Writing is a craft, with authors employing a variety of tools and techniques to weave together their stories. One such tool is Chekhov’s Gun, a principle that essentially emphasizes that every element introduced in a story should serve a purpose, or it shouldn’t be there at all. Today, Ginger is digging into the details of this technique and how it can be used in your own work, along with examples of how it has been used in popular literature and film.

Checkhov’s Gun is all about discipline, foreshadowing, and rewarding your readers for their attention to detail. Whether it’s a clue hidden in the first chapter, a character’s flaw that leads to their downfall, or a seemingly innocuous object that becomes critical later on, this tool can add layers of suspense, symbolism, and satisfaction that will transform your stories from good to unforgettable.

Writing is a craft, not an art – and as craftsmen, we writers employ tools and techniques when we’re crafting a story in exactly the same way a carpenter uses tongue and groove or half-lap joinery when building a table.

One tool a writer might use is something called a “Chekhov’s Gun” – named for Anton Chekhov, a renowned Russian playwright and short story writer frequently considered to be one of the greatest masters of the short story form – known for his realistic and often tragic depictions of human life. 

(And I mean tragic even by Russian standards!)

Chekhov famously warned writers: “If you say in the first act that there is a gun hanging on the wall, then in the second or third act it must go off. If it doesn’t go off, then it shouldn’t be hanging there.” 

This principle, now known as Chekhov’s Gun, has become a fundamental tenet of good storytelling. It rewards audiences who pay attention to every detail, no matter how seemingly inconsequential – and it can be a powerful tool for foreshadowing in fiction.

Who Was Anton Chekhov?

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born on the coast of the Sea of Azov in 1860, and rose to become a prominent figure in Russian literature, celebrated for his realistic short stories and plays. His works often explored themes of human nature, love, loss, and the complexities of life. Chekhov’s writing style was characterized by its simplicity, subtlety, and ability to evoke powerful emotions through understated language – and it was also famous for ensuring that everything of importance is always right there in the narrative.

The Concept of Chekhov’s Gun

Chekhov’s Gun refers to the idea that any element introduced into a story should serve a purpose and be relevant to the plot. If an object or detail is mentioned or shown early on, it should ultimately play a significant role in the story’s resolution. This principle rewards those who pay attention to detail and creates a sense of tension, anticipation, and satisfaction for the observant reader. It also demands discipline from the writer – forcing them to sacrifice details and description that are irrelevant to the plot.

How Chekhov’s Gun is Used in Fiction

Chekhov’s Gun can be used in various ways to enhance storytelling:

• Foreshadowing: By introducing something early on that later becomes significant to the story, authors can hint at future events, creating suspense and anticipation in the reader.
• Symbolism: Objects or details can represent deeper themes or ideas, adding layers of meaning to the story. A gun represents the sudden finality of death, for example – and having it hanging on the wall warns the audience that the promise of death hangs right alongside it.
• Characterization: The way characters interact with objects or details can reveal their personalities and motivations. A character acting carelessly with a gun, for example, is demonstrating that they have a careless attitude to life and death.
• Plot Development: Because it’s always destined to be fired, Chekhov’s Gun should ultimately always be used to drive the plot forward, creating cause-and-effect relationships between characters and events.

Examples of Chekhov’s Gun in Fiction

1. The Literal Chekhov’s Gun: In Chekhov’s own play The Three Sisters, a gun is prominently displayed on the wall. It later goes off, symbolizing the characters’ unfulfilled desires and the tragic nature of their lives.
2. The MacGuffin: Alfred Hitchcock famously popularized the concept of the MacGuffin, a plot device that drives the story forward but is ultimately unimportant. However, even a MacGuffin can function as a Chekhov’s Gun, as it often sets events in motion and creates tension, or raises the stakes or demands a sacrifice from the main character later on. 
3. The Clue in the First Chapter: In Agatha Christie’s detective novels, clues are often introduced early on, challenging the reader to solve the mystery alongside the protagonist. You collect them along the way, and they only make sense when they’re all assembled together.
4. The Character’s Weakness: In many stories, a character’s flaw or weakness is introduced early on, foreshadowing their eventual downfall or redemption. Indiana Jones has his fear of snakes revealed in the cold open of the movie, for example, and it foreshadows him being entombed with thousands of deadly asps later in the movie.
5. The Setting: The setting of a story can be a Chekhov’s Gun itself, influencing the characters’ actions and shaping the plot. It could be a spaceship doomed to crash, a farm on the cusp of an abundant harvest, or any other location marked by the inevitability of future events.
6. The Dialogue: A seemingly insignificant conversation can hint at future events or reveal hidden motivations. In Aliens, for example, the main character of Ripley wants to be useful to the Space Marines she’s flying with, and points out that she’s got a “Class 2 rating” with the mechanical power loader they use. This pays off at the climax of the movie, when her aptitude with the power loader lets her fight mano a mano (which means “hand to hand”, not “man to man”) with the fearsome alien queen.
7. The Object with a Past: An object with a history or significance can become a Chekhov’s Gun, adding depth and meaning to the story. Just think of Luke Skywalker when he picks up his father’s lightsaber for the first time in Star Wars. The weapon was cut from the hand of Anakin Skywalker just as Darth Vader would later cut it from Luke’s hand in The Empire Strikes Back.
8. The Supernatural Element: In horror and fantasy genres, supernatural elements introduced early on often play a crucial role in the resolution of the plot. Ghosts are often introduced as spooky noises and slamming doors rather than the horrific terrifying apparitions they reveal themselves as at the climax of the story.
9. The Character’s Secret: A secret revealed or hinted at early on can create tension and anticipation. This was one of the things Star Wars: The Acolyte did right – hinting at the secrets Master Sol was hiding, and how destructive those secrets would be when finally revealed to his former Padawan, Osha.
10. The Unexpected Twist: A seemingly insignificant detail can be revealed to have a major impact on the story later on, creating a satisfying twist. A great example is the unreliability of the DeLorean sports car in Back to the Future – suggested at the time as nothing more than a characteristic quirk of European automobiles, but later nearly ruining Marty McFly’s attempts to return home.

Tips for Incorporating Chekhov’s Gun in Your Own Stories

If I’ve whet your appetite for using Chekhov’s Gun in your current or future stories, here are some things to think about:

1. Plan Ahead: Think carefully about the elements you want to introduce and how they’ll ultimately connect to the plot.
2. Make it Relevant: Ensure that the elements you introduce are meaningful and contribute to the overall story. A Chekov’s Gun that goes unfired is a Red Herring.
3. Create Tension: Use Chekhov’s Gun to build anticipation and suspense. A gun is a great example to use because it’s a tool that could become deadly.
4. Avoid Overuse: Don’t overload your story with too many Chekhov’s Guns, as it can become overwhelming. While they prove very satisfying for a reader, it pulls you out of the flow of the story if there are too many details you’re trying to keep track of while you read it.
5. Be Subtle: Sometimes, the most effective Chekhov’s Guns are those that are subtly introduced. This makes them especially satisfying when they’re “fired” later in the story.
6. Consider the Theme: Chekhov’s Gun can be used to reinforce the underlying theme of your story. Symbolism is another powerful tool for writers, and it combines well with the foreshadowing of Chekhov’s Gun.
7. Pay Attention to Details: Using Chekhov’s Gun requires discipline as a writer. Now, every detail in your story should have a purpose, even if it’s a small one. You can’t afford to hang metaphorical guns on the wall if they’re not going to go off.
8. Avoid Chekhov’s Rifle: On the same topic, in Chekhov’s play The Cherry Orchard there are two rifles featured that never get fired. As a result, this is often held up as a failure of the principle of Chekhov’s Gun – defined as an element that is introduced but never resolved, and sometimes referred to as “Chekhov’s Rifle.”
9. Experiment: Don’t be afraid to try different approaches to Chekhov’s Gun. You don’t have to use a literal gun, and a line of dialogue can be as meaningful to the concept as an actual, physical object.
10. Get Feedback: When you share your work with other readers for the first time, ask for their opinions on how you’ve used Chekhov’s Gun. You’ll be surprised what beta readers and ARC audiences pick up on that you might not have noticed even as you wrote it!

Conclusion

Chekhov’s Gun is a powerful storytelling tool that can enhance your fiction and create a more satisfying reading experience. By carefully planning and incorporating this principle into your work, you can elevate your writing and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

And as a self-published author, you have the unique opportunity to experiment with different storytelling techniques like this as you search to find your own voice. Don’t be afraid to take risks and try new writing techniques to add deeper layers to your tales. By understanding and applying the concept correctly, you can create stories that are even more engaging and meaningful.

Have you seen examples of Chekhov’s Gun in your favorite books, movies, or TV shows? Which are your favorites? And what are your own experiences with incorporating Chekhov’s Gun into your writing? I encourage you to leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

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Success as an author can often appear to be an overnight transformation, but in reality, very few writers become household names without years of hard work. Behind every so-called “overnight success” lies a story of persistence, rejection, and unwavering dedication to the craft. Vaseem Khan is a perfect example of this. While he recently gained significant attention for being chosen to write a trilogy featuring the iconic James Bond character “Q,” his rise to fame didn’t happen out of the blue. It’s the result of a long and winding journey, built on countless words and books that paved the way for this moment.

As Ginger points out in this week’s blog, Khan’s journey offers invaluable lessons for aspiring authors about the tenacity and creative vision needed to achieve lasting success in publishing. From his inventive book concepts to his talent for immersing readers in richly detailed worlds, Khan has mastered what it takes to captivate an audience. So, if you’re looking to learn from a writer who’s carved out his place in the literary world, there are fewer better examples than the unique path to success of Vaseem Khan.

Many of the best-known authors of contemporary fiction burst into public awareness so quickly that they’re described as being an “overnight success” – yet in reality, that’s very rarely the case.

Most really successful writers spend years or decades honing their craft and publishing books, and it’s only when they hit a certain milestone that non-bookworms become aware of them. In many cases, it’s when a TV show or movie gets made about their books – think Jack Carr’s The Terminal List, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight trilogy, or George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones books.

In other cases, it’s when their books reach a certain stage of notoriety that people who don’t normally follow the best-seller charts start getting interested – think 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James, or the Crown of Rose and Thorns series by Sarah J. Maas.

But occasionally, an author will suddenly be introduced to a much wider audience for a different reason – like being chosen to pen a series of books featuring characters so well known that people make note of it even if they haven’t personally picked up a book in years. 

That’s the case of distinguished mystery writer Vaseem Khan, who was recently chosen by Ian Fleming Publications to write a trilogy of books about the character of Major Boothroyd, better known to most as Q from the James Bond books and movies. 

This announcement introduced Vaseem Khan to a whole new audience of people who might never have been aware of him otherwise – but that sudden increase in public awareness is very far from an “overnight success.”

Vaseem Khan has actually been writing books for nearly a decade, most notably two very successful mystery series that have ranked as multiple best-sellers and won a number of awards. In addition, Khan is the current chair of the Crime Writers’ Association, which champions the best in both fiction and non-fiction crime writing. 

While some people are only learning of him now, Vaseem has actually spent years working diligently at his craft, and his “overnight success” came at the cost of countless hours of writing, editing, and grinding away to secure his place in an often thankless and competitive industry.

Today, I thought it might be valuable to examine Kahn’s writing to see what lessons aspiring authors can learn – and a great place to start is by examining how Kahn took his first book from page to print.

Lesson One: It Can Be A Long Road to Publication

Vaseem Khan was 40-years-old when Hodder and Stoughton launched his first traditionally published novel, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra. However, this was very far from Kahn’s first book. In fact, he’d been writing since the age of 17, starting off with a comic fantasy he describes as “Terry Patratchett-esque”, and then subsequently writing six more novels across various genres, none of which ever saw the light of day.

However, after spending nearly a decade working in India, Khan tried writing a novel set in Mumbai rather than his native England, and the concept of a buddy-buddy crime mystery pairing a retired Mumbai police inspector with a baby elephant instantly caught people’s attention. Hodder and Stoughton published the book in 2015, and nine more full-length novels followed. Today, Khan has become a best-selling author multiple times over, and people eagerly await each new book he publishes.

So, if there’s a lesson to be learned from this, it’s persistence! Vaseem Kahn must have written hundreds of thousands of words before even starting the first draft of The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, and that was how he managed to hone his skills and develop the engaging and entertaining writing style fans have come to celebrate.

Lesson Two: Concept is King

Authors need to sell a book long before their customers open it up and read it, and that’s where the importance of concept comes in. While icons like Stephan King and Lee Child have thousands of fans who’ll eagerly buy anything they write, lesser known authors have to hook potential readers with something other than name recognition – and in many cases, that’s a concept for their book that demands readers find out more.

When it comes to The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, that hook is the unlikely pairing of a retired police inspector with a baby elephant he reluctantly finds himself inheriting. It’s such an interesting and intriguing concept for a story that you can’t help but want to find out more about it – and the moment you read the first line, you’ll find yourself wanting to keep on going!

The same is true for Khan’s other book series, Malabar House. These are historical crime mysteries set in the 1950s and focus on the career of Mumbai’s first female police officer. Again, the concept of the books is so intriguing that you can’t help but want to find out more about them, and people who do often end up clicking the “Buy Now” button.

So, while you should obviously write the books you want to write, there’s something valuable to be learned from Vaseem Khan’s example. Create a compelling, thought-provoking concept for your books (an “elevator pitch” if you will) and you’ll nudge potential readers that much closer to becoming paying customers. If you can’t describe the concept of your book in a single sentence, keep working at it until you can. 

Lesson Three: Take Your Readers to Another World

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit Mumbai, you’ll know it’s like no other city on Earth. It’s so vibrant and alive – with abject poverty crushed shoulder-to-shoulder with wealth and privilege, and an architecture and history that sometimes feels like something out of a dream. Describing Mumbai to people who haven’t been there is nearly impossible – but it’s something Vaseem Kahn does masterfully in all his books. 

From the sights and smells (oh, so many smells) to the stifling heat and colorful architecture, Khan manages to make the city come alive for readers in a way that very few authors could hope to. He practically makes Mumbai a supporting character in his mysteries, and that’s one of the reasons readers find his books so captivating.

Aspiring authors can learn a lot by reading Khan’s work and taking note of the way he manages to bring Mumbai to life within the pages of his books. His clever, concise writing doesn’t waste a letter – and I think it’s this journalistic writing style that explains why Ian Fleming Publications chose to recruit him to join their literary stable, given how Ian Fleming was similarly known for writing about exotic and exciting locales in short and engaging sentences.

If you can make your readers feel that they’re standing right alongside your characters, you’ll draw them into your story in a really powerful and engaging way.

Lesson Four: Characters as Colorful as the City Itself

While Khan writes as if Mumbai was a supporting character in his stories, it’s his human (or pachyderm) characters that drive the plot – and readers seem to love them! If you read the reviews for his Baby Ganesh Detective Agency or Malabar House mysteries, you’ll see people celebrate Kahn’s colorful cast of characters again and again. They find them enchanting, engaging, and unexpected (which is a must for writing a good mystery novel.)

Characters, or more specifically their conflicts, are what drive all good fiction – something that’s especially true when it comes to mystery novels, which often hinge on the motivation of each of the suspects. 

Studying Kahn’s writing is a masterclass in how to craft believable characters. His dialogue is crisp, witty, and realistic, and he manages to capture the essence of his characters with just a few sharply chosen adjectives; making them easy to bring to life within your mind’s eye.

Lesson Five: Stick to the Formula!

“It’s formulaic” is an insult often leveled at genre fiction, and it’s a grossly unfair accusation. As readers, we have certain expectations when we pick up a book, and we’re left feeling deeply unsatisfied if the novel fails to deliver on them. Imagine reading a romance novel without a happily-ever-after, for example. Readers would be rioting!

The same is definitely true of crime fiction – especially mystery novels. One of the largest genres in popular fiction, mystery novels have to follow the beats of a satisfying formula otherwise they won’t give you the addictive dopamine rush as you solve the mystery alongside the fictional protagonists.

Vaseem Kahn is well aware of this, and all his books are notable for how tightly structured they are – delivering what readers expect page-by-page, while delighting them with new twists and turns they didn’t see coming. He spent 23 years learning the craft of writing before Hodder and Stoughton published his first novel, and all that studying clearly paid off. 

Aspiring authors can definitely learn from Khan’s example. You should be devouring books by other authors in your chosen genre – learning what works, what doesn’t, and what readers will be disappointed by if you don’t deliver. A good mystery novel is like a delicious recipe – if you don’t include all the right ingredients, it might leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Conclusion

While Vaseem Khan is enjoying a newfound level of public awareness thanks to joining the team at Ian Fleming Publications, his place alongside writers like Raymond Benson, Charlie Higson, and Anthony Horowitz has been hard-earned. “Overnight success” took decades to achieve, and Khan richly deserves to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with these thoroughbreds of thriller writers. 

And as aspiring authors, we should find that example inspiring! Hard work, dedication to the craft, and unrelenting persistence helped bring Khan’s stories to bookshelves everywhere – and crime writing and mysteries are infinitely better off as a result.

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As authors, we all strive to create stories that resonate deeply with readers, pulling them into our characters’ journeys and making them feel truly invested. One of the most powerful tools for achieving this is sacrifice. Whether it’s a physical loss, a shattered belief, or giving up a cherished dream, sacrifice elevates the stakes and compels readers to care about the outcome.

The key lies in understanding why sacrifice is so essential in storytelling—because not all sacrifices are created equal. When done poorly, it can feel hollow or forced, leaving readers unsatisfied. But when done well, it becomes the emotional anchor of your story. Today, Ginger walks us through the crucial role of sacrifice, how to determine what your characters should give up, and offers tips for crafting those moments to make a lasting impact.

I’m obsessed with the structure of storytelling. Although every story is unique, I love being able to recognize the essential elements that have to come together to make a tale really satisfying. This is why I’ve written so much about tools like Dan Harmon’s Story Circle.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how one of the essential elements of a truly satisfying story was a moment of helplessness – a part of the adventure in which it seems not only impossible for our heroes to triumph, but they might not even survive the experience!

This was my one criticism of the otherwise excellent movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare – which had no real “oh, God, they’re all going to die” moment and therefore ended up like watching a wildly entertaining playthrough of a single-player WWII shooter game.

Writing that article got me thinking about other elements of storytelling that really make a tale engaging, and one of the first to spring to mind was sacrifice. It reminded me of a quote from one of my favorite books – an old Saint adventure by Leslie Charteris called The Saint Closes the Case.

In it, moments before sacrificing his life to save his friends, the character Norman writes a note to The Saint and explains to him: “Nothing is won without sacrifice.”

How true is that? It hit me like a ton of bricks when I first read that line as a teenager – and it’s stuck with me ever since, especially when it comes to storytelling.

I believe that in every good story, the protagonist has to make a sacrifice. He or she has to give something up before they receive the power, wisdom, or knowledge they need to reach their goal or overcome their nemesis.

I’m definitely not the first to come up with this idea. It’s the Take step in Dan Harmon’s Story Circle – where the hero gets what they want, but have to “pay a heavy price.” Likewise, it’s the basis of the Atonement and Apotheosis steps in Joseph Campbell’s storytelling structure The Hero’s Journey. 

Sacrifice is as old and essential a part of any story since “Once upon a time…”

So this week, I wanted to look into the concept of sacrifice in storytelling a little more, give some examples of my favorite sacrifices in popular fiction, and then give some pointers on how to get the most out of the moment in which the heroes from your stories have to pay the price to win the day.

Sacrifice in Storytelling

In the realm of storytelling, the journey towards victory isn’t supposed to be a smooth and effortless path. The best stories demand that the protagonist confronts impossible challenges and is forced to make difficult sacrifices before they get to their “happily ever after.”

This concept underscores the very idea of storytelling itself – a way to use fiction to pass on the values and ideals that unite us as a society. One of those, rightly or wrongly, is the idea that true triumph requires a cost.

Throughout literary history, countless of our favorite fictional protagonists have faced the necessity of sacrifice. In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker wasn’t truly able to harness the power of the force until he’d witnessed Darth Vader murder his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

Likewise, Harry Potter was forced to witness the death of his godfather, Sirius Black, before he was able to embrace the full power of his magic and defeat Voldemort. The significance of this change was represented in the novels by Harry’s ability to see Thestrals – magical horses that pulled the flying chariots of Hogwarts, but were only visible to those who’d witnessed death.

Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games is another character who endures immense physical and emotional suffering to protect her loved ones and challenge the oppressive Capitol, and in the end of the first book she and Peter stand willing to sacrifice their lives rather than abide by the cruel and arbitrary rules of the game.

These examples illustrate a fundamental truth in storytelling: Not just that the stakes must be high for the reader to truly care about the outcome, but also how when our protagonist faces the loss of something valuable, whether it be a loved one, a cherished possession, or a deeply held belief, the reader’s investment in the story intensifies. Their sacrifice grants us a sense of urgency and tension, propelling the narrative towards a climactic resolution in which victory has been earned by paying a terrible price.

How do you write a good sacrifice?

The nature of the sacrifice can vary widely, depending on the story and the protagonist’s character. In some cases, it may be a literal death, as with Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars. Sometimes, it can be a physical sacrifice, like how Frodo Baggins lost his finger at the climax of the The Lord of the Rings trilogy – giving him a daily reminder of what he’d gone through to defend Middle Earth.

In other cases, though, the sacrifice might be a more abstract loss – the sacrifice of the protagonist’s innocence, idealism, or sense of self.

For self-published authors, incorporating an element of sacrifice into your stories is a powerful way to enhance the narrative’s impact. As you work on your current project, here are some tips and tricks to consider about making that sacrifice seem worth it:

• Identify the Protagonist’s Deepest Desire: What does your protagonist truly want to achieve? Understanding their ultimate goal will help you determine what they might be willing to sacrifice to attain it. Normally, a good story ends with the hero sacrificing what they think they want for what they and the people they love actually need.
• Create a Significant Obstacle: Place a formidable barrier in the protagonist’s path. This obstacle should be challenging enough to force them to reevaluate their priorities and reconsider making difficult choices. A good example is how Harry Potter had to place the people he loved at great risk in his fight against Voldemort, and lost many of them as a result.
• Introduce a Personal Cost: The sacrifice should have a direct and meaningful impact on the protagonist’s life. This could involve the loss of a loved one, a cherished possession, or a deeply held belief. It’s very unsatisfying when the ultimate sacrifice ends up being meaningless – like how the climax of the Twilight saga (spoiler alert) saw several major characters die, only for it to be revealed that their deaths were part of a premonition, and they actually all survived. The sacrifice should be significant, real, and permanent.
• Make the Sacrifice Relatable: Even if the sacrifice is seemingly extreme, it should be understandable to the reader. Help the audience empathize with the protagonist’s decision by showing how it is driven by love, loyalty, or a greater good. Would you risk the lives of your friends and family to lead a revolution? Would you sacrifice safety and security to reveal a dangerous truth? What is it you’re most scared of losing? That should be the level of what your protagonist has to sacrifice.
• Explore the Emotional Fallout: Finally, you need to make sure the sacrifice has lasting consequences for the protagonist. Explore the emotional toll it takes on them and how it affects their character development moving forward. All stories are supposed to bring their hero back to where they started, except “changed for the experience.” What part of that change is driven by the sacrifice they had to make?

Sacrifice is so important to a satisfying story. Just remember, though, that the sacrifice shouldn’t be gratuitous or contrived. Not only should it be a painful process for our hero, but it should serve a purpose within the narrative and contribute to the protagonist’s growth and transformation. 

But when written well, a sacrifice makes or breaks a story. By carefully crafting the what, how, and why of their hero’s sacrifice, self-published authors can create more compelling and memorable stories that resonate with readers on a profound level and help keep them front-of-mind long after they’ve turned the final page.

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It’s often said that you can learn more from failure than success, but it’s not only your own failures that can teach valuable lessons. The Acolyte is a prime example—a show that promised so much, yet stumbled in its execution, offering key “lessons learned” for writers. While fans and critics alike were divided over its story, there’s no denying that its flaws provide an opportunity to learn what not to do when crafting narratives.

In this week’s blog, Ginger breaks down the show’s major misfires and explores how we can turn them into opportunities for growth in our creative journeys. There are valuable lessons to learn from studying the pitfalls of this Disney+ series—such as poor use of pre-existing characters or an overreliance on a non-linear timeline—and they serve as a reminder that even the most ambitious and well-funded projects can fall apart if the core storytelling isn’t solid.

Warning: For those who haven’t yet watched the series, there are some potential spoilers ahead.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the importance of a satisfying ending to your stories, and used the controversial Disney+ show The Acolyte as an example. While the show was savaged by critics and fans alike, it did deliver an unexpected payoff when we learned that the Jedi Master we’d all been rooting for throughout the series was actually guilty of some terrible things.

That payoff, however, wasn’t enough to save the show. Recently, we learned that Disney+ had decided not to renew The Acolyte for Season 2, leaving fans of the show upset, and even its harshest critics wondering if perhaps they’d laid on the criticism a little too hard!

But while I don’t think The Acolyte was nearly as bad as many of the rabid Star Wars fans claimed it was, the show was clearly very far from perfect. There were several things about it which stood out as examples of what NOT to do when telling a story – and I thought to commemorate this one-season wonder, we should examine what those things were. 

So, strap into your snowspeeder and get ready for a lesson in how NOT to write a science fiction series (or any series, for that matter.)

Mistake One: Controversial Guest Appearances

In many ways, The Acolyte was doomed before the series had even finished its full eight-episode run. By releasing an episode a week, fans were always ready with a brand new list of things to complain about without knowing if those things would actually get resolved in the next episode.

One of them, which I mentioned in my previous article, was the guest appearance of Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi – first seen in the 1999 Star Wars prequel movie The Phantom Menace.

Ret-conning the birthdate of this Jedi Master caused a lot of consternation on the Internet (even though his original age had only been canonized in a trading card game.) However, what really caused problems was the fact that Ki-Adi-Mundi’s only line in The Phantom Menace had been “the Sith have been extinct for a millennium” and the whole point of The Acolyte was that a Sith was out there murdering Jedi!

If the detractors had waited a week, however, they might have understood why Ki-Adi-Mundi was included. The whole point of the show was that the Jedi subsequently initiated a cover-up of this Sith activity, and Ki-Adi-Mundi’s line in A Phantom Menace was supposed to demonstrate that this cover-up had been successful even a century later.

Cameos by Darth Plagueis (his only on-screen appearance) and Yoda were less controversial, but did teach us the same important lesson – be wary of characters you include in your story “just because.” 

Lessons Learned from Mistake One:

Yes, we all love a cameo – and your readers might love seeing a character from one of your other books turn up in this one! However, you should never do so at the expense of the story you’re currently trying to tell; and definitely not when it breaks the canon of your own literary universe.

Mistake Two: An Unnecessary Non-Linear Timeline

Disney+ shows seem to be taking lessons from the same playbook, and that includes a heavy reliance on non-linear storytelling. This is a method of telling a story in a chronologically disjointed fashion – for example, how The Acolyte visited three distinctly different timelines in separate episodes.

While non-linear timelines can make for really compelling fiction – you need only look at the movie Pulp Fiction to see how it’s done properly – it’s not something that works every time, and often telling a story in a straight chronological fashion makes it clearer and more enjoyable for audiences to engage with. I know the point of The Acolyte was to reveal Master Sol’s duplicity through a big reveal in the final episodes, but I kind of felt that fell flat because the timeline of the episodes jumped around so much.

Lessons Learned from Mistake Two:

A great piece of advice for authors is to focus on clarity, not cleverness, and I think in the case of The Acolyte, the writers spent too much time figuring out how to have their clever final reveal, rather than keeping the audience engaged and entertained by telling the story step-by-step.

Mistake Three: Plain, old-fashioned bad writing

In the second episode of The Acolyte, Master Sol and his former apprentice, Osha, travel to visit Jedi Master Torbin, who has been in a state of meditative exile since the events that set the story in motion. Sol and the others move swiftly through a Jedi temple to find Torbin, but Osha gets distracted along the way – taking another path and stumbling across Torbin before the others…

…which doesn’t make a lick of sense!

How did Osha find a faster route than the others, even though they were headed directly there? It’s a blatantly stupid bit of storytelling and was, for me, the moment that I felt snapped out of the flow of The Acolyte and started picking holes with it.

Lessons Learned from Mistake Three:

Be careful not to make silly mistakes in your writing – such as describing events that don’t really make much narrative sense when you think about it. While Osha stumbling across Torbin before the others helped drive the story of The Acolyte along, it did so by insulting the viewer’s intelligence.

Mistake Four: Focusing on the Future Instead of the Present

Another mistake that seems commonplace amongst Disney+ shows (especially their Marvel ones) is spending too much of the runtime building up to what’s happening next – introducing new characters, spin-offs, and sequels. 

This was very clear in The Acolyte. Even before the first few episodes had aired, the stars of The Acolyte were talking about “what happens next” and they even produced a few posters proudly proclaiming “The Acolyte: Season One.”

However, there wouldn’t be a Season Two – and part of the reason was that so much of the first series was spent building up what happened next that the writers ignored what was happening right then and there! The series did deliver an ending (and I kind of liked it) but that ending was overshadowed by the loose threads that the writers probably assumed they’d be able to address in the following season.

Instead, the legacy of The Acolyte is to remain unfinished – leaving all of us disappointed.

Lessons Learned from Mistake Four:

Even if you’re planning to write a whole series of books, focus on the characters at the core of each and every novel right now instead of preparing readers for what happens in a subsequent installment that might never actually materialize.

Mistake Five: Not Giving The Readers What They Want

The fifth and final mistake that The Acolyte made is another issue that Disney seems to be coming up against again and again with their Star Wars franchise – not giving their audience what they want.

In the disastrous sequel trilogy, Disney tried “deconstructing” Star Wars by having Han Solo and Chewbacca run from responsibility and back into smuggling, and by turning Luke Skywalker into a traumatized hermit. All the progress that had made these characters so heroic at the end of Return of the Jedi was reversed – to the point that actor Mark Hamill decided to treat the Luke Skywalker he played in The Last Jedi as “an entirely different character.”

The Acolyte is guilty of this in spades. The concept of The Jedi Order being out-of-touch and arrogant was an interesting one (and George Lucas himself has used that as the opportunity for Palpatine to destroy them in the prequels.) However, out-of-touch and arrogant is very different to the way the Jedi were portrayed in The Acolyte, which sees them go out of their way to cover up the murder of their comrades and the existence of a very real and deadly threat to their order.

This is totally against the vision of The Jedi from George Lucas’s original films – and against what most of the Star Wars audience think of as the Jedi! As a thought experiment it’s quite an interesting one – but in terms of storytelling, it practically spits in the face of the dedicated fan. It would be like making a WW2 movie in which the Nazis were the good guys.

Add in the rather ambiguous ending, in which Osha “triumphantly” joins Qimir as a Sith Apprentice, and it’s easy to see why fans had a hard time embracing the show. After all, it effectively reverses the concepts of good and evil that Star Wars has always been so famous for championing.

As a writer, it’s disturbingly easy to fall victim to this same trap. I know many romance authors who thought that their audience wouldn’t mind if the book didn’t have a Happily Ever After (spoiler alert – they did.) Even Agatha Christie, one of the most successful authors of all time, was criticized when she wrapped up Murder on the Orient Express with a twist that made figuring out “whodunit” practically impossible.

Lessons Learned from Mistake Five:

Stay true to your genre and your audience expectations if you want your book to appeal to readers. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of experimentation, but readers want what they want – and they’re bitterly disappointed when they don’t get it.

Conclusion

While The Acolyte was very far from the disaster many embittered fans claim it was, the show did have some pretty major flaws. From scenes that didn’t make sense, to themes that contradicted the very spirit of Star Wars, it’s easy to understand why the series didn’t gel with fans like Disney+ had hoped it would.

However, by analyzing the mistakes The Acolyte made, we might be able to avoid making them in our own writing – and avoid cancellation! So, take these lessons to heart as you dive into weaving your own wild and wonderful adventures.

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Ever wonder what makes certain authors skyrocket in popularity while others struggle to break through? Sarah J. Maas is a name on nearly every reader’s lips today, but not everyone knows she began her journey by self-publishing Throne of Glass before going the traditional publishing route and selling 38 million books worldwide. In a relatively short time, Maas has built a literary empire with her intricate worlds, complex characters, and unforgettable romances. But what’s the secret behind her meteoric rise, and what can we, as writers, learn from it?

That’s exactly what Ginger sets out to explore in today’s article as he examines the key writing strategies that have propelled Maas to best-seller status. From her richly detailed world-building and compelling characters to her savvy marketing tactics and sheer persistence, there are countless lessons we can take from her path to success—lessons that can help us transform our own writing careers.

I saw a meme recently that asked the question: “Why do women go from not reading a book for 10 years to suddenly making Sarah J. Maas their entire personality?”

It’s a dumb meme for many different reasons (I don’t know a single woman who doesn’t read – much less one who hadn’t touched a book in ten years!) However, it does demonstrate the thermonuclear-level impact Sarah J. Maas’ books have made on literature in such a short space of time.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Sarah J. Maas – first off, shame on you! 

(Just joking!)

Sarah J. Maas is an American author from New York City. Her first novel, Throne of Glass, hit the bookshelves in August 2012 and in the years that followed, she’s managed to go on to sell over 38 million copies of her books. They’ve been translated into 38 different languages, and Maas has become a New York Times bestselling author multiple times over.

What’s even more incredible is that she started it all off through self-publishing – taking the same route from pen to page that many of us are traveling right now!

So, given that Sarah J. Maas has become big enough to become meme-worthy, I thought it might be valuable to study her incredibly popular books and see what lessons aspiring authors can learn from them.

The Path to Best-Seller Status

Sarah J. Maas is best known for her Throne of Glass series, which is targeted towards a Young Adult audience. A tale of high fantasy, it follows the story of Celaena Sardothien, a young assassin forced to compete in a deadly tournament to win her freedom. The series has been praised for its fast-paced action, complex characters, and sweeping world-building, and concluded with a seventh book in the saga (not including a collection of novellas) published in 2018.

What’s truly remarkable is that Maas began writing what would eventually become Throne of Glass at just sixteen years old, sharing it on FictionPress.com, a sister-site of FanFiction.net dedicated to original fiction. 

Very quickly, the book became the most popular series on the site – leading Maas to seek a traditional publishing contract. Bloomsbury eventually brought the series to bookstores worldwide, and Maas has been publishing with them ever since.

And “ever since” has seen a lot of books get written! Since the release of Throne of Glass, she’s gone on to publish the A Court of Thorns and Roses series plus another trilogy of books called Crescent City.

Maas is a talented and prolific writer who achieved great success using the springboard of self-publishing, and I believe her books offer some really valuable lessons for aspiring authors. Here are the top-ten things I think that authors can learn by studying her writing:

1. The importance of world-building

One of the most impressive aspects of Maas’s writing is her ability to create richly detailed and immersive worlds. Whether she’s writing about the Kingdom of Adarlan in Throne of Glass, or the faerie courts of Prythian, her books are filled with fascinating cultures, customs, and landscapes. Maas takes the time to develop her world-building from the ground up, and it shows in the depth and complexity of her stories.

2. The power of strong characters

Feyre Archeron was resurrected as a High Fae. Celaena Sardothien was raised by an assassin. Both strong women who survive in hostile worlds, they demonstrate how Maas’s ability to craft complex, relatable, and unforgettable characters plays such an important role in her success. She has a gift for creating characters that readers can connect with on an emotional level, with backstories and motivations that make them instantly relatable and utterly compelling.

3. The value of fast-paced action

Even though most of her books often weigh in at 150,000+ words, nobody can deny that they’re page-turners. Maas’s books are always full of exciting and action-packed sequences designed to keep her readers engaged and turning the pages. Maas’s action scenes are well-written and easy to follow, and they help to move the story along at a brisk pace – even when she’s balancing that action out with slower and romantic scenes.

4. The art of writing romance

Speaking of romance… While Maas first found success with her young adult series, it was the Court of Thorne and Roses series that made her meme-worthy – a series of books filled with spicy scenes that have become the stuff of legend on TikTok. Undeniably, Maas is a master of writing romantic (and sexual) relationships. Her love stories are passionate, believable, and full of chemistry. Maas also knows how to balance romance with other elements of her storytelling, such as action and adventure, to ensure that they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with other great fantasy sagas.

5. The importance of foreshadowing

Sarah J. Maas has been called “the queen of foreshadowing” and the evidence to support that claim can be found across all her books. She often hints at future events early in her stories, which helps to build suspense and keep readers debating what’s going to happen next across hundreds of forums and Facebook groups. Good authors use foreshadowing to create a sense of satisfaction when a plot point is finally revealed. Maas does it so well that her books are practically addictive!

6. The power of symbolism

Amarantha’s curse leaves all members of the Spring Court with permanent masks to prevent them from revealing their true selves. For Feyre, growing up in poverty, art is a symbol of both self-expression and privilege. Throughout her books, Maas uses symbolism to represent deeper themes and meanings that add a layer of complexity to her stories and make them ripe for dissection and discussion across the Internet.

7. The value of editing and revision

Most self-published authors consider themselves a professional when they hire an editor. Sarah J. Maas has as many as five working hard to polish each of her manuscripts – a main editor, a copyeditor, a proofer, and two proof-readers. She’s a firm believer in the importance of editing and revision and that shines in the nearly flawless composition of her books. It’s a well-known fact that editing and revision can help to improve a story’s clarity, coherence, and overall quality, but Maas takes that standard to its extreme.

8. The importance of marketing and promotion

Long before Sarah J. Maas signed her first contract with Bloomsbury, she’d already made a name for herself as the most-popular author on FictionPress.com – and that turned her into a savvy marketer who knows instinctively how to promote her books effectively on social media. She uses traditional social media posts, book tours, and other marketing strategies to reach a wider audience, but it’s the viral nature of her books that have really helped them achieve the dominance they have. Marketing and promotion are essential for getting your book noticed and selling copies, and Maas’s books inspire so much discussion that thousands of influencers promote her work unknowingly for free.

9. The value of persistence

Maas didn’t achieve overnight success. While her career has seemingly exploded in a very short space of time, it actually took her years of hard work and dedication to become the bestselling author she is today. Like many of us, Maas started off writing and self-publishing on a fan fiction site, and her first publishing contract was only signed after years of working to build an audience there. For much of her writing career, the only royalties Maas could cash was praise and appreciation from her readers; but that was building a firm foundation for the career that followed. Persistence is essential for any writer who wants to succeed, and Maas has persisted longer and harder than many who have come before her.

10. The importance of writing what you love

Perhaps the final and most important thing we can learn from Sarah J. Maas is that she writes the kind of stories that she enjoys reading. This is evident in the passion and enthusiasm that comes through in her work – and demonstrates how she’s able to be so prolific, often pushing out two 150,000+ word novels in a single year. Writing what you love is the best way to create authentic and engaging stories, and also the best way to ensure you don’t burn yourself out or hit the wall of writer’s block.

Conclusion

You don’t sell 38 million copies of your books without knowing a thing or two about writing, and by studying the writing of Sarah J. Maas, you can learn valuable lessons from her about world-building, character development, foreshadowing, symbolism, and how to edit and market your books effectively.

Through persistence and writing what she loves, Maas has earned her place among the best-sellers – and will forever be remembered as a talented and successful author who can provide a wealth of inspiration for aspiring writers.

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Welcome to part 3 of the Author’s AI Toolkit series.  After an introduction to the series, and then a brief primer on prompting, it’s finally time to start digging into some real examples of how AI can assist you. 

Brainstorming is the natural place to start because that’s where most of the work for an author begins—coming up with ideas. Artificial Intelligence is fabulous at brainstorming, and for many authors, this will be the primary and most valuable use case they have for it. 

And for those still worried about AI stealing/borrowing/plagiarizing content, brainstorming should feel less risky, as it’s not about generating unique ideas to use verbatim but rather offering a diverse range of ideas to spark your creativity and guide your thinking in new directions. Once you’re nudged off the path you normally follow, you can discover entirely new ideas just by thinking outside the box you usually live in.

What is Brainstorming, anyway?

Brainstorming is a creativity technique often done in groups, where people suggest new ideas as they think of them without self-censorship, filtering, or second-guessing whether those ideas are good or bad. The benefit of this technique over trying to come up with ideas on your own is not just the number of ideas that result but also the variety.

Your neurons and pathways are organized by countless variables, from the experiences you’ve had and the choices you’ve made, to the people you’ve met and the environment you were raised in. All of those contribute to a worldview, and a way of thinking, that differ from anyone else. When you brainstorm in a group, these different points of view allow for ideas that no single individual could have come up with on their own. They simply didn’t have the same experiences to draw upon.

That’s why even if none of the ideas pitched are usable as is, they can still spark your brain to move down a creative path you may never have discovered on your own.

Given the wealth of knowledge that AI has to draw on, using it to generate ideas is like having a brainstorming session with the whole world!

What can AI Brainstorming help with?

As authors, we often encounter moments of writer’s block or seek fresh perspectives to invigorate our stories. Fresh perspectives or new angles to view our roadblocks from can lead to unexpected solutions that help get us writing again.

There’s no way to list all the different things AI could help brainstorm, but here are a few examples to illustrate what I mean.

• Generate new story ideas
• Come up with character names, traits, motivations, or backstories
• Suggest clues to include in your mystery book, or plot twists for your thriller
• Propose ways for getting characters out of a corner you’ve written them into
• Help plan foreshadowing hints to drop into the early parts of your story

For Fantasy or Science Fiction writers, another great use for AI Brainstorming is with world-building. There are so many aspects to consider and plan when building a new fantastical world, and AI can help with many of them such as:

• Devising new cultural traditions, rituals, mythology or lore for your population
• Help design new magic systems for fantasy novels, or futuristic tech for Sci-Fi
• Generate maps or geography of your new world, and how the landscape might affect those that live in it
• Suggest a look or physiology of alien races, even generating images to help you visualize and use as reference when describing them

I could go on and on, but hopefully it’s clear that brainstorming isn’t about writing your story for you, but as a catalyst for creativity, providing an abundance of ideas to help get you unstuck, and move you away from the blank page you’ve been staring at for hours.

Using AI for Brainstorming

By now it should be clear that AI can help brainstorm ideas at any stage of development, and the beauty of it is that it can all be done from the comfort of your own home, and without having to share your ideas with other authors.

That brings us to the discussion on ways to actually do all of this. 

Recent developments in AI (which is constantly evolving) have given us a couple of different paths here. There is the more traditional (and accessible to more people, especially using unpaid AI accounts) route of typing in your prompts and getting a response, as detailed in part 2 of this series, and then there is through the use of live voice chat with the AI. This second way is still “promptiing”, as what you ask the AI with your voice are still considered your prompts, but it’s a far more natural way to interact and brainstorm. I’ve personally been using this technique a lot lately and I find it to be an absolute gamechanger, but I’ll discuss both. Even if you choose to use live chat, it’s important to have a basic understanding of the best ways to ask for what you want.

Traditional Prompting

When I say “Traditional Prompting”, I’m referring to the idea of entering your prompts into your AI of choice—generally through the textboxes. You ask the AI to brainstorm whatever it is you want and if you aren’t quite sure on the specifics, you can be vague at first. Remember that you can always drill down and refine your idea as you go, using techniques we discussed in part 2, such as iterative prompts or prompt chaining. 

For instance, let’s say you’re at the very beginning of the writing process and don’t even have an idea of what you want to write yet. All you know is that you want it to be an epic science fiction story. Not a whole series, just a single book. Even if that’s all you know so far, it’s enough to get started. Here’s an example of a prompt you might use:

Prompt: “Generate 3 ideas for a SF epic stand-alone novel”

I popped that into ChatGPT and this was what it came back with:

As you can see, the very generic prompt I provided resulted in high-level “elevator pitch” type of ideas, with each one being very different. If none of the initial suggestions are appealing or spark new ideas of your own, you can request new ones until you find one that works.

Once you do see something you like, you can then go from there, fleshing out the plot, coming up with characters, or changing bits and pieces that you think would work better either on your own, or by refining your prompts. 

If you continue digging in, remember that the AI retains the context of your session, so you don’t have to retype everything. For example, let’s say you like suggestion three above, you might follow up with something like this:

Prompt: “I like that third idea, let’s expand on it. Give me some ideas about this syndicate and how they got in the position to be controlling time travel in the first place.”

Or maybe you like parts of it, but want to explore some alterations:

Prompt: “In that last suggestion, let’s make the rogue engineer part of the syndicate at first. What are some ideas that would cause him to break off and go rogue?”

Of course, you don’t have to start right at the initial story idea stage. You can brainstorm about anything at any point. 

For instance, let’s say you already have a cozy mystery plot somewhat planned out, but you’re having trouble in defining some of the personality traits of your characters.  Authors often model a character after someone they know, but sometimes you may have a character who is unlike anyone in your life, or you may just be drawing a blank.

AI can help here, too. You can be generic if you want, but it helps if you can provide a bit of context as that will generally make some of the ideas fit a bit better on your first go around. Example:

Prompt: “Please give me some unique and interesting character traits that Emily, the young heroine of my cozy mystery, might have.”

Here are a few suggestions that ChatGPT gave me in response.

Again, you can ask for new suggestions, further refine the ones it gave, change your prompt completely if you aren’t getting the right results, or take any other steps you need.

When brainstorming bigger and more comprehensive problems, like world-building, you can use the same techniques, but you will likely need more lengthy sessions to flesh everything out. World-building encompasses so many aspects that you wouldn’t get great results through a single prompt. It is better to chain your prompts, moving successively through the various issues that you need help with. You might start off with general world building prompts and then when you find one you like, branch off into questions about the various aspects (technology, magic, geography, folklore, government, etc) until you’ve covered everything you need help with.

Live Voice Prompting

Recently, at least a couple of the major AI companies have started offering live voice chats with their AI. ChatGPT is still rolling out this feature to select users, while I believe Google’s Gemini Live is already available to a broader audience. However, in both cases you need a paid account to access this feature and it is currently only available on their mobile apps (i.e., your phone).

In my opinion, though, this is absolutely worth it as it is a total game changer for brainstorming.

These features allow for a natural, real-time voice chat with your AI. As I mentioned earlier, your questions are still considered ‘prompts,’ but I find you can be much less formal and more conversational in how you phrase them. Because you’re simply talking, many people find it easier and faster to engage in back-and-forth conversations than typing everything out. Even if you’re a fast typist, most people can speak even faster. The only potential slowdown is listening to the AI’s responses, not because it speaks slowly, but because many people read faster than they listen. Still, I personally find this method far easier for brainstorming, especially when tackling bigger, more complex ideas that require extensive drilling down and back-and-forth discussions.

For example, the other night I spent a couple of hours chatting with ChatGPT about a TV series idea. We began by discussing the overall concept and naturally moved into different characters, their motivations, relationships, and even how the series would end. This allowed us to also strategize foreshadowing ideas for individual episodes.

The best part is that even though you’re chatting with the AI, your conversation isn’t lost when you finish. The entire conversation is logged, just like a regular text chat, and stored in your chat history for future reference. So you can come back and reference it, copy it into a different document, search it, etc.

And if you’re still wondering how much faster and more efficient this is compared to typing, here’s some context. In that two-hour conversation, the text version amounted to nearly 20,000 words. I’m not sure how many of you can type 20,000 words in two hours, but I certainly can’t.

More Advanced AI Brainstorming Techniques

There are a few other more advanced brainstorming techniques that can supercharge your creativity and help you break through even the toughest writer’s block. These methods go beyond simple idea generation and allow you to leverage AI as a creative partner, exploring ideas in ways that might never occur to you otherwise. And all of these can be used whether you’re typing them manually or using the live voice chat feature.

Create an AI “Writer’s Room”

One of the most effective brainstorming strategies is the “writer’s room” concept, a collaborative environment where multiple voices contribute to the creative process. This is often done with television series where a group of writers sit around a room pitching ideas for new episodes and then fleshing them out. With AI, you can simulate this experience, essentially having a virtual team of co-writers at your disposal. This is actually one of my favorite techniques that I’ve used for a while. Here’s how it works:

You may have heard about how people use AI to generate responses in specific ways, such as using prompts like “Explain dark matter to me as if I was a 5 year old”. This would then direct the AI to explain a complicated topic in very simplistic terms. Or you could even go the opposite route, such as instructing the AI to imagine itself as an expert in a specific field, which would result in all future responses in that session to be written in a more technical and informed way.

The writer’s room concept builds on this idea, but instead of asking the AI to pretend to be one type of person, you instruct it to act as a diverse group of writers, each with their own perspective or area of expertise.

For example:

Initial Setup Prompt: “For this session, imagine you’re a team of 3 writers working on a dystopian novel. Frank is focused on character development, Janet on world-building, and Pat on plot twists. Each of these writers can contribute ideas to what we’re discussing, building on each other’s thoughts or coming up with unique bits of their own.”

Using a setup prompt like the one above directs the AI to maintain this dynamic for all successive prompts (until you tell it to stop or start a new session). That means you don’t have to constantly reiterate the above with each prompt. So for example, your next prompt might be something like this:

Prompt: “Discuss potential ways to introduce a new character who will eventually betray the hero.”

This should generate a response from each of your “writers,” allowing you to explore multiple angles simultaneously, with diverse suggestions that can help spark new directions in your story. 

You can even go further in your setup prompt (which can be refined just like any other if you change your mind or don’t like the direction the current group is going) by asking the AI to role-play as specific types of writers, such as a “classic horror writer” or a “young adult fantasy author,” or perhaps indicating that one of the writers often injects humor into his suggestions, or maybe one of them likes to try and suggest side-plot ideas whenever possible. 

By giving your virtual AI writers different personalities and traits of their own—ideally ones that are a good fit for your book—the suggestions that your future prompts elicit will be influenced by those perspectives and perhaps lead to more interesting and relevant ideas. 

Finishing Sentences or Paragraphs

Another powerful way to brainstorm with AI is by letting it help you finish sentences or paragraphs that you’re stuck on. This technique is particularly useful when you’re struggling to move forward in a scene or when you feel that your writing has become predictable.

For instance, you might start a sentence and then ask the AI to complete it in several different ways, giving you a variety of options to consider. 

Prompt: “Give me 3 options to finish this sentence: The wind howled through the trees, carrying with it the scent of…”

The AI will then respond with 3 versions of your sentence that have the same beginning that you provided, but finish completely differently.

Without the context of your story, the results may be random, so this technique is better suited for brainstorming less rigid scenes or experimenting with different ideas (or by simply providing some context and direction in your prompt). It’s likely you’d want to re-write the suggestions you get regardless, but they may at least give you an idea of direction when you’re stuck.

Experimenting with different Voices, Viewpoints or Styles

Sometimes, the best way to brainstorm is to step out of your own shoes and see your story from a new perspective. AI can assist by rewriting a chapter, scene, or even just a few paragraphs in a completely different voice or viewpoint.

For example, if you’ve written a chapter from the hero’s POV, you could ask the AI to rewrite it from the villain’s. This can help you uncover motivations, conflicts, and subtext that you might not have fully explored yet.

Prompt: “Rewrite this paragraph from the viewpoint of the villain, focusing on their inner thoughts and justifications. [Add paragraph]”

This approach might not only deepen your understanding of your character but also lead to new plot twists or layers of complexity in your story.

Alternatively, you could ask the AI to rewrite a passage in a style different from the rest of your book. For instance, how would your mystery novel read if it were written in the style of a noir detective story? Or how would a romantic subplot be handled if told through the lens of a literary fiction voice? These experiments can reveal fresh approaches that you might not have considered otherwise.

Experimenting with Genre Blending

At the beginning stages of planning your novel, when you’re simply kicking around ideas, one innovative approach is to have the AI experiment with genre blending. Genre-blending can lead to unique story ideas that stand out in a crowded market. You might start with a base genre and then ask the AI to introduce elements from a completely different genre, creating a hybrid that’s fresh and unexpected.

Prompt: “Blend elements of a space opera with a cozy mystery. What might that look like?”

Pulling together different genres can result in some unique ideas that may help you offer your readers something truly unique.

Conclusion

Brainstorming with AI opens up a world of possibilities for authors. Whether you’re just starting out or you’re deep into your manuscript, artificial intelligence tools can help you break through creative blocks, explore new ideas, and refine your story in ways you might never have imagined. The key is to approach AI as a creative partner—one that brings a wealth of knowledge, perspective, and imagination to the table, but not to feel confined by the suggestions. They are, after all, simply suggestions. Brainstorming is often just a way to force your own brain to move off of the path it normally follows when kicking around ideas.

Think of the ideas generated by AI as starting points, not finished products. They’re there to inspire you, challenge you, and push your creativity to new heights.

In the next installments of this series, we’ll look at things like plotting and character development. But if you have any requests about things you’d like to learn how to do with AI, please feel free to add them to the comments below or email them to me directly, if you’d prefer.

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In every great adventure or thriller, there’s a moment when the heroes seem destined to fail, where the odds are so overwhelmingly against them that victory feels impossible. It’s these high-stakes moments that grip readers, keeping them on the edge of their seats, with hearts and minds racing in anticipation. But crafting such scenes isn’t just about throwing your characters into peril—it’s about creating tension that feels real and stakes that resonate deeply with your readers.

In today’s blog, Ginger discusses the art of incorporating high-tension scenes into your adventure stories and thrillers. With a variety of examples pulled from popular fiction, he explores why it’s crucial to make your heroes’ success seem uncertain, yet, when achieved, retrospectively inevitable. To do this, he offers practical tips on crafting climaxes that deliver both surprise and satisfaction. The addition of these unforgettable moments will lead your readers to experience the thrill of victory alongside your characters, making for truly memorable storytelling.

I recently watched Guy Ritchie’s fantastic WWII action/adventure movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and I absolutely loved it (warning: minor spoilers to this movie ahead). It was a rollicking adventure story, it was based on real historical events (and even including Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, as a character) and it featured something that I really enjoy in my WWII films – the gratuitous slaughter of dozens and dozens of Nazis. 

(As Indiana Jones said: “Nazis – I hate these guys.)

But I’ll be honest – there was something missing from The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. As the film reached its climax, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d never really felt like our intrepid band of heroes was really in danger.  

Yes, the femme fatale of the operation, Marjorie Stewart, did get captured by villainous Nazi Heinrich Luhr – but barely broke a nail before emptying her semi-automatic between his eyes. Likewise, commando Henry Hayes got hit by a bullet in the final act of the movie – but he seemed to be in perfect health when we saw him in subsequent scenes.

I felt the biggest letdown in an otherwise fantastic movie was the fact that I never truly believed that our heroes would fail, and that made it a slightly flat viewing experience. There was even a moment when star Henry Cavill, as Major Gus March-Phillips, announced that “stealth mode was over” during a raid on a Nazi POW camp – and that made me think that the entire film was kind of like watching a playthrough of a WWII First-Person Perspective shooter game.

It made me think of how important it is for adventure stories and thrillers to have a moment in which it truly seems like the heroes aren’t going to succeed in their mission. There’s always a moment in a good heist movie in which part of the plan goes wrong. There’s always a moment in a good action movie in which the heroes suddenly face insurmountable odds. The seeming inevitability of failure makes a well-written twist – one that gives our heroes a second chance – incredibly satisfying to watch or read.

That’s why in this week’s blog post, I wanted to write about incorporating high-tension scenes like that into your own adventure stories and thrillers – and provide some examples from popular fiction of adventure stories that got that part absolutely right.

Conflict Creates Stories

I don’t need to tell you this, but I will anyway: Conflict is the lifeblood of every story. It’s the engine that drives the plot, the tension that keeps readers engaged, and the catalyst for character growth. Without conflict, your story is a flatline, a lifeless expanse devoid of drama and excitement.

Every story, regardless of genre, requires conflict. It can be internal, like a character’s moral dilemma, or external, like a battle against a powerful antagonist. Either way, it’s the escalating nature of conflict, building to a crescendo of tension and uncertainty, that truly captivates readers.

The Third Act Showdown

The third act is where conflict normally reaches its zenith. That’s where you’ll find the moment at which your characters are backed into a corner, seemingly without hope. The stakes are at their highest, and the outcome is uncertain. This is where the magic happens.

Consider some classic examples. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo and Sam are confronted by the overwhelming power of Mount Doom and nearly succumb to it despite having survived all the hardships that led them to that point.

In the movie Die Hard, John McClane is outnumbered, outgunned, and trapped in the final moments of the movie with only two rounds left in his semi-automatic. 

Or in Casablanca, think of the final scenes in which Rick Blaine must choose between love and duty, a decision with life-or-death consequences. Does he selfishly escape with Isla? Knowing that he’d be condemning her husband to deportation to the concentration camps? Or sacrifice everything he’s built in Casablanca to give Isla and her husband a chance to flee?

It’s moments like this which keep readers and viewers on the edge of their seats, desperately wanting to know how the characters will escape this seemingly inescapable predicament. The most memorable movies and books then deliver a solution to this crisis that is both surprising and satisfying – delivering a twist that we didn’t see coming, but which makes perfect sense in the context of the story.

John McClane revealing that he’d duct-taped his Beretta to his back, for example – or Gollum appearing at the climax of The Return of the King and biting Frodo’s finger off – inadvertently releasing him from the thrall of the One True Ring.

It’s moments like these which give your audience a visceral thrill – and even if they don’t remember the exact details of your clever plot twist, they’ll always remember how it made then feel.

Delivering the Perfect Climax

The key to a satisfying climax is careful planning. It’s not enough to simply throw a curveball at your readers, or provide a deus ex machina solution like the cavalry suddenly appearing on the horizon. The twist must be earned, surprising, but seem inevitable in retrospect. 

Off the top of my head, I can provide some examples from films and stories in which the writers got that wrong. In Avengers: Endgame, for example, it wasn’t very satisfying that our heroes were only saved from annihilation by the sudden arrival of the over-buffed Captain Marvel – leading many critics to complain that the entire film wouldn’t have happened if she’d just been part of the team from the very beginning.

Likewise, to throw some shade at Lord of the Rings despite having just praised its ending – I wasn’t a big fan of how Gandalf’s great eagles suddenly appeared to rescue Sam and Frodo from the edge of Mount Doom, leading many to wonder why the two hobbits hadn’t just flown there in the first place. 

Here are some tips for how to craft that kind of clever twist – and how to avoid getting it wrong:

• Plant the seeds early: Subtle hints and foreshadowing can prepare readers for the unexpected – like how Gollum’s inner conflict set the stage for him returning at the end frenzied with jealousy over “his precious” ring being on Frodo’s finger. 
• Raise the stakes gradually: Build tension steadily throughout the story to amplify the impact of the climax – like how John McClane has his feet shredded by broken glass, his body beaten black and blue, and then his ammo almost depleted before he finds himself facing down the last of the Die Hard terrorists.
• Create believable obstacles: The challenges your characters face should be formidable but not insurmountable. You want to feel like your characters are truly facing defeat – but their surprise victory needs to still seem believable, otherwise it falls flat.
• Leverage character strengths and weaknesses: Explore how your characters’ traits contribute to or hinder their ability to overcome adversity. Often the twist that allows our heroes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat involves one of the characters finally reaching the end of their character arc and overcoming their own weaknesses.
• Subvert expectations: Surprise your readers with a twist that challenges their assumptions. As I mentioned before – whatever allows your characters to seize victory should seem inevitable in retrospect, but utterly unexpected in the moment.
• Find a satisfying resolution: However your heroes reach the ending of their adventure, it should provide closure while leaving room for future possibilities. In Star Wars they destroy the Death Star, for example, but must still continue the battle against the evil Empire in subsequent movies. 

Remember, the goal is to create a visceral sense of relief when your heroes overcome their final obstacle. They should emerge from this ordeal changed and strengthened – and they should deserve to triumph, even though they’d almost succumbed to despair. 

Tips for Crafting Unforgettable Conflict

• Identify your protagonist’s deepest desire: What does your character want more than anything? Will their rescue in the final moments come from sacrificing their chance to claim what they want the most?
• Create a formidable antagonist: This could be a person, a force of nature, or even an internal conflict – but it has to seem almost insurmountable. My problem with the climax of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare was that the Nazis never felt like they posed a REAL threat to our badass commandos, and that’s why the third act wasn’t as tense as I’d have liked it to be.
• Increase the stakes progressively: Each challenge should be more difficult than the last. Ramping up the tension has your audience on the edge of their seats. Think of all the things John McClane had to survive before he finally confronted Hans Gruber. The audience almost felt as beaten and exhausted as our hero did by the time we reached that seminal scene. 
• Introduce unexpected twists and turns: Keep readers guessing about the outcome. Whatever twist you have coming should make sense, but it should also be completely unexpected. In Return of the King, for example, we’d assumed that Frodo and Sam had seen the last of Gollum, and his sudden reappearance made narrative sense, but was totally unexpected.
• Don’t be afraid to make your characters suffer: Conflict is often accompanied by pain and loss. Sometimes it takes the heroes losing everything to finally realize that they have nothing left to lose. 
• Embrace failure: Not every attempt to overcome adversity will be successful. Having your heroes fail in their first attempt makes it so much more satisfying when they finally achieve victory.
• Show, don’t tell: Use vivid descriptions and dialogue to convey the intensity of the conflict. Let your readers or audience feel what your heroes are feeling, instead of explaining how dire their situation is. It makes the visceral satisfaction when they escape the jaws of defeat all that more satisfying.

Take some time to think about your favorite adventure stories and thrillers, and you’ll probably identify many which use the heroes-in-a-hopeless-situation device as the basis for the third act. If you can take some lessons from those stories, and incorporate the advice I’ve shared above, you’ll be in a good position to create stories that torment your heroes, get your antagonists within inches of victory, and captivate your readers while leaving them craving more.

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Character redemption arcs hold a unique power in storytelling, transforming flawed or even villainous characters into figures of empathy and inspiration. But why do these arcs resonate so deeply with readers, and how can you, as an author, craft a redemption journey that leaves a lasting impact? In today’s blog, Ginger explores the significance of character redemption arcs and offers a range of techniques to help you weave them into your own work.

Drawing from examples in popular fiction, Ginger illustrates what makes redemption arcs both believable and satisfying, making the process of applying them to your stories clearer and more accessible. Whether you’re looking to add emotional depth to your characters or simply create unforgettable narrative twists, understanding the “why” and mastering the “how” of character redemption arcs can transform your writing.

Like millions of Americans, I’ve been glued to the hit Amazon Prime TV show The Boys. It’s one of the few live-action adaptations that totally outshines the comic book original – giving us richer and more nuanced characters that the audience can’t help but become invested in.

The show is famous for being gory and outrageous, but for me the series is more shocking for the emotions it forces you to deal with. When I started watching The Boys, I couldn’t last more than 15 minutes without needing to take a break. Every scene seemed to involve the characters having to make truly excruciating decisions which really messed with the audience’s understanding of who was “good” or “bad.”

And there’s no character that question is more relevant to than A-Train, the resident super-speedster of the famous “Seven.” Able to run faster than the speed of sound, A-Train is introduced to viewers in the first moments of the first episode – when he literally liquifies the girlfriend of lead character Hughie by running straight through her. Later, we seem him laughing and joking about it with his superhero pals – instantly cementing the sadistic speedster as one of the most irredeemable characters in the show.

Except, showrunner Eric Kripke utterly subverted our expectations over the course of the next three seasons and gave us exactly that – redemption. As Homelander’s insanity intensifies and the fate of America seems to hang in the balance, it’s A-Train who risks everything to help provide intelligence to the boys – and in doing so, even earns a forgiving handshake from Hughie. 

It’s brilliant writing and really elevates the narrative of The Boys – making it some of the most compelling character-driven fiction since Breaking Bad. I was so inspired that I wanted to write a blog post about how satisfying a well-written character redemption arc is – and offer some guidance on how you can write a redemptive arc in your own stories.

The Allure of a Good Character Redemption Arc

The Boys may be nailing character redemption on television right now, but in literature there are also thousands more examples to draw from – because, after all, few elements captivate us readers quite like a well-executed character redemption arc!

When flawed or villainous characters embark on a journey of self-discovery and transformation, it resonates really deeply with us – not just because all good stories are journeys, but also because these arcs allow us to sit comfortably with our own mistakes and flaws.

That’s why, for self-published authors, crafting a satisfying redemption arc and weaving it into your narrative can elevate your story to new heights – potentially making it unforgettable!

At its core, a character redemption arc is a narrative of hope, forgiveness, and the possibility of change. It speaks to the human condition, reminding us that no one is beyond redemption and that everyone has the potential to become better. It even mirrors similar themes in religious texts. This universal theme of transformation always strikes a chord with readers, and here are some reasons why:

1. Relatability: As readers, we often decant ourselves into the characters we read about – and it’s comforting when we see parts of ourselves in flawed characters. Witnessing these characters overcome the shortcomings that we’re guilty of can be a powerful and inspiring experience.
2. Emotional Depth: Redemption arcs are emotionally rich. They take readers on a roller-coaster journey of guilt, regret, struggle, and ultimately, redemption. Given that storytelling at its core is about moving a reader from one emotion to another, redemptive arcs can be incredibly powerful.
3. Moral Complexity: Redemption arcs add layers of moral complexity to the narrative. They challenge readers to reconsider their perceptions of right and wrong, good and evil. In a world in which it’s not always easy to see who the good guys are, it’s nice to be able to explore such nuance in the safety of a fictional setting.
4. Satisfying Resolutions: There is a profound satisfaction in seeing a characters come full circle, from darkness to light, from antagonist to hero. It provides a sense of closure and fulfillment that purely heroic narratives sometimes lack. All good stories are circular (that’s why I talk about Dan Harmon’s story circle so much) and that’s never more accurate than in a redemption arc.

Examples of Memorable Character Redemption Arcs

Several beloved characters from popular fiction illustrate how powerful and moving a well-crafted redemption arc can be:

1. Severus Snape (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling): Severus Snape reminds all of us of those sadistic teachers we hated at school. But while he was initially portrayed as a vindictive and unpleasant character, Snape’s true motivations and sacrifices are revealed progressively throughout the book series. His deep, unrequited love for Lily Potter and his ultimate loyalty to protect her son, Harry, despite personal risk, eventually reframes his character from villain to tragic hero. So much so that Harry even names his child after Snape.
2. Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens): Scrooge’s transformation from a miserly, selfish man to a generous, warm-hearted benefactor is one of the most iconic redemption arcs. His journey, prompted by supernatural visitations, underscores the potential for change in even the most hardened hearts. The countless adaptations of A Chrismas Carol – perhaps the most-adapted work of fiction in history – demonstrate the timelessness of Scrooge’s story.
3. Jamie Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin): Just like A-Train from The Boys, most people know of Jaime Lannister from the hit HBO adaptation of Martin’s original books – and his character arc is one of the things people love the most about him. Known initially as the despised “Kingslayer,” Jamie’s character undergoes significant development. Through various trials and revelations – including losing his right hand – Jaime evolves into a more honorable and empathetic individual, challenging readers’ initial perceptions.

Tips for Writing Satisfying Character Redemption Arcs

You probably didn’t need me to convince you about how powerful a character redemption arc is, but now that we’re definitely on the same page about it, let’s talk about how to do it. Creating a compelling redemption arc requires careful planning and a deep understanding of your character. Here are some tips based on the examples I’ve just given you.

1. Establish a Strong Backstory:
   • Your character’s past should provide insight into their flaws and motivations. Understanding why they became the way they are is crucial for readers to empathize with them. Consider their upbringing, key events that shaped their personality, and any traumas or influences that led them astray. That’s why it’s so powerful to see Scrooge’s “Ghost of Christmas Past”, for example – demonstrating that he used to be a kindly individual, before betrayal hardened his heart.
2. Show Gradual Change:
   • Redemption should be a journey, not an instant transformation. Gradual change is more believable and impactful. Show your character struggling with their flaws, making mistakes, and slowly learning from them. Each small step towards redemption should feel earned – and sometimes the price is significant. Jaime Lannister was known as the greatest swordsman in Westeros before he lost his hand, and he’s truly humbled and forced to rediscover his identity before he can embark on his journey of redemption.
3. Include Moments of Doubt:
   • A realistic redemption arc includes setbacks and moments of doubt. Your character might relapse into old habits or question their worthiness of redemption. These moments add depth and make the eventual redemption more satisfying. Severus Snape is a great example of this – with every protective gesture he makes toward Harry followed by an example of spitefulness and cruelty. 
4. Highlight Key Turning Points:
   • Identify pivotal moments in your story that significantly impact your character’s path to redemption. These could be encounters with other characters, significant events, or internal realizations. Use these turning points to advance their transformation meaningfully. Think of Scrooge seeing Tiny Tim’s empty chair at the dinner table, Jaime staring at the stump of his sword-hand, or Snape seeing the dead body of the woman he loved. These were the moments that made their story seem real.
5. Develop Relationships:
   • Relationships often play a crucial role in redemption arcs. Characters who inspire, challenge, or support your protagonist can be instrumental in their journey. These relationships can provide motivation, offer new perspectives, and reinforce the theme of change. Jaime’s relationship with Brienne, Scrooge’s fondness for Tiny Tim, and Snape’s reluctant protectiveness of Harry all demonstrate how the right people can guide us into making the right decisions in life.
6. Emphasize Internal Conflict:
   • A character’s internal struggle is central to a redemption arc. Showing their inner turmoil, guilt, and desire for change makes their journey more relatable and engaging for readers. Redemption arcs are difficult, and it’s powerful to show these characters struggle with the temptation to take the easy route and avoid the pain and sacrifice that awaits them. As Dumbledore explains to Harry: “Now we must choose between what is right and what is easy.”
7. Provide Clear Motivations:
   • Ensure your character’s motivations for seeking redemption are clear and compelling. Whether it’s seeking forgiveness, proving themselves, or protecting loved ones, strong motivations make their journey more authentic and relatable. It’s easier to understand why a character does something if you know why they’re doing it.
8. Deliver a Satisfying Conclusion:
   • The resolution of your redemption arc should be satisfying and meaningful. It doesn’t necessarily mean a happy ending, but the character should achieve some level of growth and redemption. Avoid abrupt or overly convenient resolutions; the ending should feel earned through the character’s efforts and experiences – and, in the case of Snape and Jaime, perhaps even paid for with their lives.

The End of the Arc

When fiction is adapted for television, it often exposes a whole new audience to familiar characters and their story arcs – and the characters the audience embrace the most are those with good character redemption arcs. That’s why A-Train and Jaime Lannister are some of the favorite characters from The Boys and Game of Thrones series.

And on the page, character redemption arcs hold a special place in the hearts of readers and writers alike. They embody the timeless themes of hope, change, and the enduring human spirit. For self-published authors trying to grow their audience, mastering the art of the redemption arc can add emotional depth and complexity to your stories, making them resonate more deeply.

By drawing inspiration from memorable examples in popular fiction and following key principles of storytelling, you can craft redemption arcs that are not only satisfying but also unforgettable. Embrace the challenge, delve into the complexities of your characters, and let their journeys inspire and captivate your readers. In the end, a well-executed redemption arc is a testament to the power of storytelling and the enduring belief in the potential within us all for change.

Now, before I go – what are some of your favorite character redemption arcs from fiction? I’d love to hear about them in the comment section below.

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As writers, we spend countless hours crafting the beginnings and middles of our stories, ensuring every plot twist and character development hooks our readers. But what about the ending? The final act of your story is more than just the conclusion—it’s the culmination of every narrative thread, every character arc, and every emotional beat you’ve woven throughout your work. It’s what your readers will remember long after they’ve closed the book.

In today’s blog, Ginger demonstrates that while a well-crafted conclusion is a critical component of any successful story, getting it wrong can undermine the entire reading experience. Through a variety of examples, both successful and disappointing, he explains what goes into an ending that really resonates with readers. Understanding the importance of a satisfying conclusion can transform your storytelling, ensuring your readers are left with both a sense of fulfillment and a desire for more of your work.

By the time you read this blog post, the latest Star Wars series on Disney+, Star Wars: The Acolyte, will have reached a thrilling (or not) conclusion – and I think there’s a lot we can learn from how it ended.

The reception to this 7-episode series has been wild. Star Wars fans are known for being an opinionated bunch, and many fans on Twitter have been complaining that Star Wars has been “ruined” by Disney ever since the sequel trilogy concluded with The Rise of Skywalker. 

However, it took Star Wars: The Acolyte to really stir things up to a fever-pitch – and now people are literally sending death threats to showrunner Leslye Headland and other advocates of the show, all because of how they believe the prequel series “ruined canon” and diminished the original movies.

However, all this online criticism has been stirred up before the series has even ended – leaving some people (well, me, at least) wondering if the complaints leveled against The Acolyte are valid, or if the final episode will actually address all these criticisms with a clever twist that none of us saw coming.

The jury is still out on that one – but it highlights an important point about storytelling: The ending of a story is sometimes the most important part of it.

Beginning with the End

A well-conceived ending can transform a challenging work of fiction into a sublime one. Conversely, a poor ending can destroy an otherwise engaging and well-written tale. The way you end a story is even more important than how you begin it – so much so that some top-selling authors like Freida McFadden are famous and popular precisely because of the reputation they’ve earned for writing books with satisfying twists to the tale.

But you’ve got to get it right. In the case of The Acolyte, showrunner Leslye Headland stirred up a hornet’s nest by including a legacy character from the prequel movies, Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi. In the 1999 prequel movie The Phantom Menace, Ki-Adi-Mundi dismisses the notion that a Sith Lord is at large, claiming: “The Sith have been extinct for a millennium.”

However, a Sith-like villain is the antagonist of The Acolyte, which is set nearly a century earlier than The Phantom Menace – so many fans are confused at how Ki-Adi-Mundi can claim the Sith have been extinct for a thousand years in the later movie if this series retroactively places him face-to-face with one just a century earlier.

The answer is, of course, that we don’t know why Ki-Adi-Mundi makes this claim given the events of The Acolyte, but I’m pretty sure the final episode will answer that question. The decision to include this legacy character must have been a deliberate decision by the writing team, so it seems inconceivable that they’d do so without addressing how his presence seemingly invalidates one of the few lines of dialogue the character actually had in the prequel movies. 

My belief is that the final episode will explain the contradiction – and in doing so, perhaps totally invalidate what fans were getting so irate about it in the first place! (I’ll let you know when I see it!)

And that demonstrates the potential power of a good ending (and why it’s important to actually get to the ending of a story before getting upset about it!)

The Acolyte also highlights how an ending has the potential to totally transform a story – subverting expectations, wrapping up loose ends, and delivering a dopamine-packed punch to the audience that keeps the story alive in their minds long after they’ve finished enjoying it.

Inspired by The Acolyte, I’m going to give some examples of books that got endings right (and some that got endings wrong) and talk about how crafting a clever conclusion should be one of the most important things to focus on when writing your next book.

All Roads Lead to the Ending

As a self-published author, you know that every element of your story should be crafted with care. From the initial hook to the development of characters and plot, every component plays a vital role in engaging your readers. That’s why I advocate for using systems like Dan Harmon’s Story Circle to help frame a story correctly.

And out of all the points in a Story Circle, one of the most critical is the ending. It can make or break your book’s success, no doubt about it. A satisfying conclusion not only leaves a lasting impression on your readers but also ensures they’ll come back for more of your work.

The Importance of a Satisfying Ending

An ending serves as the final punctuation of your story. It’s the culmination of your narrative arc, and should provide a satisfying resolution to the journeys your characters have been on. 

But an ending is more than that. It’s also the last taste left in the reader’s mouth after they devour your book, and as a result it can heavily influence their overall impression of your story. A well-crafted ending can transform a good tale into an unforgettable one, while a poorly executed ending can leave readers feeling frustrated, disappointed, and unlikely to read your books again.

(WARNING: Various spoilers ahead!)

Here are some examples of famously unsatisfying endings in fiction:

1. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer: I’m not going to lie. I secretly stan for Stephanie Meyer. For all the criticisms leveled at The Twilight saga, the books undeniably resonated with millions of fans and deserved the success they achieved. However, many readers felt let down by the final book in the Twilight saga, Breaking Dawn. In the climax of the series, the slow-burning buildup to the confrontation between the Cullen family and the Volturi initially seemed to climax in a bloody battle that ended the lives of many of our favorite characters. It was abrupt, shocking, and totally unexpected. However, it was also entirely made up. The bloody battle was merely a vision forced into the Volturi’s head by Alice Cullen. Shown the potential consequences of fighting, the Volturi eventually ended their dispute with the Cullen family through diplomatic resolution rather than conflict. It was a clever twist, but the fake-out battle and the anti-climactic ending left many fans feeling cheated out of the showdown they’d all been eagerly anticipating.
2. The Dark Tower by Stephen King: Stephen King is a master storyteller, but he’s also known for writing unsatisfying endings. He’s so famous for it that there’s even a reference in the latest movie adaptation of his famous book, It! I’ve always been aware of his reputation for writing bad endings, but I’d never really felt short-changed by King’s storytelling until I read the conclusion of The Dark Tower series. After a long and complex journey, gunslinger Roland finds himself right back at the beginning of his quest, suggesting the whole series of books is just one part of an endless cycle. While I could understand why that is a “clever” ending thematically, I found it frustrating and unsatisfying and wish I’d followed King’s own warning not to read that final chapter!
3. Requiem by Lauren Oliver: Lauren Oliver’s Delirium trilogy has won legions of fans, but many of them have commented that they felt unsatisfied by the open-ended conclusion of the final book. The fate of the characters and the resolution of the dystopian conflict were left ambiguous, which left some critics complaining that the whole trilogy felt unfinished. From a personal perspective, I found it frustrating to have followed Hanna for so much of Requiem, only to be left with little idea of what happened to her after the climactic battle of Portland. Even a short epilogue would have provided some much-needed closure. 

Examples of satisfying endings:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling: Although Rowling is a very controversial figure these days, few can argue that she writes a damned good story. The conclusion of the Harry Potter series is a great example, and almost a perfect antidote to a trilogy like Lauren Oliver’s Delirium. At the end of the final book, Rowling ties up loose ends with almost pathological completeness – resolving the central conflict with an epic battle, and then providing a rich view into the future lives of the main characters far into their future. The epilogue shows the characters “all grown up” and sending their own children to Hogwarts, and it offers a satisfying sense of closure and a warm hope for the future of the school.
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien: Tolkien’s epic conclusion to his iconic fantasy trilogy is celebrated for how thorough and satisfying it is. Of course, the destruction of the One Ring and the fall of Sauron bring peace to Middle Earth – but we also enjoy seeing how many various character arcs wrap up, such as Frodo’s departure to the Undying Lands and Aragorn’s ascension to the throne. Tolkien is nothing if not a completist, and the ending of his trilogy feels both thorough and emotionally fulfilling.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I’ve often remarked that Harper Lee was the only author to become famous for a single novel, and part of the reason for that is the ending. The resolution of the trial at the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, and the lessons learned by Scout Finch about morality, empathy, and justice, provide a rich sense of closure that reinforces the novel’s themes and leaves us feeling changed for having read it.

Tips for Crafting a Satisfying Ending

Okay, so I’ve outlined the importance of writing a good conclusion to your story. Now, let’s talk about how to do it. Crafting a satisfying ending requires careful planning and a deep understanding of both your story and the characters who live in it. Here are some tips you might find useful.

1. Resolve Major Plot Points: While some authors love cliffhangers, you’ve got to end a story eventually – so even if it’s only in the final book of your series, ensure that all the central conflicts and major plot points are resolved. Loose ends need to be tied up to provide a sense of closure and to ensure that readers feel like their investment in your story has paid off.
2. Stay True to Your Characters: Your characters should act in ways that are consistent with their development throughout the story. An ending which hinges on a protagonist suddenly acting out of character will be jarring and unsatisfying, and feel like something of a betrayal to the readers who’ve stuck things out until the end.
3. Balance Predictability and Surprise: More than 2,000 years before self-publishing was invented, the philosopher Aristotle advised: “a good ending must be unexpected yet inevitable.”  That advice remains just as valid today. A well-written story should have a conclusion that strikes the balance between satisfying and surprising. Avoid overly predictable conclusions, but also ensure that the resolution feels earned and logical within the context of the story.
4. Emotional Impact: Storytelling, at its core, is the craft of inspiring one emotion in the audience, then taking them on the journey toward feeling another emotion. A well-written ending is the ideal way to achieve that. Aim for an ending that elicits strong emotions from your readers – whether that’s joy, sadness, relief, or reflection. A powerful emotional response can leave a lasting impression, and help ensure your story remains within a reader’s mind long after they’ve turned the final page.
5. Thematic Consistency: Theme is an important, but often overlooked part of a good story, so when you’re writing your ending, try to make sure that it reinforces the themes and messages you were trying to convey. A satisfying ending that aligns with the overall themes of your story can elevate the narrative and give your writing an even greater sense of coherence and purpose.
6. Consider Future Implications: Happily-ever-after requires a glimpse into the future of your characters and world – otherwise how will the reader know that it’s “ever after?” Therefore, be sure to include details in the conclusion of your story that provide a sense of continuity and give readers a satisfying sense of what comes next for your main characters, even if the story itself has finished.
7. Test with Beta Readers: A seasoned writer can have a pretty good idea of what constitutes a satisfying ending, but it never hurts to get another opinion. If you can, share your ending with beta readers and seek feedback. Their reactions can provide valuable insights into whether your conclusion is as satisfying and impactful as you think it will be.
8. Revisions and Refinements: And if your beta readers come back with criticisms, don’t despite. You should never be afraid to revise your ending, sometimes even multiple times. A strong conclusion often requires fine-tuning and adjustments to get it just right – but the impact it’ll have on your readers will make the extra work worthwhile.
9. Avoid Deus Ex Machina: Steer clear of sudden, unexplained resolutions that feel like a cheat. Your ending should arise naturally from the story and characters, rather than relying on a convenient plot device. Even though I’ve just praised it for its ending, the conclusion of the Lord of the Rings contains an example of this – when the eagles appear and rescue the Hobbits from the peak of Mount Doom. It’s a jarringly convenient way to get Frodo and Sam back to the Shire, and feels out-of-place with the rest of the saga. 
10. Take Your Time: Finally, remember that writing a great ending takes time and effort. Don’t rush the process. Allow yourself the space to craft a conclusion that truly does justice to your story. After all, your final words will be the ones your readers remember best.

Conclusion

As a self-published author, the ending of your story is your final and most important opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your readers. A satisfying conclusion can elevate your book from good to great, ensuring that your readers will remember your work and eagerly anticipate your future releases. By resolving major plot points, staying true to your characters, and eliciting strong emotions, you can create an ending that resonates with your audience and concludes on a high note – leaving your readers with an immensely satisfying sense of fulfillment.

But you’ve got to get it right! As Star Wars: The Acolyte demonstrates, your audience will have certain expectations for your story, and if you take risks with that narrative (like how The Acolyte introduces a legacy Star Wars character and has him directly contradict a statement he makes later) you’d better make that risk pay off in a way that your audience finds satisfying – otherwise you’ll hear about it!

But don’t let that intimidate you. As a storyteller, you wield tremendous power to craft compelling narratives that take readers on a wild and engaging journey. Now that you understand the importance of a cleverly conceived and satisfying ending, you can make sure that journey ends at a suitable destination.

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When woven into your narrative with finesse, a season like summer can become more than a mere backdrop—it can transform into a dynamic force within the story. Much like winter in Game of Thrones, where the relentless cold amplifies the harshness and isolation of the plot, summer, too, can infuse a story with its own distinct energy. Long hours of daylight, oppressive heat, and the unique sounds and smells of the year’s hottest season all become integral to the character’s journey, bringing your setting to life and adding richness to your story.

In this week’s blog, Ginger explores how the essence of summer can create a vivid and immersive environment that adds yet another dimension to your story. Through a variety of examples, he demonstrates how by tapping into the sensory richness of the season, you can evoke powerful emotions, mirror character development, and enhance thematic depth. Ultimately, summer can become an unforgettable character in its own right, leaving a lasting impression on your readers.

“Winter is coming,” warned Ned Stark in Game of Thrones, the first novel in George R. R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series – and come it certainly did! The blistering cold of The Wall served as a chilling (literally) backdrop to some of the most intense scenes in a very intense book series.

Likewise, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe captured generations of young minds when wartime evacuees Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie travel to a magical land covered in ice and snow. 

Winter has proven to be the setting for dozens of iconic books, demonstrating that the season in which your story unfolds plays a crucial role in shaping its atmosphere and mirroring the themes you weave within. A chilling winter backdrop can amplify feelings of isolation and hardship, while a vibrant spring setting can symbolize new beginnings and growth. 

The same is true for summer. With its extended daylight hours and carefree energy, summer offers a unique opportunity to create a vibrant and dynamic setting within your narrative.

Consider John Steinbeck’s classic, The Grapes of Wrath. The story follows the Joad family during the Great Depression as they journey westward in search of a better life. The tale is set during a blistering heatwave, and the oppressive heat becomes more than just a physical discomfort within the pages of the story. It mirrors the desperation and hardship the Joads face. The relentless sun, scorching dust storms, and the ever-present thirst become characters in themselves, adding a layer of urgency and desperation to their struggle.

In this article, I’m going to shed some (sun)light on the idea of using summer as the setting for your stories; and demonstrating some effective ways in which to do so.

Evoking the Essence of Summer

Summer is many people’s favorite season, and not without good reason. You can tap into people’s fondness for the season by evoking it in visceral ways within your narrative.

Use summer’s sensory details to paint a vivid picture for your reader. Capture the sights and sounds of the season – whether that’s the lazy buzz of cicadas, the vibrant hues of wildflowers bursting from meadows, or the fiery glow of an endless sunset shimmering over the ocean. With the right words, you can make it feel like the heat is radiating from the page.

Alternatively, don’t shy away from the less glamorous aspects of the summer heat. If you’re writing a grittier book, you could describe the way sweat clings to your characters’ skin, or the pungent aroma of freshly cut grass rotting beneath the blazing sun. In an urban setting, you could describe the overwhelming stench of a dumpster overflowing in the relentless heat; perhaps mirroring the less savory things your characters will encounter in your story.

The Power of Scent:

Dumpsters might actually be a good place to start, actually. When you’re trying to conjure a season for your story, scent is a great place to start. Summer has a distinct olfactory palette, and mentioning smells can trigger memories and feelings within your readers – for good, or for bad.

If you’re writing a romance, or a lighthearted adventure story, you could describe the heady fragrance of honeysuckle clinging to the evening air, the sweet scent of watermelon at a backyard barbecue, or the salty tang of the ocean breeze. 

Conversely, if you’re writing a gritty thriller, or a grim horror story, you might paint a more evocative picture by describing a stagnant city alleyway thick with the cloying stench of garbage rotting in the heat.

In any event, scent is one of the most powerful tools an author has to make a setting seem visceral and real to a reader; and summer is one of the most scent-filled seasons to write about.

The Physical Effects:

Summer’s warmth can evoke a range of emotions and reactions in your characters, and you should use those to help make a character’s choices and dialogue resonate more deeply. 

For example, you could describe the discomfort of sticky clothes clinging to sweaty skin, which might mirror a character’s feeling of discomfort or awkwardness. Likewise, describing the relief of a cool drink on a parched throat, or the sheer bliss of diving into a refreshing lake, can help evoke a sense of rebirth or recovery in a character’s story arc.

Again, using memories of summer that many of us are familiar with can help draw a reader into a more immersive fictional world; and make them more invested in the fate of your characters.

Beyond the Beach:

While beaches are a quintessential summer setting, summer’s influence can extend far beyond them. Capture the stifling heat of a bustling city, the lazy days spent exploring small-town streets, or the adventures that unfold during a summer camp. Whatever your setting, it becomes more alive when you bask it in the rays of a summer sun.

Summer’s Literary Legacy

Don’t just take my word for it! Many iconic novels have utilized summer as a potent narrative tool. Here are some of my favorite examples:

• The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: The opulent summer soirées, dazzling with extravagant parties and lavish decorations, highlight the emptiness and moral decay lurking beneath the surface of the American Dream.
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: The stifling heat of a small Southern town mirrors the racial tensions simmering beneath the surface. Scout’s childhood innocence stands in stark contrast to the prejudice and bigotry that permeates her surroundings.
• The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants: Ann Brashares’ coming-of-age story unfolds over a summer break – a time of freedom and exploration for the four teenage protagonists. The endless days provide the backdrop for their adventures, self-discovery, and the bittersweet pangs of growing up.

The Allure of a Summer Setting

Just like winter served as an evocative seasonal setting for Game of Thrones, setting your story during the summertime can create a more immersive and engaging experience for your reader.

Whether it’s the vibrant imagery, the physical sensations of heat and humidity, or the sense of carefree abandon that many of us remember from our childhood summers, writing about the sensory details of summertime can draw your readers deeper into the narrative; making them feel like they’re actually there. 

Summer also offers a unique opportunity to explore themes commonly associated with the season – such as freedom, growth, and the fleeting nature of time. 

Many authors don’t automatically think of the season as an important detail in their story, but it can make a massive difference to the atmosphere and emotions your book evokes with readers – so why not give it a try? Consider giving summer a starring role in your next story. You might just be surprised by the heat it brings to your narrative.

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