Craft Articles
Join us in exploring others’ craft and building our own.
Here you will find explorations of mentor texts – articles that dive into specific craft elements in published books, interviews with authors, and tips on growing and improving as a writer.
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Jenn Bailey: Crafting the Ultimate Payoff
“If your climax feels a little flat, or if you aren’t feeling the emotional payoff you’ve expected, look at earlier chapters and scenes. Make sure you’ve written in the reasons that make this climax inevitable. And that you’ve positioned your main character in the kind of emotional state where this final scene will let readers feel a satisfactory resolution.”
Emotional Resonance Is Key: A Q&A with Tanita S. Davis
A lot of people want to be allies, or seen as friendly and open to the idea of friendship across races, cultures and social strata. This idea of “just talk to each other” may seem like it’s wildly oversimplified, but it turns out that if you want to know someone, it really is that simple. You may be nothing like a diehard gardener or wide-eyed tween, but if you’re willing to see a potential connection between the two of you, it will be there.