Linked to this post is a free google slides document I’ve designed for the purposes of character and plot development. You can use this in several ways, including:

Making a copy to your google drive and editing it digitally

Downloading as a Microsoft powerpoint document

Editing in google slides and then downloading as a printable PDF

This document includes technical instructions and guides to the planning models I integrated. The included pages are:

Character/arc design sheet

Secondary characters sheet

Three-act flow chart

Plot story map

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

feel free to use :)

“do you want a hug or do you want to be alone?”

“do you want to be comforted or do you want to be distracted?”

“what can i do for you right now?”

“that’s okay.”

“i’m not okay with that, though.”

“are you okay with that?”

“it’s okay if you’re mad. it’s okay to be angry and it’s okay to cry and be sad. its okay to not be okay at all.”

“do what you need to do, i’m here when and if you’re ready to speak.”

“i’m okay with waiting— i’ll be here no matter how long you need.”

“yeah, but i don’t want you to be that for me. i don’t want you to be that person, that’s not who you are.”

“i’m okay with you caring for me and defending me. what i’m not okay with is you thinking that caring for me makes you entitled to being my partner or #1 in my life.”

“im not afraid to cut you out of my life if it’s what i need to be sane, okay? i need you to understand that i can and will survive without you.”

“no. you don’t have that power over me.”

“you’re not entitled to my love, especially not after how you treated me.”

“i love that i’m strong as hell without you but i’m stronger with you. i love that i know that, now. i don’t want to live without you, but i know i’ll survive even if i’m forced to. i love us.”

“i love our growth so much.”

“i love that i’m a person i can be proud of. i love that you’re with me on this journey.”

“i’ve been talking to a therapist lately.” “marry me now.”

“my love isn’t conditional.”

“your love was conditional. that was the issue.”

“i need you to take initiative.”

“let me know now if this isn’t something you want to work through.”

“i felt like we were at the end and i’m sorry i avoided talking to you instead of confronting that.”

“i’m sorry i made you feel like there was something here.”

“im sorry i assumed something was here. that’s not fair to you.”

“i shouldn’t have believed that. not without talking to you.”

“let me take responsibility for my faults. going through this doesn’t mean i get to hurt other people and get away with it.”

“i’m sorry i hurt you.” “i know, but that’s fine.”

“just because getting hurt is inevitable doesn’t mean you should let yourself be.”

“i don’t need you to tell me i’m worth something. Goddammit i was worth something without you and i will be even if you don’t want me.”

“i don’t think you made me someone of worth. you helped me realize that i had worth all along.”

“stop saying thank you. you being cared for isn’t something that i’m rewarding you with it is your right as someone who cares about you.”

“you aren’t entitled to everyone’s love but damn if you shouldn’t settle for people who use that to their advantage.”

“you have no right to my secrets. if i wanted to tell them to you i would and you have no business hurting me over jealousy.”

“this jealousy thing isn’t working.”

“this isn’t working. how can we make this work?”

“i want to work through this.” “me too.”

“i need you to listen to me right now.”

“i need you to look at me right now.”

“understand that i’m my own person. i need you to understand that. please.”

Sometimes suspense is worth it, even if it means serving your audience the entire plot on a silver platter:

In Romeo and Juliet, the audience knows Juliet isn't dead. Romeo does not. It's a tragedy.

In the TV-show Breaking Bad, a DEA agent is looking for a crystal-meth producer who calls himself ''Heisenberg,'' not knowing that ''Heisenberg'' is his brother-in-law.

In the play Oedipus Rex, Oedipus tries to expose the murderer of King Laius, not knowing that he himself is the murderer.

That my friends, is what we call dramatic irony. A literary device in which the audience's understanding of certain events or individuals in a story surpasses that of its characters.

What I mean by that is simple — not every plot twist or plot line that occurs in your story has to come as a surprise to your audience.

It's not in any way wrong to drop important information ahead of time. Sometimes the best way to tackle a twist is simply to let your audience in on what's happening. Let them anticipate the emotional reactions of the characters. In certain cases, that can be torture. Which is a good thing. Storytelling wise.

You'll still have your audience at the edge of their seats, not out of suspense of what's going to happen, but out of fear, and excitement, of how the characters they've grown to love are going to react to it.

For all they know, the plot twist, and I am using plot twist loosely, it can just as well be a secret big enough to destroy a relationship, but not something that is going to affect every character, could potentially ruin everything.

It can turn characters against each other, massive consequences to follow. Maybe a certain character is heading towards a certain death, maybe their partner is falling in love with someone else, unaware of their partner’s infidelity.

Maybe a character is enjoying a nice day out at the park, not knowing that previous night a herd of zombies marched through. Instantly alarm bells starts ringing — the apocalypse is upon us. When is the character gonna find out? How are they gonna to find out?

Worst part — a close family member of the character has already fallen victim to the undead, and now, having been missing for a couple days, is approaching said character from behind, reanimated as a zombie. We’ve already seen this person bitten and turned, but for the character, it's a different story.

Your audience are emotionally invested in your characters. Use that to your advantage.

To have your audience sit on a a piece of information, not knowing how it's going to affect their favorite characters and relationships, can have just as much of an emotional impact as a ''regular'' plot twist.

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

The simplicity of said does exactly what it needs to: it identifies the speaker. Don’t abandon the word said completely, but here are some other ways to describe your dialogue! 

1) Use a physical gesture. This allows for the character to interact with their environment for more detailed imagery. 

     “Please, don’t leave me!” She grabbed at the hem of his golden cloak as he turned away from her, the finely crafted material slipping from her wet fingers.

2) Use different synonyms of said to add atmosphere. This can help create tone and volume in your scene, but should be used sparingly. They add a nice flavor and clarity to an important scene— however, some authors think “said” should still be your default.

     “Please, don’t leave me!” She bellowed. 

3) Replace dialogue tags with action in a way that moves the plot along. This kills two birds with one stone. It shows who is speaking, while also pressing the story forward.

     “Please, don’t leave me!” She grabbed at the hem of his golden cloak and a crumbled note fell from his pocket.

4) Use no description at all! If you’ve already clarified who will be speaking from the context above and want the dialogue to stand alone, you could try using no tags.

     She sat in a puddle of her own tears, grabbing at the hem of his golden cloak. He turned away from her, the finely crafted material slipping from her wet fingers. She pressed her hands to her chest, the tightness threatening to subdue her.      “Please, don’t leave me!”

Here are some interesting reasons why you might want to kill your characters! Of course there are also reasons why you shouldn’t murder them, but that’s for another post! This one will focus on reasons why you should bring your characters to a permanent end.

Some reasons to kill your characters…

1) It can serve as poetic justice. This is when the bad guys are punished and the good guys are rewarded. When the antagonistic force finally gets what they deserve, it can satisfy the reader. If you’ve ever watched Game of Thrones, you know how angering it is when the bad guys always preserver. Giving them a well-deserved demise can be like lemonade on a blistering hot day for your reader.

2) Does killing them tie into your theme? Death is a pretty universal thing that can fit into a lot of stories. Does putting it into your story add to the lesson/theme you want to leave your readers with? For example, a story with the theme of survival could be intensified if it’s shown that not everyone can survive. Or a dark romance with the theme of betrayal… she still loves the vampire even if he kills… but what if he kills someone close to her? Can death be used to intensify your theme?

3) Killing certain characters can bring closure to their story/arc. Sometimes death can be the best way to end an arc. Depending on who the character is, after they’ve served their purpose to the story, is it better to let them linger or kill them? If a character is suffering, would it be more merciful to kill them?

4) Deaths can build tone. If your tone tone is happy and lighthearted then this isn’t for you. However, if the tone you’re going for is dark and dreary, adding in some deaths can really intensify that vibe.

5) Deaths add realism. Loss is apart of life (sadly). If you’re writing an epic fantasy, is it actually realistic for everyone to survive at the end of the journey? Especially when most of them are learning along the way? Adding in deaths can make the story more realistic… whether it’s a spear through the heart or an untimely illness. Death comes and goes whenever, wherever. 

6) It can develop your protagonist and advance the plot. While you might not want to necessarily kill a character for the sole purpose of hurting your protagonist, if the death does achieve that, you’re developing them! Does this death motivate them to push forward, does it put a hole in their plan, does it create new conflict? Deaths can be great for moving the plot forward.

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