Jerry B. Jenkins's Blog, page 5

Show, Don’t Tell: What You Need to Know

You’ve heard this writing advice a thousand times, and you’ll hear it a thousand times more:

Show, don’t tell.

But what does it mean?

If you struggle with the difference between showing and telling, you’re not alone. Once you’ve got it, it seems simple. But until you do, learning this technique can be as frustrating as anything in the writing world.

Is it really that important? You bet it is. If you want your writing noticed by an agent or a publisher, it’s vital you master the art of showing.

S...

What Makes a Great Villain? Your Checklist for Writing a Good Bad Guy

Nothing makes your hero more heroic than a worthy opponent.

So don’t shortchange your villain. Spend every bit as much time crafting him as you do your lead character, if you want your story to work.

(Though I will use male pronouns throughout, this applies equally if your main character is a heroine or your villain is female.)

Too many novelists give plenty of care to every other element of their story, then create what they consider a deliciously evil villain and wonder why the package seems t...

The 12 Best Books on Writing I’ve Ever Read

Regardless how many books I’ve written (nearly 200) and sold (over 70 million), I fear if I’m not learning, I’m stagnating.

My late mother was a convincing example of one who never believed she had arrived. Mom was not only a piano teacher well into her eighties, but she was also a piano student.

So it’s the memory of my mother that spurs me also to keep reading everything there is to read—especially about writing.

The books below (in alpha order by author) represent a fraction of those availabl...

Mastering Foreshadowing in Your Story

If your story starts with anything foreboding—creaking floors, snuffed-out candles, or  threatening skies, you’re implying danger or terrible trouble ahead for your main character. 

Masterful storytellers foreshadow such things with disquieting clues of what’s to come. 

What is Foreshadowing? And Why is it Important?

Foreshadowing is a literary device authors use to lay a foundation for what’s coming in their story. If our primary goal as writers is to keep people reading, foreshadowing is a cru...

How to Write a Character’s Backstory

Need help creating your characters? Click here to download my character arc worksheet.

Knowing the history of your main character allows you to craft a character arc that keeps readers engaged from start to finish.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, author C.S. Lewis sends the Pevensie children to live with a professor in the English countryside to escape London and the havoc of World War 2. 

Peter, the eldest, feels he has to become the man of the house in the absence of his fathe...

What is the Antagonist in a Story?

If it’s true that conflict is the engine of fiction—and I believe it is—what is the best way to inject it into your fiction?

By introducing a worthy, effective antagonist.

What is an Antagonist?

It’s your villain, and every good story needs one.

While some would argue that certain nonhuman elements, like the weather or some malevolent force, might also qualify (and I’ll speak briefly to those later here), I maintain that usually the opposition to your hero (your protagonist) should be personifie...

5 Tips to Mastering First-Person Point of View

From childhood you’ve been telling stories in the first-person, using I, me, and my. It’s the simplest way to relay an experience.

It can also be the best point of view for you as a beginning writer.

Read on for first-person point of view tips, tricks, and pitfalls.

Why Use the First-Person Point of View?

I recommend this approach because it forces you to limit yourself to the mind, the emotions, and the senses of a single character.

Limiting yourself to a single point of view character is a car...

Memoir vs. Autobiography: What’s the Difference?

You may have heard the terms memoir and autobiography used interchangeably. They often live on the same shelf in bookstores.

Both are nonfiction and contain facts from someone’s life, so what’s the difference?

Let me walk you through the differences so you can be confident which you should be writing.

What Memoir and Autobiography Have in Common

Both genres fall under the category called Creative Nonfiction,  a term that can be also applied to biography, travel writing, personal essays, intervie...

A Complete Guide to Narrative Writing—Stories Well Told

What keeps readers turning pages, moviegoers glued to their seats, and Netflix watchers up all night? Narrative—a well-told story.

Want to get a handle on narrative writing so you can tell that story that’s burning inside you? Read on…

What is Narrative Writing? 

Any piece of writing that tells a story — fiction or nonfiction. All narrative writing shares common elements.

7 Common Elements of Narrative Writing Plot

What happens in your story either keeps your readers turning the pages or has t...

Literary Devices and How to Use Them in Fiction

As novelists, our job is to create a story that captivates readers from the get-go.

Literary devices such as metaphor, irony, backstory, et al, can help readers better understand, feel, or see a greater meaning to a piece of writing.

But with many literary devices to choose from, how do you best use them?

Subtly.

Overused, they distract readers.

And if clichéd, they defeat their own purposes.

But without them, our writing can fall flat.

Confusing? Let’s start with the basics…

What is a Literary ...