The Chopping Blog

Your story world’s government and political systems affect the power dynamics, conflicts, and daily lives of your characters. 

Your story world’s geography and environment affect the culture, economy, and daily lives of your characters. 

"Tragic climaxes typically end in catastrophe—the final consequence of the protagonist’s fatal flaw."

In real life, people have many internal conflicts, which means that a protagonist should too. Everything bouncing around inside a character’s head contributes to their complexity and, therefore, their authenticity.

A great novel is honed, not hatched. And to hone your novel, you need feedback.

All fiction is autobiographical in the sense that your characters and story world are drawn from your lived experience of people and places.

But does this count as plot? Doesn’t plot require a protagonist? Doesn’t plot require an inciting incident, an arc, and a climax?

If you give your protagonist an internal conflict, they will feel authentic to the reader, and you will create an essential connection between reader and protagonist that is at the heart of all engaging stories.

Honor the tiny beat and it will carry the weight of a whole character for you.

Patchett writes about something that is very hard to make interesting: the triumph of goodness over evil. Her tricks: the use of tension, and the transformation of character.

Sanderson's masterful intertwining of family dynamics with the epic fantasy setting offers a rich, multi-layered narrative experience that showcases his ability to blend personal motivations with grand-scale storytelling.

In crafting The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho dared to prioritize narrative context—in this case his personal philosophy—over traditional story elements like subplots and character development.