The Chopping Blog

Vito Corleone is a godfather of crime, but he is also a godfather of plot.

Whether they’re allies, enemies, mentors, or catalysts for change, minor characters serve to support or challenge the main character, highlight themes, and provide depth to the story world.

Voice isn’t just about verbal tics, slang, or quirks—it's the essence of how a character sees and interprets the world.

Your protagonist's strengths and the fallacies that shape their internal journey combine to create a character who is complex, dynamic, and capable of true transformation.

As two characters push and pull against each other, readers get to see them both more clearly.

To create characters that readers truly care about, it’s essential to understand what drives them.

Character backstory is more than just a list of childhood experiences or milestones; it's the emotional and psychological foundation for who they are today.

The episodic structure of The Call of the Wild is a feature common in coming-of-age stories. This approach works when the protagonist has significant room for growth.

One common misstep I see in novel openings, chapter openings, and even new mid-chapter scenes is the tendency to zoom in too tightly, too soon.

Eighty-four days without a catch was also the essence of Hemingway’s professional situation. He hadn’t had a successful book in over a decade. Critics thought he was done.

This book is a tour de force, the sort of novel you can come back to again and again and find more things to admire in it—which is the definition of timelessness.

Power, in all its forms, is a crucial source of tension and conflict. Power can corrupt, but it can also liberate.