In our Narrative Techniques Series, we already talk about the Flashback narrative technique. Today it is the turn of the Flashforward narrative technique. Flashback and flashforward are two narrative techniques that concern the timing of the narrative. In particular, Flashback allows us to jump into the past during the course of a story. On the …
So you finally managed to finish your book. Good job! It’s not easy, it takes a lot of work, dedication and courage. And now are you ready to let someone read your novel? When should I submit my book? There is no rule for determining the right time to submit your book to someone. You …
We move on into our journey between the narrative techniques series: the Flashback. This technique is one of the most known in the narrative. It is also called analepsis or retrospection the narrative technique of the flashback rewinds the structure of the narration. It creates an alteration in the time sequences. Flashback takes characters or …
A new version of bibisco is here. So, let’s take a look at what’s new in bibisco 2.3! Before diving into the new features of our favorite novel writing software, I would like to point out two things that are particularly important to me: All the new features come from suggestions and ideas from users. …
Many times we read this particular term but do you know its real meaning? We also already found the narrative technique Deus ex machina in many stories. It is an ancient Latin expression. It indicates an act of god and which literally means “god out of the machine”. This term derives from the Greek tragedy. …
What are the best practices for securely managing bibisco projects? This is one of the questions that bibisco users ask me most, so in this post, updated to version 2.3 of bibisco, we will analyze how bibisco stores projects and the safest way to manage them. Let’s start from the beginning: bibisco is a desktop application, just …
Do you have ever heard about this third Narrative Technique, the Backstory? I am sure you do. Think about the sentence which often begins with a “…years ago”. This sentence concerns the way to give more information about the past of a character or a story. The Backstory technique aims to provide more intensity and …
Let’s move on to our narrative techniques series. In this second article of the narrative techniques series, we write about a second important narrative technique that is the Show don’t tell. This is not just advice from writers to writers but an accurate technique fundamental to use in your novel. How many books have you …
If you think that a writer uses only his imagination to write a novel, without rules, you are wrong. With this post, we open a long series on narrative techniques used by writers and screenwriters of films. Let us begin this narrative techniques series with the first one: Chekhov’s gun.
They are pillars that give structure to the story, the characters created, and the dialogues. A writer must know how to master these dramaturgical tools in order to create a solid and compelling narrative.
All these elements must be skillfully correlated with each other in order to build the structure of the narrative. We will discover together that the elements inserted in a story are never random. On the contrary, they often have a dramaturgical function, and that they belong to a defined narrative technique.
As a writer, you need to understand the value of your characters.
You can write an amazing story, but if the characters are boring – no one is going to read it. But what defines boring?
One of the biggest mistakes writers make is thinking that people only want to read about good things – they want the characters to get the girl, find the perfect job, win the lotto … unfortunately, that’s not the case. And just like in reality, no one likes someone who “wins” all the time. It’s boring!
It’s unfortunate, but it’s true – we want to see other people fail. And it’s not because we are horrible people – it’s because we want to know that those perfect people also have their flaws. And watching a character in a novel try, and try again, is much more interesting than watching them succeed all the time.
It adds a sense of nervousness, “will they or won’t they”, and it helps the reader relate more. Unfortunately, we don’t all lead perfect lives.