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Poorly crafted fiction isn’t the only thing that can cause readers to squint in disbelief. Samuel Taylor Coleridge described suspension of disbelief as “poetic faith”—giving over to the author’s vision of the world long enough to appreciate the work.In reading...

What’s worse than an unbelievable plot that breaks every rule of reality?An unrealistic character arc.From the first page, readers are zeroed in on your characters.They’re interesting, they’re unique, they’re dynamic, they’re practically real people… until they start...

Subplots don’t randomly crop up. Not good ones anyway. Like the main plot, a subplot must have a purpose and drive an aspect of your story.Subplots can serve various parts of your story and perform multiple functions simultaneously. They can raise stakes, increase...

By Julia ElizabethAs young authors, we often focus on the downsides of our youth, such as being unable to drive a car or work at a full-time job.We think people will look down on and underestimate us, and we worry that we’ll waste precious hours trying to convince...