Welcome back readers, to another entry in Being a Better Writer! Where we are still locked in the Summer of Cliche Writing Advice! That’s right, it isn’t over yet!

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“Now Harry, you must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?“
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Film

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Character Profile Creation: A Step-by-Step Guide for Novices

List your top ten favorite books, the ones you can name off the fingers of one hand, and I'll wager they all have a memorable hero.

Regardless of the genre, your characters should act like genuine people who make errors, regret them, and develop emotionally or spiritually over the novel. Failure is evident.

Although some accomplished authors make it seem simple, this is a talent that requires practice.

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What even is everything. I've been dragging my feet for way longer than I ever wanted (or planned) to. Between weddings, graduations, ridiculous deadlines, and inexplicable periods of bleh, it's safe to say I was a little optimistic four months ago about getting the ball rolling. All those times saying "I can't do it" and "maybe tomorrow" add up fast.

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The original concept for this post, or rather I should say request as that's what it was, was for information regarding a comedic sidekick. But I've decided to expand on that a little for two reasons. First, dying is easy, but comedy is hard. Really hard. I envy those who can write comedy, like Adams, Prachett, Taylor, or Korman. It's a serious talent. The art of regularly keeping a comedic tone, building things up for comedic beats not just every once and a while, but with

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I did this only once before, after Season 5, but I figured the list could be updated now that some new writers have been added and some of the old writers have had a chance to try and change the impressions they've gotten. So if you're interested, here's the original version. Like always, I mean no disrespect to the DHX staff, and just like before I'm not going to be counting Lauren

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For today's lesson, we'll be talking about two fancy-pants Latin terms that define ways to open a story: ab ovo and in medias res. One of those you've probably heard of, the other... probably not. XD On the other hand, for how famous in medias res is, I have a feeling people have some misconceptions about it. So let's dig in, and I'll try and clear the air.

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You know, it occurs to me. I've talked about conflict a lot on this blog: Equity and Inequity, Making Characters Matter, the Influence Character,

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What I think writing my latest fic is going to be like:

What it's actually like:

I just wrote this on a thread and decided to post it here. [Then of course I got OCD and expanded it. ]

What I mean by "writer's block" is when someone stares at the paper / screen & can't think of what happens next. This should never happen.

If you're ever reduced down to just one interesting thing that could happen next, it means you've written your story onto train tracks, and your story is now boring, because only one interesting thing could happen next.

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Today, I'm gonna teach you about a famous storytelling model called "Freytag's Pyramid." And then I'm going to tell you why I don't like it and propose a completely different model instead!

So to start with, what is Freytag's pyramid? Well, it looks like this:

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"Nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes." ~Benjamin Franklin

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Have you ever heard this term before: "establishing moment?" Or perhaps, "take time to establish your character?" How about the phrases "Save the Cat" and "Kick the Dog?" Well, whatever the case, let me talk a bit about what exactly those terms mean and what they're trying to do. This one's... gonna be tough, actually, because while I think establishing your character is important, I also find it annoying? You'll see what I mean.

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I. love. technobabble. But I recognize as well as anypony else that you've got to be careful with it. When done properly, it creates a sense of distortion, unease, and "behind the curve"-ness. But bobbled, or worse, done to cheat, and it just seems lazy, contrived, or pointless. But to ease us into this talk, let's cover the audience surrogate a bit.

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The idea for this Writer's Workshop came to me on accident. I was answering a question about characterization (using my three-Aspect method, naturally), when I stumbled onto a characterization staple that I've essentially overlooked. It's also a common term that you may not really understand: "chemistry." Who better to talk about character chemistry than the writer with a major in chemistry? (It's true. Double major. Tell your friends.) So let's explore the chemistry of character interaction

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What an oddly appropriate topic for a post that's two weeks late. I'm sure literally every writer has been here at one point or another. Whether you've planned the entire story out or just write scene to scene, you've gotten to a point where you have no idea how to get from Point A to Point B. I mentioned once that, as soon as I could get Twilight and Jade on a train in "A Call to Vespers," I could write the next section. Now, oddly enough, in "Mother and Child" I'm having trouble getting

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Hey, everyone! 'Sbeen a while, huh? Here's something to talk about. When you write a story, you pick a Main Character to be the emotional focus of the story. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. But here's something else to think about: what makes the Main Character important to the story is that they are the only one with the power to reach the Goal. Makes sense, right? Even if they're not the one actively reaching for the Goal, it's their presence that makes it work out in the end. Let's

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Imagine you're on a gameshow. You're in this warehouse, and there are a bunch of suitcases suspended from the ceiling. One of those suitcases has $1,000,000 in it; the rest are all full of worthless paper. Ready, set, go! ...This isn't a very interesting game, is it? After all, what's stopping you from just walking leisurely from suitcase to suitcase, opening each case in turn, and eventually finding the right one? There's no tension, no stakes!

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Hey, everypony! I've got another idea for one of these. Let's talk about Goals some more!

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