Nicole Bianchi

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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:

  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:

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

Filed Under: featured, fiction, video, writing

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/

Filed Under: creativity, featured, inspiration, motivation, productivity, video, writing

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!

Filed Under: copywriting, featured, fiction, video, writing

How to Write a Powerful Inciting Incident (Video)

Published September 12, 2021 | Last Updated September 12, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi Leave a Comment

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:

  • 📚 Complete Playlist of Story Structure Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2…
  • 📚 The Hero’s Journey (video): https://youtu.be/yYSTz1H6buc
  • 📚 The Ordinary World (video): https://youtu.be/VM9l1McnPbo
  • 📚 “Story” by Robert McKee: https://amzn.to/2OayIKC
  • 📚 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!

Filed Under: creativity, editing, featured, fiction, video, writing

How to Use Close Reading to Improve Your Writing (Video)

Published August 15, 2021 | Last Updated August 20, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi Leave a Comment

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

Many famous writers have stressed the importance of reading to become a better writer. Stephen King once observed, “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life.”

But how can you get the most out of the books you read?

In this video, I look at a strategy called “close reading”. Close reading is a form of literary analysis that helps you get more out of the books you read. With close reading, you dive into a passage of a well-written novel or a poem and identify the techniques and themes that make the writing so powerful.

This active reading strategy will help you take your own writing to the next level as you discover powerful writing techniques that you can use to make your own writing more memorable and meaningful to your readers.

1. Read the Entire Piece

The first step is to make sure that you read the entire book or poem that you’re going to be close reading. 

If you don’t know the entire plot of the book, it’s going to be harder to identify certain techniques that the author is using. For example, if there’s a character that dies later on in the story, and the author is using foreshadowing at the beginning of the book to hint at that death, you wouldn’t pick up that technique because you don’t know that character is going to die. 

Usually when I do a close reading, it’s after I have already read the entire book, depending on how deep of a close reading I’m doing. 

2. Understand the Context

The second step is to understand the context of the piece of literature that you’re examining. Just as you want to understand the entire plot of the piece, it’s also really important to understand the context of the author. Who were they? Why were they writing this piece? Did they ever discuss their philosophy or inspiration? What was going on in history at the time the piece was written? How did that influence the author?

3. Summarize the Obvious

The third step is to summarize the paragraph or the passage that you’re going to be close reading. Poems are often short so you might close read an entire poem. But usually if you’re close reading a book, you would just pick out a passage that really strikes you and that you want to examine on a deeper level. At this stage, look for the most obvious things and jot them down. Maybe a character states that they are jealous of someone. Maybe the author is describing a character’s loneliness. This gives you clues for the themes of the piece which leads to step number four.

4. Pinpoint the Central Ideas and Themes

The fourth step is to identify the central ideas and themes in the passage. I’ve found this is very helpful when I am writing my own fiction, and I want to see how an author wove a certain theme into a piece. After you identify the obvious themes, you can examine how the author conveys them in the passage. How does he or she convey a sense of isolation or anger or fear? This leads into steps number five and six which examine the point of view and language and syntax of the piece.

5. Identify the Point of View

The fifth step is to analyze the point of view of the passage. Who is the narrator? Is it written in first person, second person, third person? Is it an omniscient narrator? Some books have an unreliable narrator, and that’s really interesting to examine. You can consider, “Is the author here putting forth their own opinion or is it an opinion of the characters?” 

6. Dive Deep into the Language and Syntax

The sixth step is to look at the language and syntax. If you’re examining a poem, you would look at the rhyme scheme and the rhythm and how that affects the feel of the piece. You can also do that when you’re looking at a book. Does the author use long sentences or short sentences? Why? How do they vary their tempo? What synonyms and metaphors do they use? How does that contribute to the theme of the piece and the big ideas of the piece? Is there a secondary theme that wasn’t obvious at first but now becomes more apparent?

This last step is my favorite because it allows you to discover techniques that you can use to make your own writing more powerful.

When I am reading a book, I might come across a passage that strikes me. This has probably happened to you too where you say, “Wow, this is a beautifully written passage!” Now you can use close reading to break down what makes that passage so powerful.

Is the author varying their sentences? What similes do they use? What metaphors? Or maybe other types of figurative language? Look for techniques that you can use for your own writing.

Want to see close reading in action? 

Check out the YouTube video where I examine the first verse from the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven (and discover a writing technique that will take your writing to the next level).

I hope you enjoy the video! It would be awesome if you could give it a thumbs up and leave a comment. How will you use close reading?

Also make sure to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already. I really appreciate your support and hope the video inspires you with your writing. Thanks for watching! 

**RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO**:

📚 Christopher Lee (The Raven): https://youtu.be/BefliMlEzZ8

📚 How to Vividly Describe Emotions (Video): https://youtu.be/-UG8StLBiek

📚 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter/

📚 Bonus Resource: Article from Harvard College on Close Reading: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how-do-close-reading

Filed Under: creativity, featured, inspiration, video, writing

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Hi, I’m Nicole! I help creatives, business owners, and writers take their writing and copywriting to the next level and grow their online audience. I’m also a published writer of essays and short stories. As a Christian, I seek to follow in the tradition of artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, dedicating all my work Soli Deo gloria.
Find out more about me here.
•••
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”
– Psalm 45:1

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