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Published by storycraftcafe
Story Crafters talking about the magic of storytelling and giving you the tools to craft your story. We’re launching a new kind of online writing community. One where we can all find support, encouragement, ideas, and inspiration. A place where we can all write together. A place where we can celebrate failures and successes, find mentors, and work together to get published.
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What if the problem with your creativity is not that you need more freedom? What if you need a smaller box? In this Fireside Chat, Hank Garner and Abby Mathews talk about forced scarcity: the creative practice of putting restrictions on yourself so your imagination has something to push against. Page limits. Time limits. Genre limits. A tiny cast. One location. One point of view. One impossible problem. It sounds like a prison, but for writers, it can become a playground. When everything is possible, it is easy to freeze. But when you give yourself a boundary, your brain starts looking for doors, windows, trapdoors, and secret passages. Restrictions create pressure. Pressure creates movement. Movement creates story. In this conversation, Hank and Abby discuss: Why unlimited options can stall your writing How constraints can make stories sharper and more focused Why “putting yourself in a box” can unlock better ideas How genre expectations can become creative tools instead of cages Practical ways to use limits when brainstorming, drafting, and revising How to write your way out instead of waiting for inspiration to strike Whether you are stuck in the middle of a draft, overwhelmed by too many story choices, or trying to turn a vague idea into something with shape, this conversation will help you see limits differently. Sometimes the box is not the thing that traps you. Sometimes the box is the thing that finally gives you a story. Pull up a chair. Let’s talk writing. #WritingTips #CreativeWriting #NovelWriting #WritingCommunity #DabbleWriter #StoryCraft #AuthorLife
What do you do with a first draft once you finally type “The End”? You put it in a drawer. At least for a little while. In this Fireside Chat, Hank Garner and Abby Mathews talk about one of the hardest transitions in the writing process: moving from finishing a draft to actually being ready to revise it. When you’ve lived inside a manuscript for weeks, months, or even years, you’re too close to it to see it clearly. Every scene still carries the memory of what you meant to write. Every character sounds right because you already know them. Every missing connection gets filled in automatically by your own brain. That’s why sometimes the best thing you can do for your novel is close the document, walk away, and give the story—and yourself—a little room to breathe. In this conversation, we’ll talk about: - Why distance makes you a better editor - How long you should consider letting a manuscript rest - What to do while your first draft is “in the drawer” - The difference between drafting brain and revision brain - Why you shouldn’t start fixing every sentence the moment you finish - How to come back to your manuscript with fresh eyes - What you should actually look for on that first read-through - How to move from “I finished a book!” to “Now I know how to make it better.” And yes, we’ll also talk about that terrifying moment when you reopen the manuscript and discover that the brilliant novel you remember writing has apparently been replaced overnight by something written by a sleep-deprived stranger. That’s normal. The first draft’s job was never to be perfect. Its job was to exist. Now you get to find out what the story really wants to become. Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair, and join us for another Dabble Fireside Chat. Hosted by Hank Garner and Abby Mathews #WritingCommunity #WritingTips #NovelWriting #FirstDraft #Revision #Editing #WritersLife #Dabble #CreativeWriting #WritingAdvice
Some characters walk onto the page, do their job, and disappear. Others stay with us. In this Fireside Chat, Hank Garner and Abby Mathews talk about round, flat, and foil characters—and why each one matters more than writers often realize. Not every character needs a tragic backstory, a ten-page wound, and a fully mapped emotional arc. Some characters are meant to change. Some are meant to stay wonderfully, stubbornly the same. And some are there to hold up a mirror so we can finally see the hero clearly. We’ll talk about: What makes a character “round” Why “flat” does not mean boring How foil characters reveal truth, tension, and contrast When a side character needs more depth—and when they do not How to build a cast that feels alive without overcomplicating your story Whether you’re writing a novel, revising a messy draft, or trying to figure out why one of your characters feels thin on the page, this conversation will help you think more clearly about the people who populate your story world. Pull up a chair. Let’s talk characters. #WritingTips #CreativeWriting #NovelWriting #CharacterDevelopment #DabbleWriter #WritingCommunity
Kevin Tumlinson, the Wordslinger, is back on the StoryCraft Cafe. We both came up during the first Kindle wave, and lately we've both felt it: that scrappy, take-the-bull-by-the-horns indie spirit is back, and a lot of it is being driven by what's happening in traditional publishing right now. We talk about why authors are walking away from trad deals, why AI detectors are a scam with a subscription button, how the Claude watermark actually works, and Kevin's best advice for new authors: forget the world and go own your fifty-mile radius. In This Episode The indie spirit is back (00:00) — Hank on the early David-and-Goliath days, the hybrid years, and why that energy is brewing again. What Kevin's up to (03:00) — The Wordslinger Podcast every Thursday, Ten Shots, and the new Story Cuts, reviewing movies and shows from a novelist's point of view. Back to the Wild West (04:40) — Draft2Digital's new $20 onboarding fee, and how the AI witch hunt has circled indie publishing back to its earliest days. AI as a writer's room (06:00) — Hank uses a chatbot like a friend across the coffee table for ideation. Nobody clicks a button and gets 80,000 words. Kevin remembers the same panic over Photoshop and CGI. Guilty until proven innocent (11:40) — The $2.4 million deal an agent pulled over an AI accusation. One more gate, and no law behind it. Hundreds of Kevin's viewers have given up on trad because of it. AI detectors are a racket (14:50) — A clean manuscript flagged "100% AI," then an upsell to "humanize" it. How the Claude watermark works (16:55) — Statistical word choices that add up across a fully generated manuscript. It can flag AI text, but it can't name the user. And you shouldn't be generating your book anyway. Assistive technology isn't cheating (19:10) — Non-native speakers, writers with disabilities, and a quadriplegic author who dictates his books. Never submit what the machine spits out, but don't demonize the tool. Add a unicorn, blow up the spaceship (22:10) — Two pieces of get-unstuck advice that still hold after fifteen years. Own your fifty miles (23:45) — A thousand true fans will support a career, so why hunt them worldwide? Kevin set out to be Austin's thriller writer: every bookstore, every farmers market, local ads. Then expand twenty-five miles at a time. How to become unavoidable (29:30) — Copies in every county library, friends at every bookshop, signings at coffee shops. You can't do that nationally on $500 a month, but you can at home. Hank's rural county has 100,000 people. Direct sales and the Amazon basket (32:30) — Build your store early but don't push it as the only way to buy. Let retailers do discovery, keep the email list growing, and have the storefront ready for the day Amazon shuts you off. School visits and Paolini (36:25) — Kevin's hundred talks at Houston schools moved a few thousand copies in three months. Eragon got found the same way. Trad math doesn't work (43:15) — Smaller advances, higher expectations, spine-out shelving, and no backup when accusations come. Kevin's direct store pays 97%. If you're the engine anyway, keep the money. Where publishing is headed (46:30) — The most divided Kevin has seen the industry since the early days. In five years the labels stop mattering. Indie and trad are merging, and the future is bright. Links Kevin's hub for books, Substack, and podcasts: kevintumlinson.com The Wordslinger Podcast, Ten Shots, and Story Cuts on YouTube The Writers, Ink podcast Draft2Digital Kevin Kelly, "1,000 True Fans" "If you can just dominate local, you will make a living." — Kevin Tumlinson Try out Dabble free for 14 days and see why it’s the best writing tool on the planet—no credit card required! Visit our website at www.dabblewriter.com to get started. Subscribe to our channel for more live events like author interviews, Writing Sprint Wednesdays, Feedback Fridays, and Fireside Chats. We're all about helping authors hone their craft with engaging, fun, and educational content. On top of all that, Dabble Premium members get access to exclusive content like Craft Q&A Office Hours, Wordsmith Workshops, Deep Dive articles, bonus resources, and guest speaker workshops. Happy writing! #IndiePublishing #SelfPublishing #AuthorTube #KevinTumlinson #StoryCraftCafe #Wordslinger #WritingCommunity #WritingTips #WritingAdvice #AIandWriting #AIDetection #Draft2Digital #BookMarketing #DirectSales #1000TrueFans
A protagonist is only as strong as the wall they're trying to break through. Your antagonist isn't the obstacle to your story, and your antagonist IS your story.
A protagonist is only as strong as the wall they're trying to break through. Your antagonist isn't the obstacle to your story — your antagonist IS your story. Pull up a chair. Before we dive into Workshop 4, Hank Garner and Abby sit down for a relaxed fireside conversation about the most underrated character in fiction: the one standing in your hero's way. We're talking villains, rivals, systems, storms, and the quiet "no" that forces your protagonist to change. If you've ever written a bad guy who felt flat, cartoonish, or too easy to beat, this one's for you. This is the warm-up. Grab a coffee, settle in, and come to the workshop ready to build an antagonist readers can't look away from. In this chat, Hank and Abby get into: - The difference between a villain, an antagonist, and a plain old obstacle - Why the best antagonists are the protagonist of their own story - How a villain's "no" drives your plot forward, scene by scene - Desire, wound, and lie — how the tool that builds heroes builds their enemies too - Sympathetic vs. hateable: when to make readers understand the villain, and when not to - The antagonists we can't stop thinking about — and what makes them work - The most common mistakes that make a bad guy fall flat - Force-of-nature and internal antagonists (when there's no villain at all) #WritingCraft #Antagonists #Villains #WritingTips #AmWriting #NovelWriting #CharacterDevelopment #Fiction #WritingCommunity #StoryStructure
Why do readers stay up until 2 a.m. turning pages? It's rarely because of the plot. It's because they care about the person living through it. In this one-hour writing workshop, Hank Garner breaks down the core principles behind unforgettable protagonists—the characters readers will follow anywhere, even when they aren't always likable. You'll learn how to build characters with emotional depth, compelling motivations, and authentic character arcs that keep readers invested from the first page to the last. In this workshop you'll learn: What a protagonist actually is (and how they're different from your POV character or hero) The three pillars every great protagonist needs: Desire Wound Lie The difference between what your character wants and what they truly need Why readers don't have to like your protagonist—they simply have to be compelled by them How specificity, contradictions, vulnerability, and voice make fictional people feel real How to avoid passive protagonists by giving your characters meaningful choices A simple five-question character test you can use on every novel you write You'll also complete a practical character-building exercise and see how Dabble's Character Notes and Plot Grid make it easy to organize your protagonist's arc from beginning to end. Whether you're outlining your first novel or revising your tenth, this workshop will give you a practical framework you can immediately apply to create protagonists readers won't forget.
Readers don't read your book because of your clever plot. Readers fall in love with your book because of your CHARACTERS. Each book is about a person, and your protagonist is the lightning rod of your book. In this Fireside chat, Hank and Brooke talk about what makes a great protagonist and how to craft characters that bring people back time and again.
This is an exciting week where we finally get to unveil what's new in Dabble 3.0. Join Abby and Hank as they discuss their favorite new Dabble 3.0 features.
Most unfinished manuscripts in the world died somewhere between chapter eight and chapter sixteen. The writer didn't lose interest. They lost the shape of it. The plot started to drift. The scenes started to feel disconnected. The book stalled. This 65-minute workshop is about the shape. The bones of a novel that works — and the structural diagnostic that tells you, every time, which beat in your draft is the one that needs work next. Novelist and writing coach Hank Garner walks through Freytag's Pyramid, why it's incomplete for novels, the modernized six-beat story arc that every working novel hits, the midpoint shift that fixes a sagging middle, and the five most common structural mistakes in first-novel manuscripts. You'll learn: Why "pantsers vs plotters" is the wrong fight — and what both sides get right Freytag's Pyramid, the five-part shape underneath every working drama since the Greeks The six-beat story arc — Hook, Inciting Incident, Rising Action, Midpoint Shift, Climax, Resolution The three-act translation, and why six beats is easier to write than three Three ways to use the midpoint — false victory, point of no return, revelation How to diagnose a sagging middle in 60 seconds Try/fail cycles, yes-but / no-and, and the chapter-end question that earns the page turn Five common structural mistakes — and how to fix each one Try out Dabble free for 14 days and see why it’s the best writing tool on the planet—no credit card required! Visit our website at www.dabblewriter.com to get started. Subscribe to our channel for more live events like author interviews, Writing Sprint Wednesdays, Feedback Fridays, and Fireside Chats. We're all about helping authors hone their craft with engaging, fun, and educational content. On top of all that, Dabble Premium members get access to exclusive content like Craft Q&A Office Hours, Wordsmith Workshops, Deep Dive articles, bonus resources, and guest speaker workshops. Happy writing!
Most new writers freeze on the first line because they think it has to be brilliant. It doesn’t. The opening line isn’t the point. The opening page is. And the opening page is doing a job. In this 60-minute workshop, novelist and writing coach Hank Garner walks through what an opening actually has to do, the three kinds of hooks that work, and a five-question diagnostic you can run on any opening you’ve ever written. You’ll learn: The lie about first lines that kills more drafts than anything The five jobs every working opening must do Three kinds of hooks — situation, voice, image — and when to use each What to cut and what to keep in your first 250 words The prologue trap and the three legitimate uses A diagnostic you can run on any opening in ten minutes Join us at DabbleU to continue the conversation about this workshop at https://www.dabbleu.com/c/cafe-chats/join-us-today-for-our-dabble-workshop-how-to-start-a-story Try out Dabble free for 14 days and see why it’s the best writing tool on the planet—no credit card required! Visit our website at www.dabblewriter.com to get started. Subscribe to our channel for more live events like author interviews, Writing Sprint Wednesdays, Feedback Fridays, and Fireside Chats. We're all about helping authors hone their craft with engaging, fun, and educational content. On top of all that, Dabble Premium members get access to exclusive content like Craft Q&A Office Hours, Wordsmith Workshops, Deep Dive articles, bonus resources, and guest speaker workshops. Happy writing!
Beginnings are everything. Not only for starting the journey that you hope the reader takes with you, but the first thing you have to do is HOOK your reader. Want them to go on a journey with you? give them a reason. Join Hank and Abby as they discuss this.
Welcome to First Novel Problems, a brand-new YouTube series from Dabble Writer for anyone who's ever wanted to write a novel and didn't know where to start (or got stuck partway through and gave up). In this introduction episode, meet your hosts: Abby Mathews: Community Manager at Dabble, published middle-grade author, and someone who tried (and failed) to write a novel three times before finally figuring it out Brooke: brand-new to Dabble, brand-new to writing, and signing up to learn the whole process from scratch, on camera, so you don't have to do it alone Here's the idea: every week, Abby teaches Brooke something real about writing a novel, and you get to learn right alongside her. We'll cover plotting, getting unstuck, picking a genre, the "rules" of writing (and when to break them), and all the roadblocks that stop first-time novelists from finishing. It's genre-agnostic (although Brooke will have to pick one!). It's beginner-friendly. And it's built on the idea that if you want to write a book, you ARE a writer—you just need someone to walk you through it! Got a writing roadblock you want us to tackle? Drop it in the comments. Brooke is officially on the hook to ask the embarrassing questions for you. SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss Episode 1, where we get into the real stuff. Try Dabble free: https://www.dabblewriter.com/ Free writing resources at DabbleU: https://www.dabblewriter.com/dabble-u
Plot gets a lot of attention, but characters are what make people fall in love with your story. Want to write a memorable book? Create characters that your readers want to invite to Thanksgiving, or run from! Join Hank and Abby as they discuss the most important element in your writing, CHARACTERS.
You have a story in you, I know you do. But where do you start? Does the thought of writing a whole novel give you anxiety and keep you from starting at all? Join published author Hank Garner from Dabble for a live brainstorming workshop on how to write a book when all you've got is a spark. We'll break down how to mine your creative well for character, setting, and plot ideas that will help you start your first novel (or your fifty-first). Whether you're staring at a blank page or sitting on a pile of half-baked ideas, this workshop will help you figure out what you actually have — and how to turn it into a book. WHAT WE'LL COVER -How to brainstorm character, setting, and plot from scratch -How to mine your own life, obsessions, and what-ifs for story fuel -How to tell if your idea is a novel, a short story, or something else -Hank's method for moving from spark to first chapter -Brainstorming for plotters, pantsers, and the "I don't know yet" crowd Download the Brainstorming Dabble template here: https://app.dabblewriter.com/?importTemplate=uFwqT2KkgZrcma8t&_gl=1*j974m6*_gcl_au*MTU0MzUyMDM5MS4xNzc1NTc0NjY2LjE2ODM5NTU0MDMuMTc3NTU3NDY2OC4xNzc1NTc0NjY3*_ga*MTI4MTEwMzkzNy4xNzc1NTc0NjY2*_ga_09N6VRHLQG*czE3Nzc5MDk0NzYkbzYyJGcwJHQxNzc3OTA5NDc2JGo2MCRsMCRoMTAyMjk1MjU1 ABOUT HANK Hank is a published author with one foot in traditional publishing and one in indie publishing. Between his name and his pen name, he's written over fifty books. (Mostly fiction, some non-fiction too.) He has also spent the last ten years hosting thousands of podcasts on writing, which means he's talked craft with more working authors than most people have read. ABOUT DABBLE WRITER Dabble is novel-writing software built by writers, for writers. Outline, draft, revise, and track your whole story in one place. Try Dabble free for 14 days. No credit card required. www.dabblewriter.com SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE Subscribe for more live events like author interviews, free writing workshops, and Fireside Chats. We're all about helping writers hone their craft with content that's actually useful. JOIN THE COMMUNITY Did you know Dabble Writer also sponsors the DabbleU Campus, our free online writing community? It's our hub for 2x weekly writing sprints, coffee hours, craft talk, and more. https://www.dabbleu.com Happy writing!
Get your copy of the workbook and slides here: https://www.dabbleu.com/c/upcoming-events-e63100/outlining-for-non-outliners Are you the kind of writer that needs a little extra freedom in your process? Are you frustrated by people that tell you that you need to outline more, but that just makes you feel stifled? This workshop is for you. Try out Dabble free for 14 days and see why it’s the best writing tool on the planet—no credit card required! Visit our website at www.dabblewriter.com to get started. Subscribe to our channel for more live events like author interviews, Writing Sprint Wednesdays, Feedback Fridays, and Fireside Chats. We're all about helping authors hone their craft with engaging, fun, and educational content. On top of all that, Dabble Premium members get access to exclusive content like Craft Q&A Office Hours, Wordsmith Workshops, Deep Dive articles, bonus resources, and guest speaker workshops. Happy writing!
So, you want to write a novel. The question is, where on earth do you start? Come hang out for a live Dabble Writer Fireside Chat about what to think about BEFORE you start writing that book. We're taking your questions in real time. Plotter, pantser, or anywhere in the middle. Everyone's welcome! Hi, I'm Abby. I'm a middle-grade author, and I run the writing community at Dabble, the novel-writing software built for real writers. And my partner in crime is Hank, who's done this whole book-writing thing more than 20 times, now. We'll be talking through the stuff no one tells first-time novelists. The pre-writing questions that actually matter, and the traps we wish we'd avoided. Bring your questions. No question is too basic! That's the whole point. WHAT WE'LL COVER -Premise vs. idea. Do you actually have a book yet? -Plotter or pantser (and why "a little of both" is a perfectly real answer) -What pre-writing actually means, and what you can skip -How to tell if your idea wants to be a novel (or something else) -The stuff that stops first-time writers before Chapter 1 ABOUT DABBLE WRITER Dabble is novel-writing software built by writers, for writers. Outline, draft, revise, and track your whole story in one place. Try it free for 14 days: https://www.dabblewriter.com/pricing JOIN THE COMMUNITY Weekly pep talks and writing sprints, craft breakdowns, and the occasional reminder to just write the ding dong book already! Join us here: https://www.dabbleu.com/feed #howtowriteanovel #writingcommunity #amwriting #firstnovel #plotterorpantser #writingtips #novelwritingtips #writingabook #writingadvice #fictionwriting #dabblewriter #prewriting #writerslife
Does your dialogue feel flat? Do all your characters sound a little too much alike? Bring it to the Dialogue Doctor. Join Jeff Elkins (author, editor, and host of the Dialogue Doctor Podcast) for a live craft session on dialogue. We're talking how to make every conversation pull its weight, how to build character voices readers can tell apart on the page, and how to turn a scene of people talking into a scene readers can't stop reading. Bring the dialogue scene that's been giving you trouble. Bring the character whose voice won't stick. Bring your questions. WHAT WE'LL LIKELY COVER -How to structure dialogue so it moves the scene forward -How to build character voices that don't blur together -How to show emotion through dialogue without going purple -How to hook readers from the first line of a conversation -Audience questions and story-specific checkups ABOUT JEFF Jeff is the founder of the Dialogue Doctor and host of the Dialogue Doctor Podcast. He's the author of 11 novels, 2 works of nonfiction, and more than 100 short stories. He's worked with hundreds of authors online and edited more than ten full manuscripts. When Jeff talks dialogue, working writers listen. ABOUT DABBLE WRITER Dabble is novel-writing software built by writers, for writers. Outline, draft, revise, and track your whole story in one place. Try Dabble free for 14 days. No credit card required. www.dabblewriter.com SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE More live events like author interviews, workshops, and Fireside Chats. Happy writing! #writingdialogue #howtowritedialogue #dialoguedoctor #jeffelkins #charactervoice #writingworkshop #writingcraft #writingcommunity #amwriting #novelwriting #fictionwriting #dabblewriter #dialogueinfiction
Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files, Codex Alera, and the Cinder Spires, joins us live on Story Craft Cafe to talk about the hardest moment in any series. The "All Is Lost" beat. The point where everything your protagonist has built comes apart, right before the climax. We're asking Jim how he lands this beat across a long-running series (one that started over 20 years ago and is still going). How does "All Is Lost" work in book 4 vs. book 14? When do you hold back, and when do you scorch the earth? And how do you keep raising the stakes without breaking the story you've built? Grab coffee. Bring your craft questions. This is a live recording of the Story Craft Cafe podcast. WHAT WE'LL COVER -What the "All Is Lost" moment is, and why you can't skip it -How to build to it in a single novel vs. across a full series -Jim's approach to plotting the Dresden Files across 17+ books -How to raise series stakes without breaking the story you've built -Writing from deep inside a long-running world GUEST BIO Jim Butcher is the author of the Dresden Files, the Codex Alera, and a new steampunk series, the Cinder Spires. His resume includes a laundry list of skills which were useful a couple of centuries ago, and he plays guitar quite badly. An avid gamer, he plays tabletop games in varying systems, a variety of video games on PC and console, and LARPs whenever he can make time for it. Jim currently resides mostly inside his own head, but his head can generally be found in the mountains outside Denver, Colorado. Jim goes by the moniker Longshot in a number of online locales. He came by this name in the early 1990's when he decided he would become a published author. Usually only 3 in 1000 who make such an attempt actually manage to become published; of those, only 1 in 10 make enough money to call it a living. The sale of a second series was the breakthrough that let him beat the long odds against attaining a career as a novelist. All the same, he refuses to change his nickname. ABOUT STORY CRAFT CAFE Story Craft Cafe is Dabble's podcast for writers who take their craft seriously and their vibes casually. We bring in working authors, editors, and industry pros to get into the stuff that makes stories work. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. ABOUT DABBLE WRITER Dabble is novel-writing software built by writers, for writers. Outline, draft, revise, and track your whole story in one place. Perfect for series writers juggling multiple books, timelines, and character arcs. Try it free for 14 days: https://www.dabblewriter.com/ FOLLOW ALONG Subscribe to this channel for more author interviews and live craft conversations.
Come join Hank and Abby for this walk down DabbleU memory lane, as they talk about finding your people in this crazy, noisy online world! https://dabbleu.com
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