

Reading Challenge: All’s Well That Ends Well
When we read a story, we want a satisfying ending. But what every reader perceives as “satisfying” is subjective. Typically, there are about four types of endings: Happy Ending – The main character gets what they want. Tragic Ending – The main character doesn’t get what they want. Change of Heart – The main character changes their mind about what they want. Be Careful What You Wish For – The main character gets what they want but they realize they don’t want it. The task this


Reading Challenge: Memory, All Alone in the Moonlight (AKA Theme)
Remember learning about theme in your English classes? It was one of the most annoying topics to learn. I can almost hear the hard eye-rolls


Reading Challenge: Stuck in the Middle with You
Like a magician sawing a body in half, we’ve made it to the middle. It’s what we call “The Midpoint,” pretty original, right? Bad jokes aside, this is the moment when the main character evaluates whether or not they like the person they’ve become. A lot of times the protagonist will find themselves in front of a mirror having this introspective moment, other times, it’s a figurative “looking in the mirror” experience. James Scott Bell developed this concept of writing from th


Reading Challenge: Once It Happens, There’s No Going Back
A funny thing happened after the last blog. I read the next prompt for the DIY MFA WriterIgniter Reading Challenge and realized I had already accidentally done it. It just so happened the next prompt was about the “Inciting Incident” of the book. Cheers to unexpected surprises! What’s an inciting incident? It’s the point in the story where an outside influence makes the protagonist decide something—it’s where they leave their old life behind. In The Saturday Night Ghost Club