Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

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

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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:

  1. Write a gripping plot so readers care about your protagonist.
  2. Develop a convincing character arc for your protagonist so that they have an unforgettable transformation.
  3. 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:

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

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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:

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How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: 7 Helpful Resources

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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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How to Write a Powerful Inciting Incident (Video)

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The inciting incident or “call to adventure” is the event that launches the main action of a story, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction.

When your inciting incident is powerful and upends the life of your protagonist, you have one of the key ingredients for a gripping and unforgettable story that your readers won’t be able to put down.

In this video, I share three rules for crafting powerful inciting incidents and also look at mistakes to avoid when writing this critical part of your story.

I hope you enjoy the video! It would be awesome if you could give it a thumbs up and leave a comment on YouTube. This helps me know you are enjoying these videos. Do you have any more tips for writing a gripping inciting incident?

Also make sure to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already!

I’ve just started making YouTube videos and really appreciate your support. I hope the video inspires you with your writing. Thanks for watching! 

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

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

5 Writing Exercises for Creating Compelling Characters

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When you think of unforgettable characters from books you’ve read, who comes to mind?

For me, I might think of Bilbo Baggins heading off on an adventure in Middle Earth or Ebenezer Scrooge being whisked away by the Christmas spirits or Jane Eyre trying to forge her own path in Victorian England.

What makes characters like these so unforgettable? What makes them feel as if they were real people rather than just creations of the author?

These characters come to life because they have complex personalities. They’re not stereotypes. Each one has dreams and desires, flaws and foibles. This makes them compelling and relatable to readers who come to those books even hundreds of years after they’ve been published.

Ernest Hemingway once observed, 

When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.

In today’s blog post, I’m sharing five character development writing exercises that will help you create living people for your stories. These exercises will guide you to examine your characters on a deeper level so you write memorable characters and thought-provoking stories that delight your readers.

(Please note that links to the books are affiliate links which means I’ll earn a small commission if you buy through the link with no extra cost to you. Thank you!)

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