From the writers of South Park:
Great stories don’t just stack events — they connect them:
👉 BUT something goes wrong
👉 THEREFORE something changes
Cause and effect beats coincidence every time.
Stop listing events. Start building momentum.
#writing #writingadvice #storytelling #DraftHappens
Companion books share a world — not a plot.
New protagonist. New arc. Same universe.
They expand a story without retelling it.
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The right ending doesn’t explain or soften — it lands. Precision, restraint, and timing can wound deeper than any description ever could.
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Alliteration is powerful — and obvious.
It draws attention to itself, which means it draws attention to the line.
Use it when you want emphasis. Not as proof you’re clever.
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Editing challenges the ego, but obscurity costs the work its purpose — publication is the reason revision is worth enduring. #WritingAdvice #RevisionProcess #AmWriting #WritersLife #PublishingJourney #DraftHappens
Chiastic structure mirrors ideas in reverse order (A-B-B-A).
Beginning reflects ending. Theme echoes itself.
Symmetry creates resonance.
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Both restraint and abundance are tools — clarity comes from knowing which serves the moment, and maturity is choosing deliberately rather than defaulting to excess or minimalism.
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Cliché Warning: “The city that never sleeps.”
If readers have heard it a thousand times, it won’t wake them up now.
Fresh language creates fresh impact.
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What a character wants, fears, and chooses under pressure naturally creates the story’s events — when character and plot are inseparable, the narrative feels inevitable rather than forced. #WritingAdvice #StoryCraft #CharacterDriven #PlotAndCharacter #AmWriting #DraftHappens
The Hook: Here's how to write one.
The Hook = Goal + Motivation + Conflict.
What they want. Why they want it. What’s in the way.
If one is weak, the story is weak.
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Inspiration follows momentum — showing up consistently and working through resistance creates ideas far more reliably than waiting to feel ready. #WritingAdvice #AmWriting #WritingMotivation #WritersLife #CreativeDiscipline #DraftHappens
Authentic writing draws its power from lived experience — without engaging with the world, stories risk becoming hollow, repetitive, and emotionally unearned. #WritingAdvice #AmWriting #WriteWhatYouKnow #StoryCraft #WritersLife #DraftHappens
A MacGuffin isn’t about what it is — it’s about what it makes people do.
Use it to drive choices, conflict, and momentum. If it stops mattering, the story stalls.
#WritingAdvice #AmWriting #StoryCraft #PlotTools #FictionWriting #WritingTips #DraftHappens
Focus creates power. Removing what the story doesn’t need sharpens pacing, clarifies intent, and forces what remains to carry real weight. #WritingAdvice #AmWriting #RevisionTips #StoryCraft #KillYourDarlings #FictionWriting #DraftHappens
Introduce new characters through how they matter to your protagonist, and the web of connections does the work for you. Less confusion. More clarity.
#WritingAdvice #AmWriting #StoryCraft #CharacterDevelopment #WritingTips #FictionWriting #DraftHappens
Pastiche is a creative work that intentionally imitates the style or techniques of another artist, genre, or period as a form of tribute. Unlike parody, it isn’t mocking—the goal is appreciation and stylistic exploration rather than criticism. #DraftHappens #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #Terminology
The Refusal of the Call matters because it reveals the hero’s fear, flaw, or wound. When they hesitate, we see what the journey must change. A quick “yes” creates plot; a meaningful “no” creates character.
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Plot hooks your reader, but character keeps them turning pages. External stakes pull them in; internal stakes make them care.
Which character in your WIP would readers follow anywhere?
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Contrasting characters make stories sharper. Give two people the same goal but different worldviews — the young vs old scientist, the rich vs broke fighter. Contrast = instant tension. The HOW of accomplishing a goal will change.
What’s the best contrast you’ve written?
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Let your characters reveal themselves through action, not explanation.
Behavior is emotional truth—especially under pressure.
#WritingTips #ShowDontTell #CharacterArc #StrangerThings #EmotionalDepth #FictionWriting #WritersCommunity #AmWriting #DraftHappens
Doubt isn't a flaw. Only those who don't realise how little they know can be confident. Keep growing, keeping discovering all there is to learn about writing, then add it to your to-learn list and keep going. #DraftHappens #MotivationMonday #AmWriting #WritingAdvice
Your monster should grow with your character. Dart starts cute, then sheds, hisses, evolves—mirroring Will’s rising terror. Let your threat unfold in stages that reflect the internal arc. Symbolism as tension.
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Miscommunication only works when it reveals character. Eleven, Mike, and Max aren’t confused—they’re hurting. Use misunderstandings to expose longing, insecurity, and fear of being replaced. It matters because they care.
#WritingTips #CharacterArc #StrangerThings #DraftHappens #AmWriting
The best monsters are mirrors. Will’s “between worlds” episodes show his fear, shame, and isolation made literal. Let your antagonist embody what your character already battles inside. The monster = metaphor.
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The Chosen One - A character marked by destiny, not choice. This doesn't mean they don't have agency, their power comes from how they respond to being chosen. #drafthappens #amwriting #writingcommunity #storytellingtropes
Small conflicts reveal big truths. A tiny costume argument in Stranger Things exposes insecurity, grief, and shifting power. Your “small” moments can carry your biggest character reveals.
#WritingTips #StoryCraft #CharacterArc #StrangerThings #DraftHappens #AmWriting #FictionAdvice
Instead of recapping Season 1 through exposition, the episode shows how trauma lingers:
Will sees visions of the Upside Down.
Joyce panics when the phone rings.
Mike calls Eleven every day.
Hopper forces calm but carries tension everywhere he goes.
#DraftHappens #StrangerThings #WritingTips
