Hi Reader, Staring at a blank page can feel like an epidemic when you’re not only writing your current work-in-progress, but also your newsletter and your social media posts. That’s a lot of empty screens to fill. How are we supposed to talk about what we’re working on—or even past projects—without feeling salesy and weird? Is there any natural way to bring our accomplishments up? Good news: yes. And I’ve got you covered with a creative calendar. There are delightfully ridiculous national...

Hi Reader, Last week we talked about how your main character starts out believing a lie about himself or the world. At the midpoint, he recognizes his truth and spends the rest of the story struggling to live up to it. If your midpoint was the hero’s “I’m in” moment, the All Is Lost and Dark Night of the Soul are the emotional trapdoor that drops them into Act 3 with purpose. These two beats often get smushed together into one big sad sandwich. Let’s un-smush. They do different jobs, at...

Hi Reader, If your story’s middle sometimes feels like a long, suspiciously quiet hallway…good news: the midpoint is where the lights flip on and the music changes. This is the hinge that turns a character’s inner journey from their Lie to the Truth, and it fuels the entire back half of your plot. Characters have three things pushing them through the story: The lie they believe about themselves or the world. What they want. Their want is often a plot goal like money or power. Their true want....