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The Seven Point Story Structure was created and popularized by Dan Wells and focuses on structure as a plotting device where previous structures we’ve discussed, while great for plotting, are also useful for analyzing. That isn’t to say you can’t analyze a story using the Seven Point structure, just that its primary purpose is for plotting. You will see some very obvious similarities to the Classic Roller Coaster but also a huge deviation. The strength of the Seven Point stru

We’ve talked about editing your first draft and tips and advice for those big picture items, but what about when you know your story is finished but in need of tiny tweaks and polishing? That’s what we’ll look at today, sentence level edits. Sentence level editing comes in a few forms, stylistic, copy (or grammar and spelling), and proofreading. The last one, we’ll get to at a later date but we will consider both style and grammar today.

In this installment of the CTRL+F series, we’re going to talk about confidence in your writing and how to stop hedging. Let things be, and be confident in what they are. This list might be the one with the most nuance when compared to both Show Don’t Tell and Avoiding the Vague, Weak and Simply Unnecessary; I feel like we started at the “almost always” and worked ourselves down to the voicy-est list.

So you’ve written a short story (or maybe a poem or essay) and you’d like to see it published; how do you go about submitting it to literary journals? This post plans on walking you through finding and choosing the right journal(s) for you, what simultaneous submissions are, submission guidelines and industry standards for when pieces are missing, the difference between a cover letter and a query letter, and finally, reasons you may want to track your submissions and how.

Everything you’ve read about Freytag’s Pyramid is WRONG! Okay not everything, and it’s possible you have read correct information, but as I delved into this story structure I was immediately confused, because it seemed to be exactly like the Classic Roller Coaster. Freytag’s Pyramid is a character focused structure for tragic narratives. While it has some similarities in visual depiction to the Roller Coaster, it is clear that the timeline shifts.

My biggest reason for suggesting an outline is to get the thoughts out of your head. By creating an outline (no matter how detailed) you can focus on the task at hand (like writing this scene) rather than continuing to be distracted by all the other scenes and ideas you want to write. You can have the basic idea down somewhere, so you don’t have to worry about remembering it.

I realized these key elements easily fall into the 5 W’s which we often discuss in non-fiction writing (particularly journalism.) Turns out they are just as important in fiction! What a big surprise… So we’ve got the who (character), what (plot), when & where (setting), how (POV) and a double serving of why (conflict and theme.)

This post includes some red flags for when we’re using vague, weak or completely unnecessary words. While leaving some room for interpretation in our writing can be good, not every vague moment is an effective one. And some words add no actual meaning, we’re just used to using them in speech, but spoken and written word require different things. With each CTRL+F suggestion, I’ve included some examples with a fix or two to create a more compelling statement.

In 2025, I finished my work placement, graduated from college, co-hosted a launch for the program’s short story anthology, and started a freelancing business. I also adopted a second cat, read more than twice as many books as I thought I could, and started taking better care of my mind and body.

Let’s talk about my first quarter goals and how I set them… I’m going to be honest with you, these goals are not exactly “SMART” or what many would consider good goals, but I know it’s going to work for me and I want to share that with you! My goals are not as specific as they could be, some are measured by “done / not done,” they ARE achievable, relevant and time bound. Maybe they’re not as bad as I think they are when I really look at it… But that’s besides the point

Fill these cold, dark winter days with a little winter magic by using these winter writing prompts. I’ve put together some inspiration which pulls on the weather, holiday traditions and I've decided to add a little fantasy bend to some of them.

Everyone can write. That’s the truth. Now, can everyone write a flawless story the first time they sit down? No! Very few people, if any, can even write a flawless first draft after years of practice. That’s the trick, most of the writing process is editing and revising. So the first piece of advice I have is to just get some words on a page. We’re going to talk about ways to help with that, but this sentiment is key to start writing your novel, short story, memoir… you name

We’re heading back to school with this one. I’m sure we all remember the graphic of a roller coaster with the words inciting incident, rising and falling action, climax, etc, but do you remember what it actually all means? Ready for a refresher before we dive into some more detailed story structures? Good! Jump to the video instead Introduction to the Classic “Roller Coaster” Structure This is usually referred to as the classic structure, but I always think of that handout we

Writer’s block is an inevitable state of being in a writer’s life, and it’s not just writers that get blocked. Sometimes it’s referred to as creative block to include all our artist friends whose canvases, staffs and lumps of clay remain untouched.You could even consider it akin to the Yips in sports. Don’t panic! Learn to work with and around your writer’s block because it’s bound to rear its head again.

“Show don’t tell,” is maybe one of the most ubiquitous writing rules. There is nuance to this, like all things, but for the purposes of this post, we’re going to look at some of the signposts that we’re not just showing things happen; we’re telling the reader they happened. With each CTRL+F suggestion, I’ve included some show don’t tell examples with a fix or two to create a more compelling statement.

A variety of prompts covering five styles and tones from Cozy & Warm, through Cool & Suspenseful, up to Horrific Halloween. Of course, I encourage you to break the rules and write a terrifying tale using a cozy prompt or turn a horrifying one into something wholesome.

Using a reverse outline can assist in the big picture editing of first drafts by giving you some space from the text itself. When we’re editing the text it’s easy to be distracted by the prose when we actually want to look at the narrative elements.

So, usually summer would be June, July and August, (if we're going by month vibe and not solstice to equinox) but I’m throwing in May since this is our first wrap up, and I started this whole thing on May 1st.