A Commonplace Book for Fiction Writers
The ABCs of Storytelling
Published in
10 min readFeb 3, 2018
A is for . . .
Active Voice:
Adverbs:
Agents:
Arc:
ARCs:
Attribution:
Audacity:
B is for . . .
Backstory:
Beats:
Bechdel Test:
Beginnings:
Beyond the Bechdel Test:
Bios:
C is for . . .
Character:
Character Change:
Conferences:
Critique Partners:
Craft Books:
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D is for . . .
Description:
Detail:
Dialect:
Dialogue:
E is for . . .
Editing:
Editors:
Education:
Elevator Pitches:
Emotion:
Endings:
Epilogue:
Exposition:
F is for . . .
Finishing:
First Drafts:
Flaws:
Formatting:
G is for . . .
Genre:
Grammar:
I is for . . .
Ideal Reader:
Ideas:
Imagery:
In Medias Res:
You hit the ground running. — Smash Mouth
J is for . . .
Just Start:
Just Write:
K is for . . .
Key Plot Points:
Kill Your Darlings:
Kids:
Know Your Shit:
M is for . . .
Master Plots:
MFAs:
Motivation:
N is for . . .
NaNoWriMo:
Narrative Dream:
Notebook:
P is for . . .
Pacing:
Passive Voice:
Persistence:
Perspective:
Plot:
Point of View:
Prologues:
Publishers:
Q is for . . .
Query Letters:
R is for . . .
Reading Like a Writer:
Rejection:
Research:
Revision:
RUE:
S is for . . .
Setting:
Self-Publishing:
Series:
Show vs. Tell:
Submission:
Sub-plots:
Suspended Disbelief:
Stories:
T is for . . .
Tense:
Tension:
Thick Skin:
Thought Verbs:
Time:
Traditional Publishing:
U is for . . .
Understanding the Market:
Using Restraint:
V is for . . .
Vanity:
Verbs:
Villains:
Virtues:
Voice (Character):
Voice (Authorial):
W is for . . .
World Building:
Word Count:
Words:
Writer’s Block:
X is for . . .
X-rays:
Y is for . . .
You Get the Last Word:
Z is for . . .
ZZZ:
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