Recently, an author asked me about stakes versus conflict in a novel, and so I thought this blog post might be beneficial. “Stakes” means what is at risk, what will happen, or what will be lost if the character doesn’t meet certain goals. Stakes are presented to make the reader care about the protagonist meeting a major goal. If stakes are low, it’s hard to maintain reader interest. For example: …

When I run errands, I park in the lot’s equivalent of the North Pole, so my car doesn’t get dinged. I walk quickly, with swagger and purpose. I learned to do this in my twenties under the advice of security types who said women can deter attacks against themselves by adopting this attitude. I stride everywhere, thinking nothing of how far I need to walk. I whip around impediments. When I took care …

To paraphrase a pretty good writer of several centuries ago, “Some are born writers, some learn to be writers, and others have writing thrust upon them.” Whichever category you fit into, it takes practice and perseverance to write well. But it takes only a little effort to write poorly. Here are seven tips to help you write poorly: Write for everyone. Don’t write for a specific demographic or a …