Getting Wet

WATER is symbolic! You know that! We use water to bless, baptize, cleanse, and purify. Authors use a dunk under water to indicate a character’s spiritual change or spiritual rebirth! A character might: dance in the rain, indicating joy at their new lease on...

Stormy Weather

Weather is more than just the change of atmospheric conditions! It’s fraught with symbolism—especially bad weather. Need to portend a change? Use weather!  A few quick examples: The crack of thunder after a character’s ominous OR foreboding OR creepy...

Character Violence

BaM!  SmAcK! POW!  Violence! We love it! And in many genres it’s 100% necessary! Most of us include some type of violence in our novels. In literature, violence can be: thematic: Think Fight Club or The Old Testament or Heart of Darkness or The Things They...

Character Illness

Have you created a character who  sickens and/or dies? Or maybe a character—for plot’s sake—just has TO GO! Make it awesome by having their illness be SYMBOLIC or IRONIC or DIVINE . Writers often use illness to reveal a character’s: flaws or...
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