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How to Create Story Conflict: The Conflict Triangle with the Stakes Character (Video)

Published February 12, 2022 | Last Updated February 12, 2022 By Nicole Bianchi Leave a Comment

I’m excited to share a new video with you today!

You can click on the CC button for subtitles. In this video, I’m looking at a fascinating writing concept that will help you strengthen your storytelling as a fiction or nonfiction writer. I dive into how this concept is used in modern films like Iron Man 3 as well as classics of cinema including It’s a Wonderful Life and Casablanca.

Thanks so much to an email subscriber for suggesting this topic.

The conflict triangle will help you:

Write a gripping plot so readers care about your protagonist.
Develop a convincing character arc for your protagonist so that they have an unforgettable transformation.
Weave a compelling message into your story that impacts readers on an emotional level.

If you enjoy the video, be sure to give it a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to the channel. This lets me know that you found the video helpful and also encourages YouTube to share it with more people on the platform. Thank you!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:

🎥 The Ladder of Abstraction (video): https://youtu.be/-UG8StLBiek
📬 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter

Three Journaling Methods for Increased Productivity and Creativity (Video)

Published January 15, 2022 | Last Updated January 15, 2022 By Nicole Bianchi Leave a Comment

In this video, I’m sharing the three journaling methods I’m using in 2022 to boost my creativity and productivity and stay on track with my goals and projects. Two I’ve been keeping for years (one inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule, the other by John Steinbeck’s notebooks). The third is completely new.

Do you keep a journal? Or are you planning on keeping a journal this year? What are your favorite journaling methods? Let me know in the comments.

If you enjoy the video, be sure to give it a thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to the channel. This will encourage YouTube to share the video with more people. Thanks so much!

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:

📝 My blog post about Benjamin Franklin’s daily schedule: https://nicolebianchi.com/benjamin-franklin-daily-schedule/
📝 My blog post about my journals: https://nicolebianchi.com/journals/
📝 A peek into the notebooks of famous writers: https://nicolebianchi.com/how-to-keep-writing-notebook/
📚John Steinbeck’s journals of The Grapes of Wrath: https://amzn.to/3Kdpk0Q
💻 Day One: https://dayoneapp.com
💻 Evernote: https://evernote.com
📬 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter/

F. Scott Fitzgerald on How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions (Video)

Published December 16, 2021 | Last Updated December 16, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi Leave a Comment

If you’re celebrating Christmas next week, I hope you have a lovely, joy-filled holiday. If you don’t celebrate or if this is a difficult time for you, I wish you peace and happiness this December.

And I have a writing gift for you — I’ve just uploaded a new YouTube video:

In this video, I look at how F. Scott Fitzgerald writes vivid physical character descriptions in The Great Gatsby. I share four strategies that will help you describe people in both fiction and nonfiction so they come alive for readers.

I hope you enjoy this last writing resource of 2021! Be sure to give it a like, leave a comment (comments are awesome), and subscribe to my channel for more videos like this one in the new year.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

📚 “The Great Gatsby” book: https://amzn.to/3pV3GF9
🎬 Movie stills from “The Great Gatsby” 2013 film: https://amzn.to/3GMGCiD
🎥 Dinner Table Exercise (video): https://youtu.be/39XZzQrHfxY
🎥 How to Close Read (video): https://youtu.be/VSwNF-wqL_I
📝 Fitzgerald on Writing Masterful Dialogue: https://nicolebianchi.com/3-tips-fitzgerald-for-writing-masterful-dialogue/
📝 Fitzgerald on Writing Masterful Descriptions: https://nicolebianchi.com/writing-vivid-description/
📬 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter/

Some of the above links might be affiliate links. Thank you for helping to support the blog!

Fun, Unique, and Useful Gift Ideas for Writers

Published December 15, 2021 | Last Updated December 15, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi 1 Comment

Happy December! The gift-giving season is here.

Maybe you’re looking for a special gift for a friend or family member who is a writer. Or maybe you’re looking for a gift for yourself. After all, it’s been a crazy year, and you deserve something special too.

In today’s post, I’ve put together a list of lots of different gift ideas that would be perfect for writers. I haven’t used all of them myself, but after reading the reviews, I am considering adding several to my own Christmas list. 😉

I’d love to hear in the comments if you have any other gift ideas to add — maybe a writing gadget you love and can’t live without.

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How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: 7 Helpful Resources

Published October 22, 2021 | Last Updated October 22, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi 2 Comments

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is nearly here. If you’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo before, it’s a 30-day challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November.

Now, that’s the official challenge, but I love adapting NaNoWriMo to my own writing goals. It’s a fantastic way to motivate yourself to make progress or get started on any writing project (fiction or nonfiction) that you’ve been procrastinating over.

I’ve put together this article rounding up lots of resources I’ve created over the years to help you crush your writing goals this upcoming month, whether you’re taking part in the challenge or not. Let’s dive in.

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