What are some problems with fight scenes? What happens if you go too quickly? Or too slowly? How can you slow the action down in a good way? What does slow action do to the tension within your story? And don’t forget about your character’s wounds!
What is a traveling chapter? And why do all books, regardless of genre, have them? What can you do to amp up your traveling, and make it interesting and compelling to your reader?
What is Intrusion and Liminal Fantasy? And why would you choose to mix the types? Why is Nico writing an intrusion fantasy? And what is his take on world-building? In the end, it’s all about writing a story that says something, has impact, and matters to your readers!
How did Nico get into writing fantasy? And what is the history of this genre? How would you write a classic fantasy story today? And should you have a distinct good versus evil plot? We dive into types of fantasy stories, starting with the Portal/Quest fantasy and how to immerse your reader, without losing them!
What is a sequencing issue, and why is it so bothersome to Mike (and Alida)? Why do they happen? And how should you address them? What tools do you miss out on when things are out of order? How can you use narrative to help craft surprise, and reveals? And what is the problem with delaying your dialogue tag? We leave you with ways we discover problems in our own manuscripts.
You have a draft, now how should you approach revising to your theme? Mike breaks down a way to approach your draft across multiple facets of your novel, and we talk about how it all works together. How do you transform description, action, and dialogue into a thematic powerhouse? By keeping your theme front and center! Now, go write it on a post-it note and stick it to your monitor!
I'm Alida
I help people express their gifts to the world.
I do not believe in formulas. I believe that the stories we are compelled to tell the world make demands on us, and it is our privilege to meet those demands in order to reach the most people in the most authentic and compelling way possible.
