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2026

Week 5: How to write through the horrors

Feb 1, 2026

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9 min read

Week 5: How to write through the horrors

We need your books now more than ever

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

2026

Week 3: Why count the weeks?

Jan 18, 2026

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8 min read

Week 3: Why count the weeks?

Noticing the passage of time and the seasons helps us honor our energy and intentions

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

story structure

The confessional structure of What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Jan 11, 2026

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15 min read

The confessional structure of What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

How McEwan uses narrative reversal to question what we can know about the past

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

2026

Week 1: It's still fallow time

Jan 4, 2026

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6 min read

Week 1: It's still fallow time

Let those plans and goals marinate a little longer – let’s keep resting until February

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

scene study

Backstory and omniscience in What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

Nov 17, 2025

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13 min read

Backstory and omniscience in What We Can Know by Ian McEwan

How to use backstory as a primary narrative mode without losing momentum

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

opening

Genre and theme in the opening of Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know

Oct 19, 2025

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9 min read

Genre and theme in the opening of Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know

What happens when literary fiction borrows speculative elements but keeps its slow-burn focus on character

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

opening

Time jumps and narrative power in the opening of V.E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

Sep 19, 2025

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9 min read

Time jumps and narrative power in the opening of V.E. Schwab’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

How to establish stakes across multiple time periods

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

scene study

Point-of-view handoffs and the interplay of action and interiority in King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

Sep 8, 2025

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14 min read

Point-of-view handoffs and the interplay of action and interiority in King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

How to shift point of view mid-scene without head hopping

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

opening

SA Cosby's King of Ashes starts with a call to the hero's journey – or does it?

Aug 30, 2025

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7 min read

SA Cosby's King of Ashes starts with a call to the hero's journey – or does it?

How to layer character, theme, and story questions into a deceptively simple opening chapter

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate

scene study

How Emily Henry uses dialogue to reveal character in Great Big Beautiful Life

Jul 2, 2025

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14 min read

How Emily Henry uses dialogue to reveal character in Great Big Beautiful Life

What a paragraph-by-paragraph breakdown reveals about crafting multi-layered dialogue exchanges

Kristen Tate
Kristen Tate
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Deep craft analysis and creative encouragement for fiction writers

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