The Author Toolbox: Raise Your Craft to a New Level

We’ve already covered tools to help you get words onto the page, but not just any words will do. We need to raise our craft to the next level because we need characters readers will care about as well as a cohesive plot that wraps up nicely with a happily-ever-after ending sure to make Hollywood cheer.

Tool #1 – Create an overview of the story. Whether you start with index cards, post-it notes, or scribbles on a giant white board, the key is to sketch out the basic story elements. You could e...