The inciting incident in your novel is going to be the event, early in the story, that will interrupt life-as-we-know-it for your protagonist. In general, you might think of the inciting incident as the kick-off to the plot. It will present your character with a choice from which they cannot turn back. A commonly-used example of an inciting incident is in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when Hagrid tells Harry he’s...

When I started writing my first novel, I had no idea how to block my story into scenes or that I even needed to structure it that way. I had lots of ideas for disconnected “scenes” I wanted to include, but I viewed them like crucial events and not as true scenes with their own individual beginnings, middles, and ends. The end result was lackluster, sloppy, and indefinite. Without knowing...

Before I get into strategies for writing a prologue, I want to address the whole prologue thing. Basically, agents like them or hate them. Readers love them or skip them. People have strong feelings about prologues and you should be aware of the general discussion before you publish a book with one or start sending out queries. So, let’s talk briefly about why some agents don’t like them and why a...

If you plan on traditionally publishing your novel, you will need several other materials in addition to your  novel when starting to query.  One of those items is a synopsis.  What exactly is a synopsis, why is it an important marketing item, and how can you make yours the best it can be? Let’s dive in! What is a synopsis? A synopsis is an overview of your novel from beginning...

“You’ve got two seconds to explain yourself,” were words I heard often growing up. It was a rhetorical statement; my parents knew I couldn’t justify why I broke curfew or received another poor algebra test score, but I’d tackle the challenge regardless. And while I was never able to plead my case, my years of millisecond persuasion did help in developing the skills to write microfiction.  Microfiction, also known as...

Welcome to Scribbler’s blog series, where we interview debut indie- and traditionally-published authors regarding their novel and writing processes. We’re very excited to feature Marco Rafalà, the author of “How Fires End” in our debut author series. For Scribbler box subscribers, you’ll probably remember his book from it’s inclusion in one of our past boxes. If you haven’t heard about Marco’s debut novel — which is reviewed as “a moving depiction...

I started my true writing journey eight years ago. I’d been writing stories for most of my life at that point, but I didn’t set out to write an entire novel until then. What I didn’t realize was that writing a novel is more complicated than it looks, and I’ve learned crucial lessons through the process of failing to produce one. My biggest mistake was beginning with a number of...

After all the Pinterest boards, Spotify playlists, and months (cough years) of writing (and procrastinating), you finally finished the first draft of your novel. Hooray! If you’re anything like me, once the celebration fades, anticipation quickly sets in. Revisions. Yes. That’s the logical next step! You print your manuscript, buy all the flair pens and neon Post-it flags, only to realize you have no idea how to traverse these strange new...