Yessica Jain
Using Symbolism in Writing
If you are an avid reader, you know how easy it is to fall down a rabbit hole over the significance of one sentence or chapter. The same...
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Yessica Jain
Jul 13, 2023
Deep Third POV
Whether or not deep third deserves to be its own POV is a subject of controversy among writers. After all, we are always taught three...
Yessica Jain
May 11, 2023
Freytag’s Diagram & Common Plot Types
In elementary school, we learn about Freytag’s diagram, the supposed general outline of every plot in the universe. The idea is: a story...
Yessica Jain
Apr 6, 2023
Self-Publishing: Preliminary Checklist
The process to publish my novel was long and involved a lot of steps I didn’t expect until I reached them. So, here is an overview of the...
Yessica Jain
Jan 19, 2023
Reducing Your Word Count: Tips for Overwriters
Writers tend to fall into two categories: underwriters and overwriters. No, there’s no category for the perfect writer because it is...
Yessica Jain
Jan 5, 2023
Story Beginnings: Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Last week, I focused on story endings, but before every ending comes a beginning. A strong hook is an important part of all stories....
Yessica Jain
Dec 29, 2022
Types of Story Endings
With the end of the year just around the corner, I wanted to spend this post focusing on story endings. Like everything with writing,...
Yessica Jain
Dec 15, 2022
Mixing Genres
Stories are defined by their genres—often more so than their characters or their plot. Whether you want to publish your story or simply...
Yessica Jain
Dec 8, 2022
Revising Your Novel’s First Draft
A week after the end of NaNoWriMo, you may have a 50,000-word novel lying around. What next? While revising and editing may seem...
Yessica Jain
Dec 8, 2022
Worldbuilding for Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Speculative Fiction
What makes a good story? Yes, you need characters and plotlines that intrigue your readers. But, importantly, setting is also one of the...
Yessica Jain
Oct 13, 2022
Balancing Subplots
Without a plot, a story doesn’t exist. But with only one plot, a good story rarely exists. That’s why subplots exist. This week’s post is...
Yessica Jain
Sep 22, 2022
Youth Literary Magazines: A List
I previously wrote about literary magazines and their submission process. However, in many general literary magazines that accept...
Yessica Jain
Aug 25, 2022
Screenwriting: Layout & Formatting
Screenwriting—the art of writing screenplays for films or TV shows—can be really exciting. It’s a great way to exercise your description...
Yessica Jain
Jul 14, 2022
Pre-Readers: What They Are & What to Ask Them About
You finish your novel. Now what? While it can be tempting to send it to editors right away or even jump to literary agents, there’s an...
Yessica Jain
May 12, 2022
Types of Books Series
Think of three books. Odds are, at least one of them is part of a series. Book series give readers more of what they love, while letting...
Tai Nakamura
May 5, 2022
Connecting to Your Writing
Experimentation is the key to great writing, so it's important to sometimes step out of your comfort zone to give the reader more ways to...
Yessica Jain
Apr 28, 2022
Writing Descriptions that Transport Readers
Descriptions transport readers to another world or time. You may never have seen Camp Half-Blood or Ketterdam or Narnia (we’re pretending...
Yessica Jain
Mar 24, 2022
Writing Humor: Making Your Audience Laugh
A little laughter goes a long way when your characters and readers are stressing about an impending war. Almost every genre can do with a...
Yessica Jain
Mar 10, 2022
Writing the End of a Story
While the beginning of a story sets up the world, people, and themes, the end wraps it all together. It’s either a reward or a punishment...
Yessica Jain
Mar 3, 2022
Writing the First Chapter
It’s really easy to put down a book after reading a few pages, but it becomes increasingly more difficult to do so as you go on. Once...
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