish (2023)

In this lecture from Authors Publish, Madeline Dyer outlines several different types of narrative structures and shares resources for learning more about each.

The webpage includes the video and a link to the lecture slides. 

In this lecture from Authors Publish, Nev March explains how to write a story that has multiple layers. Includes tips for how to create a plot outline and keep track of subplots in a spreadsheet.

The lecture webpage includes the video and a link to the lecture slides.

Jeremy Bursey discusses the craft book Mastering Plot Twists by Jane Cleland, including the ideas of twist, reversal and danger.

Bursey also has a blog Drinking Cafe Latte at 1pm that features articles and information on craft books he has reviewed as part of his The Writers Bookshelf series on YouTube.

In this Authors Publish lecture, Emily Colin explains how to structure a story in which plot and character work together in an engaging narrative.

In this Authors Publish lecture, Cat Rambo explains multiple techniques for creating immersive worlds.

Cat Rambo's Writing Exercises

Author's Publish lecture page with video and link to writing exercises

In this Authors Publish lecture, Emily Colin explains how to revise a fiction manuscript. Her lecture and slides also include helpful tips to think about while writing a draft.

• Slides

• Lecture webpage with video & slides

Authors Publish Lecture by Emily Harstone

How to Revise for Publication: Getting Your Creative Writing Ready to Be Published from Authors Publish

2024 Guide to Manuscript Publishing: No Agent Required from Authors Publish

2024 Guide to Manuscript Submission: How to Find a Traditional Publisher for Your Book, 6th Edition from Authors Publish

See entire Brian Sanderson 2020 Creative Writing Lectures at BYU playlist - 14 videos, 60-75 minutes each

• My Philosophy on Teaching Writing (2 mins)

• Intro

• Plot Part 1 & 2

• Viewpoint & Q&A

• Worldbuilding Part 1 & 2

• Short Stories

• Worldbuilding Q&A

• Characters Part 1 & 2

• Character Q&A

• Publishing Part 1 & 2

Plot Part 2 video (1hr 10 mins):

• On discovery writing vs. plot outline

• Explanation of a plot outline

Authors Publish lecture by Wendy Chen

Authors Publish Lecture by Ley Taylor Johnson

Watch the Video (1 hour) & download the slides 

Book: How to Write a Dynamic Act One: A Guide for Novelists from Authors Publish

Authors Publish Lecture by Ley Taylor Johnson

Watch the Video (1 hour) & download the slides 

Book: How to Write a Compelling Act Two: A Guide for Novelists from Authors Publish

Essential Scenes in Act 2

• The New World establishes the external conflict and the protagonist’s goal.

• The Midpoint resolves the tension of the first half of the story.

• The New World, Twisted shifts focus to the protagonist’s character arc.

• Mistakes & Consequences forces the protagonist to confront their fatal flaw.

• The Act 3 Transition draws readers’ attention back to the main plot.

The New World

• introduces new setting and status quo

• Slowly builds tension and stakes

• Adds complications that set up future conflict

• Establish a pressing external conflict at the first pinch point

• Break down the protagonist's goal into smaller, actionable steps

• Maintain a clear chain of cause and effect

• What is your protagonist's new goal?

• What kind of challenges do they encounter in pursuing it?

• What kind of complications arise from their approach to these challenges?

The Midpoint - acts as a mini-climax and provides catharsis for the tension build up in the first half of the story

• Brings the current stakes to a peak

• Marks a tonal shift in the story

• Reveals the protagonist's fatal flaw

• Create a false victory/defeat that complicates (but doesn't change) the stakes

• Resolve the first external conflict

• Underline the protagonist's fatal flaw

• What major event alters the status quo?

• How is it the protagonist's fault?

The New World, Twisted - shows how the status quo of Act 2 has been corrupted

• Introduces the (new) status quo

• Offers a brief break in tension

• Focuses on the protagonist's development

• Split focus between external and internal conflicts

• Offer a break in tension using fewer action sequences

• Set up the protagonist's upcoming breaking point

• How has the protagonist's goal changed or become more complicated?

• How has their approach changed as a result?

• Why is it still doomed to fail?

Mistakes & Consequences - forces the protagonist to finally confront their fatal flaw

• Establishes your story's "rock bottom"

• Forces the protagonist to confront their internal conflict

• Acts as the climax of their character arc

•  Force the protagonist to make a mistake due to their fatal flaw

• Isolate them from other key characters

• Give them a realization about their flaw

• What major even disrupts the status quo?

• How does the protagonist come to recognize their fatal flaw?

• What realization do they have that allows them to overcome it?

Act 3 Transition

• Sets up the climax

• Marks another tonal shift

• Raises tension and stakes

• Establish the protagonist's new perspective

• Reiterate the stakes and primary external conflict 

• Create a "plan of action" to ground readers

• How does the protagonist's new perspective change their approach?

• What makes this approach more likely to succeed?

• How do they begin making amends?

Authors Publish Lecture by Ley Taylor Johnson

Watch the Video (1 hour) & download the slides 

Book: How to Write a Satisfying Act Three: A Guide for Novelists from Authors Publish

Essential Scenes in Act 3

• The Plan establishes the stakes and sets reader expectations heading into the climax.

• Contact with the Enemy kicks off the climax and ramps up tension as your protagonist moves toward their final challenge.

• Locking In the Character Arc confronts that challenge, giving your protagonist a chance to overcome their flaws and save the day.

• The Closing Scenes provide resolution to the story and bring everything to an end.

The Plan - "it all comes together"

• Outline what's at risk for the protagonist

• Provide a clear source of tension right away

• Balance tension and drama

• What is the major conflict awaiting your protagonist?

• What remaining obstacles stand between it and them?

• How are they prepared to face these obstacles?

• Who and what do they rely on for support?

Contact with the Enemy - "it all falls apart" - introduces complications to dramatically heighten the tension leading to the protagonist's final confrontation

• Kicks off the climax

• Disrupts the protagonist's plans

• Dramatically raises the stakes

• Accelerate the chain of cause and effect

• Bring in unexpected obstacles - eg. obstacles that arise due to gaps in the plan

• Fire your Chekhov's guns - any details that you have set up earlier in the story should be paying off right now

• What happens to interrupt the protagonist's plan?

• What impact does this have in the short term?

• How are they at a disadvantage for the climax? 

Locking in the Character Arc - "moment of truth"

• Take a step back and direct attention to the internal conflict

• Examine how they act under pressure

• Point where agency is demanded of the protagonist 

• How they react to the challenge is what finishes off their character arc

• Create a challenge around the tragic flaw - the challenge should feel genuinely threatening

• Slow down the pacing for self-reflection

• Base success around the character's skills

• What is the final challenge the protagonist faces?

• What is needed for them to overcome it? What do they need to understand/accept?

• How do they use their new perspective to win?

• What is the outcome (and cost) of their success?

Closing Scenes - "tying up loose ends" - leaves readers with a clear conclusion to all major plot lines & story questions

• Brings down tension and pacing

• Establishes the new status quo

• Ends the story

• Explore the world post-climax

• Establish the characters' new goals

• Take time to address remaining questions

• What is the status quo after the climax?

• What is the most notable difference from the start?

• What is the protagonist's biggest takeaway?

• How have other aspects of their life changed?

Narrative Voice: storytelling voice; "non-dialogue storytelling that communicates description, action, thought processes, and context to the reader in a manner that’s infused with the anchoring character/POV’s personality" 

from What is "Narrative Voice?" by Nathan Bransford

Literature Discussion Notes - Narrative Voice (Google Form)

Psychic Distance: the mental/emotional distance between the writer and the reader

Closing psychic distance creates intimacy → puts the reader directly in the writer’s head/body. In order for a reader to trust the author, there needs to be enough intimacy in the writing.

• the thoughts of a character

• sensory details - use the five senses (sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell) 

• dialogue

Opening psychic distance makes the reader feel further away from the writer

• Describing the action that is going on

• Giving information

see also The Making of a Story: A Norton Guide to Creative Writing by Alice LaPlante, pg 273-276

Authors Publish lecture by John Claude Bemis 

Watch the video & download the slides

my notes

Authors Publish lecture by Michael Kleber-Diggs about writing with poetic efficiency.

Quotes from Michael Kleber-Diggs:

• "Efficient writing is powerful writing"

• "Every word should matter"

• “Syntax, precision, clauses and phrases, what’s subordinate and what’s main, and how all of those things combine together, are an essential part of efficient writing.”

• Our writing should gain meaning by being concise, clear, specific, detailed, connect with readers, and emotional

• "Language can be concise and detailed"

• What you notice, what you sense, what you remember, how you felt, what you've learned by research, what you've learned by experience.

Michael Kleber-Diggs quotes about his own work:

• Chaotic transitions

• Distracted, fractured, not always linear — sometimes I want the reader to inhabit my perspective and the way I think about and write about things

• “Sometimes I’ll smooth a transition by adding words, and sometimes I’ll leave it chaotic, depending on what I’m trying to accomplish.”

• “Closeness [—psychic distance—] intimacy between me and the reader”