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Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Tell-tale Heart "  is a masterclass in psychological tension and unreliable narration. Examining it through the lens of the Narrative Triangle reveals how every element of the story works together to create suspense, dread, and a haunting resolution. As a reminder, the Narrative Triangle breaks storytelling into three apexes and nine supporting elements: Story:  Character, Plot, Narrative Drive Context:  Setting, Tools, Systems Delivery:  Style, Point o

Ever faced a disappointment in life? Me too. Here's how I am turning my latest into a win!

What pushes your character out of their boring normal world and onto their adventure? Read this post to find out!

If your readers aren't interested, they won't keep reading! Check out how to make a strong hook here.

Why plot? It keeps your reader interested. Here are some basics. The first step toward your epic story!

On the notion of the best-selling idea- One of the most common interview question posed to a writer is how did you come up with your ideas. There seems to be a belief that without a completely original best-selling idea you can’t be a writer. That’s not only false, but it’s probably one thing holding you back. An idea could be anything! Earlier in my writing journey, I had it in my mind that an idea had to be fully fleshed out—something you could put on the back of a book to

Note: Since writing this post I started using a pen name, not for secrecy but because my last name is difficult to say. So the image below shows Heidi Sawitzke for State of Nature . That's me! Maybe I will do a post about pen names. A lot has happened since my last post! 1) Harvard found my thesis advisor! 2) Schools out for summer! 3) I made it into the top 25 of the Save the Cat Competition! 4) Today is my first day of the year of following my dreams! While all of those so

If you haven't read the first post in this series, check it out here ! This post will be an analysis of The Seven Death of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton in relation to unreliable narration and will reference definitions/ organization from the previous post. I also analyzed Gone Girl and Shutter Island , which will be referenced here. MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is about a man, Aidden Bishop, who wakes up outside of a manor and does no

If you haven't read the first post in this series, check it out here ! This post will be an analysis of Shutter Island in relation to unreliable narration and will reference definitions/ organization from the first post. This is a bit of a hefty post, but I hope it's useful to other writers! If you can't get enough also check out the Gone Girl analysis here ! I will reference it in the analysis below to make comparisons. MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! Shutter Island is a novel about

If you haven't read the first post in this series, check it out here! This post will be an analysis of Gone Girl in relation to unreliable narration and will reference definitions/ organization from the previous post. This is a bit of a hefty post, but I hope it's useful to other writers! MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! To continue our exploration of unreliable narration, we are going to delve into a highly controversial novel— Gone Girl . Gillian Flynn has gotten flack from feminist

“True! —nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am! but why will you say that I am mad?” (Poe 199). Even if one has not read Edgar Allan Poe’s exceptional work, “The Tale-Tale Heart” they can get the feeling off the very first line, that the narrator might be unreliable. But what is an unreliable narrator? I did a deep dive into the idea behind unreliable narration for my pre-thesis class and now you, my dear reader, get to reap the benefits! At first I didn’t ev

I am a perfectionist. As in, I have a bit of an issue with beating myself up over every little mistake I make. Some people wear their perfectionism like a badge of honor. They cling to the idea that they can reach a version of themselves where they will always do the right thing and be recognized for all their hard work. People have little competitions, never stated but always there, with other perfectionists about who is working the hardest, suffering the most, and deserves

I don't have a lot of time to contribute to the blog at the moment. It saddens me, but I have a lot going on in the next couple of weeks! So what I figured is that I would show you how I work through overwhelming times in my life in case you have similar issues pop up. I hope it's helpful to someone! 1. Recognize Stress I used to be terrible at recognizing the buildup of stress in myself. It would pile on further and further until I would break down, usually in the form of te

Because I want this website to serve writers, not just myself, I hope author spotlights will expose the world to to the plethora of creative minds working in the world. I am so privileged to have a good friend in Janelle Gray, a creative powerhouse, and it was an easy choice to make her my first spotlight! She says it better than I can, so let's listen to what she has to say: What project are you currently working on? Because it's submission time, I'm working on quite a few

I have a shopping problem. For being a frugal person, to the point where I wash zip-lock bags and reuse them, I spend an exorbitant amount of money on one thing: books! It makes sense then that when I decided my next original pilot was going to be a mystery, and I have no experience writing mysteries, that I turned to my favorite source of information. Enter the Howdunit Series! The Howdunit Series is from Writer's Digest, which a lot of writers have a beef with, but I feel

Note: This is the third post in a three post series about writing a Spec Script. If you haven't read the first and second posts, you can find them here: Pre-Work and Plotting . In my first post, I came up with six steps to writing that spec script. As a refresher they are: 1. Choose a show 2. Study said show 3. Find a minor detail that you can spin into a plot 4. Outline your episode 5. Write that first draft! 6. Edit it! This post is going to focus on steps five and six, s

Note: This is the second post in a three post series about writing a Spec Script. If you haven't read the first post, you can find it here. In my first post, I came up with six steps to writing that spec script. As a refresher they are: 1. Choose a show 2. Study said show 3. Find a minor detail that you can spin into a plot 4. Outline your episode 5. Write that first draft! 6. Edit it! This post is going to focus on steps three and four, which are a bit of a puzzle, so let's

I just typed ‘The End’ for my first spec script. It’s a first draft, a very messy one (I did the actual writing in just four days), but it is a draft. So I thought it might be nice, for those of you who are thinking about writing your first spec script, to hear the process! First Things First, What is a Spec Script? A spec script for television is an episode written for a show already on the air. This script will almost certainly never be bought or produced—so why do it? Spec

You Must Read It’s been said countless times: if you don’t read, you can’t write. While this is so simple, it is surprising how many people want to write, but say they don’t have time to read. This is akin to a person saying they want to be a professional basketball player, but they never watch how the professionals play the sport. This is silly for two major reasons: 1) Creating everything from scratch is a lot more work. 2) You will make mistakes you could have avoided by

1. "The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress" - Philip Roth Why it matters- If you never finish writing and resist showing it to anyone out of fear, you are in the wrong business. I know it’s scary. I also know starting that next project, instead of finishing the one you’re on, is so much more appealing—but don’t do it. Resist. For accomplishing a goal is the best way to lead yourself into tackling another. 2. "We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becom