Crafting 14 words for a teaser took hours, twice as long as usual.

Last Friday, we discussed the benefit of using "said" as a dialogue tag. Take your writing one step further and try using action beats instead. Nothing pulls readers in like action beats—small, vivid actions that show emotion, reaction, or intent. 💡 Instead of: "I’m tired," she said. Try: She rubbed her eyes and sank into the chair. "I’m tired." Action beats do the work of tags and more—they reveal character, pace the scene, and make dialogue feel alive. #WritingTips #Storytelling #ActionBeats #ShowDontTell

Show vs Tell: What Writers Still Get Wrong 🔥 ‘Show, don’t tell’ is not a magic spell. It’s a blunt instruction people recite to sound like writers, but most misuse it. Telling isn’t the enemy, but lazy, surface-level showing is. The difference lies in depth. Telling says: “She was angry.” Shallow showing performs: “She slammed the cup down.” Deep showing does: “The cup hit the table. Her breath came in short, sharp bursts; a single tremor ran through her thumb.” That last version gives readers the inner weather, the emotion lived, not merely labeled. Three brutal clarifications: 1. Showing requires internal architecture. Don’t just replace an adjective with an action. Give sensory detail, bodily responses, and the character’s private logic. Show how anger warps thought and choice. 2. Tell selectively. Sometimes telling moves pace and sharpens tone; especially in montage, summary, or when you need lean clarity. The problem is not telling; it’s defaulting to it because you’re scared to trust the reader. 3. Use contrast. Alternate showing with telling to guide rhythm. Show a single, sharp image to anchor a scene, then tell a one-line truth to push forward. The push-pull keeps readers engaged. If your scenes read like a report or a reel of actions, you’re not showing, you’re playing dressing-up. Seriously. To make readers feel, you must reveal perception, not just behavior. Practice exercise: Take a paragraph that tells an emotion and rewrite it three ways: tell, show, deep show. Compare which one lingers. Practice daily, your scenes will learn to breathe.🔥 Want your scenes to live and hurt and breathe? Follow me for brutal, honest craft tips. Or book a discovery call, let’s strip your prose down to the bone and rebuild it to bleed. #WritingTips #ShowDontTell #AmWriting #Storytelling #WritersLife #MabelBridge

What does it take to feel comfortable on stage? When I ask people what challenges they are having with public speaking, what I hear back more than anything else is some variation of "feeling confident/comfortable/myself on stage". (And not just from beginner speakers either) It's weird, because unless we are exceptional actors, how could we be anyone else on stage? But what if you're still not feeling it? Because expressing ourselves on stage is more than just a convenience, it's our secret weapon. To find out how to load that weapon, watch this video. https://lnkd.in/efG6YuW5 #publicspeaking #author #storytelling

Sometimes “productivity hacks” just don’t fit real creative lives. Jessica “JR” Lancaster tried the famous time-blocking method and discovered it only works when you’re in control of your time. For most writers juggling jobs, kids, and chaos, rigid schedules can backfire. Her advice? Ditch the guilt. Flow with your energy, not your calendar. Ten inspired minutes can move your writing further than two forced hours. Because creativity doesn’t run on a clock. 📝 Save this post for those days when your schedule falls apart and remember, progress isn’t linear. #writingcommunity #amwriting #creativeflow #writerslife #writingmotivation #authorsofinstagram #writingmindset #creativelife #productivitytips #timeblocking #writingadvice #SignMyBookPodcast #JessicaLancaster #creativeprocess #indieauthors

𝗘𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 When a scene begins and ends without change, the story can fall flat. Think of it like a sequence: goal–conflict–change. If the sequence is static, the reader loses interest. When I write, I often ask: What will be different when this ends? Sometimes it’s internal (emotion), sometimes external (environment), sometimes relational (trust). Maybe this could help you think about what happens in a scene: • Scene: your goal + a conflict + a disaster. • Sequel to the scene: the reaction + a dilemma + a decision. And try these when you write the scene: • Ask your character: What do you want right now? • Introduce opposition — make it difficult and make it important. • End the scene with change. • Then show the fallout (even if you leave the full response for later) — our emotional “lag” could do with some space. Don't skip the change, or you'll skip the reader’s reason for being there. Remember: stories matter, and so do you. #WritingCraft #SceneStructure #Storytelling #CreativeWriting

Behind the Script: What It Really Takes to Write Emotion People often think writing emotion is easy just add tears, heartbreak, or a dramatic pause. But real emotion… comes from truth. When I write, I’m not just building characters. I’m revisiting moments I once felt, people I’ve met, and silences that once broke me. Every dialogue carries a piece of reality sometimes mine, sometimes yours. Emotion in storytelling isn’t about exaggeration. It’s about honesty. It’s about letting your audience see themselves through someone else’s pain, love, or laughter and realize they’re not alone. That’s the beauty of scriptwriting: it’s therapy, confession, and art all in one frame. 🎬 From “Red Flags Never Turn Green” to “Jakata,” every story I write teaches me that emotion isn’t written… it’s lived first. #Scriptwriting #Storytelling #Filmmaking #AfricanCinema #CreativeWriting

POV: You hear “We love it… but it’s not for us.” Every writer hears this. It doesn’t mean your script isn’t strong or that you’re not talented. It usually means: ✨ It doesn’t fit their current slate ✨ Timing or market isn’t right ✨ They already have something similar Remember—this is business, not personal. Great scripts get passed on every day. Your job? Don’t stop. The right “yes” is still out there. #ScreenwritingTips #HollywoodTruth #KeepWriting

What Is a Protagonist and an Antagonist? Understanding the Core Characters in Fiction Learn the difference between protagonists and antagonists in fiction, how they drive conflict, and why understanding them is essential for strong storytelling. Full article: https://lnkd.in/gkfrgaPX #WritingTips #FictionWriting #Protagonist #Antagonist #Storytelling #CharacterDevelopment #Conflict

Allora Lee’s advice for every writer struggling with perfectionism, just write it bad. First drafts are meant to be messy, honest, and real. Progress comes from creating, not waiting for perfection. 🚀💭✍️ #AFAPodcast #TheAcademyForAdventurers #WritingTips #CreativeJourney #WritersLife #FirstDraft #Storytelling #PersonalGrowth #MindsetMatters #AdventureAwaits

Funny thing about writing—most of us start by building walls. 🧱 Not to keep readers out, but to keep ourselves safe. We stack sentences like bricks, each one carefully placed, each one protecting something raw underneath. A memory. A grief. A truth that still stings when touched. But here’s the paradox—those walls, when written honestly, don’t stay standing. Readers find the cracks. They press their fingers in. They feel us there. And somehow, their empathy becomes the chisel. That’s the beauty of defensive storytelling—it dares to hide, knowing it can still be found. It’s the writer saying, I’m not ready to speak this aloud, but maybe you’ll hear it anyway. I once wrote a chapter so cold it felt made of concrete. But in the silence between the lines, someone told me they found warmth. That’s when I realized—walls can hold heat, too. So maybe the goal isn’t to write without walls, but to build them with care… and trust that the right reader will know where to lean, where to listen, where to knock. What emotional wall did you write around—and who’s begun to tear it down? #WritingWalls #ReaderCracks #VulnerableProse #EmotionalArchitecture