Dr. Diana Stout shows how to identify passive voice with two clear questions. Read on to understand the advantages and pitfalls of "was."

Oversimplified characters are hard to love. Ellen Buikema shares four elements to make characters dynamic and worthy of your readers' interest.

Creating your own makes sense, since not every template works for every writer. Laurie Schnebly Campbell shares her ideas for Plot-Subplot templates.

Writers are emotional creatures. We create worlds, characters, and experiences, but the emotions we absorb from others often leak into our creative lives.

Many opportunities important to the story are missed if you use simple dialogue tags. Margie Lawson shows how to grab that emotion. Get it on the page!