Charlii Blog

By Writers & For Writers

Does Your Character’s Weapon Stink?

Your main character needs a distinct weapon. How can you make something up that will entice readers? If you write fantasy (or any genre where

Does Your Book’s Internal Conflict Stink?

External conflict is pretty easy—internal conflict is much more difficult. Learn everything you need to know! Internal conflict might not come up often in writing

Does Your Book’s Emotional Payoff Stink?

This easily overlooked storytelling component can make—or break—your book! Readers love to feel something when they read. Happiness, sadness, fear, excitement, a sense of danger,

Does Your Book’s External Conflict Stink?

Conflict is one of the most important parts of storytelling, but did you know there’s more than one kind? External conflict. Maybe you’ve heard of

Does Your Single-Genre Story Stink?

Feel like your single-genre story is missing something? Many authors write a powerful story and struggle with categories—Amazon lets you have two, after all. Then

selective focus of illustrator drawing cartoon character on paper

Does Your Perfect Character Stink?

The problem with perfect characters… Authors have been fed bad advice since the beginning of writing. One of the worst offenders, in my humble opinion,

Does Your Story Planning Stink?

Don’t write yourself into a corner—planning can save your book! All authors know the pain… writing a brilliant story, then realizing that you’ve made a

Does Your Character Stink? Choose and Develop your Characters From Scratch!

What are you missing when choosing and developing your main character? Everybody makes mistakes. You might even be making mistakes with your character development and