You've mapped out your story arc. You've nailed the beats. Your plot moves like a well-oiled machine. So why does your protagonist feel like cardboard? Here's the uncomfortable truth: most writers treat character development and plot structure as sep...
You've plotted your novel carefully. Your protagonist needs to infiltrate the villain's headquarters, but wait—wouldn't there be security cameras? Your detective suddenly knows something she couldn't possibly have discovered. Your hero makes a choi...
You're 30,000 words into your novel when it happens. The scene you're working on feels wooden. The dialogue sounds like robots reciting a script. Your protagonist's decision to confront their ex makes no sense given what happened three chapters ago. ...
You've written a brilliant setup in Act One—your protagonist finds a mysterious locket, your detective notices an oddly placed mirror, your hero receives cryptic advice from a stranger. Your readers are intrigued. Then comes your ending, and... cri...
You've written pages of dialogue. Your characters talk, they respond, they move the plot forward. But something's wrong—they feel like cardboard cutouts reading from a script. Every conversation is exactly what it appears to be on the surface. Your...
You're three chapters into your manuscript when you realize something's terribly wrong. The story feels flat. Scene after scene passes without building momentum. Your critique partner says "it drags," but you're not sure where or why. You know every ...
You're three chapters into your fantasy novel when you realize your protagonist's eye color changed from green to hazel. Your detective mentioned having a sister in chapter two, but your backstory notes say he's an only child. That magical artifact y...
You've written 80,000 words. Your protagonist has survived betrayal, loss, and impossible odds. Now you're staring at the final 10,000 words, and suddenly you're second-guessing everything. Should the ending be happier? Darker? More ambiguous? The mo...
You've printed out your Save the Cat beat sheet. You've highlighted, color-coded, and maybe even laminated it. You know your "Opening Image" from your "Dark Night of the Soul," and you're ready to write your novel. But then you sit down to actually d...
You've been planning your novel for months. You have character backstories, world-building documents, a color-coded spreadsheet tracking three intertwining plot threads, and a Pinterest board with 247 pins. But you still haven't written Chapter One. ...