A Deeper Look at Reader Guides

Good morning to all the Story Empire readers, PH here today with a topic you may not have thought about but probably should. I've touched on this subject in posts about using your meta-content (story bible) for dual purposes, but I wanted to revisit the idea of reader guides and the variety of information that …

Churn Rate and Transmedia Storytelling

Ciao, amici! Today, I’m going to throw some industry buzzwords at you and talk about churn rate and transmedia storytelling (which I’m sure you figured out already because of the title) and how we can lower the first by increasing the second. Definitions: Churn rate is the speed at which someone moves on to the …

The Building Blocks of Story: Sequels

Ciao, SEers. Last time, we discussed Dwight Swain’s concepts of scenes. (If you missed that post, you can find it here. You can also find the earlier introductory post on both scenes and sequels here.) Remember, a chapter’s scenes can be one of two things, a scene or a sequel. Today, we’re going to go …

The Building Blocks of Story: Scenes

Ciao, SEers. Last time, we discussed Dwight Swain’s concepts of scenes and sequels. (If you missed that post, you can find it here.) Remember, a chapter’s scenes can be one of two things, a scene or a sequel. Today, we’re going to go deeper into the concept of scenes. What are scenes? Scenes are the …

The Building Blocks of Story

Ciao, SEers. I’m currently wrapping up edits on a full five-book series. It’s hard to revise all day, every day—especially when it’s your own work instead of a client’s—so sometimes, creative breaks are necessary. They actually serve two purposes. They let your analytical brain take a rest, so you’re less likely to make editing mistakes …