Check your Story Pulse book cover - teal with a drawing of the heartbeat line and the heart
Check Your Story Pulse

be true to your story

Blog

Click a category to reduce the number of blog posts
Image Blog Categories
A portrait of a White person with a red question mark in place of the head.

Who is Driving Your Story?

Are you sure you've chosen the right protagonist for your story? Here's how to check.
A desk with a computer in the background and a set of headphones in the foreground

Writer's Toolkit #3: Podcasts for Writers

Here are my recommended podcasts for authors.
Two miniature people sitting on top of books. The woman has a ponytail and a yellow dress and is facing the man who is turned away. He has shot brown hair and a blue vest.

Don't Sabotage Your Hero: Common Protagonist-Crafting Errors

Avoid sabotaging your protagonist. Here's how.
A red pencil with a red eraser erasing an error on a piece of paper

5 Common Manuscript Mistakes

How to avoid making 5 most common manuscript mistakes.
A yellow traffic sign with an encircled letter 'i' against a green-blue abstract background

How to Avoid Info Dumps

Info dumps can stifle your prose and take the reader out of the story. Here's how to tackle them.
A woman in a pink dress holding a pink speech bubble in front of her face, against a green nature background

Don't Make These 5 Common Dialogue Mistakes

To craft great dialogue, avoid making these 5 common mistakes.
Two white speech bubbles against a turquise background - the left bubble is disintegrating

Dialogue in Storytelling

Dialogue can make or break your story. Here's why it matters.
the word 'story' spelled out in wooden blocks

But first, the story

Once your story is on the page, it'll make its own demands. Here's how to meet them.
A blue paper boat against a purple background

Objects in storytelling

Objects are powerful tools that elevate your storytelling to the next level. Here's how:
A mini figurine of a female explorer, sitting on a pile of books, looking through a telescope

Plot or Character?

On why all fiction is character-driven, but some stories have a stronger plot element.