BLAH BLAH BLOG!

Welcome to our BLOG, your one stop shop for all things Storyteller's Mission related, as well as any writing resources, news and tips that we think you may find useful.

 

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Four Crucial Insights to Help Writers Create Better Characters Jul 28, 2022

As writers, we know that the most important part of any story is character. At the end of the day, our readers won’t care about the plot or about how cleverly your story is executed if they...

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Making Your Story Idea Commercial - Key Issues Writers Must Address to Succeed in the New Paradigm May 28, 2022

This special episode replays Zena's recent presentation as a guest on Writers Chat, where she was invited to speak on how writers can make their story ideas commercial. The answer, Zena says, is...

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5 Keys to Keeping Your Main Character Active and Not Passive Mar 26, 2022

One of the most important rules of story is that your main character must drive the action of the story. He cannot be passive. When you have a passive character, it means that things are happening...

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Five Clever Techniques to Make Your Audience Care Feb 26, 2022

One of the most important skills you can learn as a writer is how to draw your readers into your story and keep them invested all the way to the end. You start by creating a character that is...

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A Writer's Self-Worth: How Writers can Overcome Performance-Based Value - Part 2 Dec 25, 2021

When I wrote part one of this post, I had no idea that part two would land on Christmas Day. Christmas, where Christians celebrate the birth of the Savior, who came to deliver us from the just...

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A Writer's Self-Worth: How Writers can Overcome Performance-Based Value - Part 1 Nov 27, 2021

One of the things I’ve noticed about artists is that most of us experience intermittent bouts of “Existential Funk.” Call them crises if you like, but the gist of it is that we...

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The Hero's Paradox: Someone Flawed Plus Someone Great Oct 23, 2021

In my last monthly article, I argued that the world needs stories about heroes now more than ever. Why? Because heroes inspire us to be greater than ourselves, to surpass our own limitations or...

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Why the World Needs Stories about Heroes - Part 2 Sep 25, 2021

When you think about heroes, what comes to mind? Somebody from your family? Superman? Maybe an historical figure who did something great? For me, the word “Hero” makes me think of my...

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Why the World Needs Stories about Heroes - Part 1 Aug 28, 2021

This last week I got a call from a friend of mine who felt trapped in an existential funk. She said she hadn’t been able to write anything over the summer, not because she was out of ideas,...

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Using Concrete vs. Abstract Objectives for your Story Jul 24, 2021

One of the most important things for your story is to have an active (not passive) main character who has a clear, objective goal to pursue throughout the entire story. And yet, one of the most...

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The Number One Way to Alienate Your Audience in Story Jun 26, 2021

I recently received a private message from a writer friend who said she needed my help. Keep in mind, this gal is already a competent writer. She’s put in the time. She’s learned the...

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Writers: Avoid This Way of Confusing Your Audience in Story Apr 24, 2021

One of the things we don’t talk about enough in writing is how easy it is to accidentally confuse the reader. Have you ever been trucking along, totally engrossed in a story, and then all of...

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Creating Heroes: Ten Ways to Reveal the Heroic Qualities of your Character in Story - Part 2 Mar 27, 2021

In part 1 of this blog post, we discussed the first five things that you can do as a writer to help reveal the character qualities that a true hero must possess. Today, we’ll discuss the...

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Zena's New Monthly Column for The Write Conversation Blog Feb 27, 2021

I have an exciting announcement! As of February 27th, I became a new monthly columnist for TheWrite Conversation blog.I’m not kidding when I say this is a huge honor. This blog has been...

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