Aj Saxsma | Substack

Aj Saxsma

Award-Winning literary writer helping make your novels say what you believe. Advanced writing craft for serious storytellers.

Over 1,000 subscribers

Sounds like momentum, but it often ends in disappointment.

Trauma isn't the threshold. Belief is. And everyone has beliefs that cost them something to hold.

The want is only half the equation.

Flat characters aren't usually a dialogue problem. They're a behavior problem. And most writers never find that.

It's not perfectionism. And the scene isn't the problem either.

Most writers know how to write obstacles, but very few know how to write the kind of conflict that actually changes a character.

Research on narrative writing found that writers instinctively avoid one type of story beat.

Your protagonist isn't broken. They're just waiting for the story to happen to them. Here's why that's the problem, and what fixes it.

You have one or two characters that feel alive. The rest are running your operating system. Here's why, and how to fix it.

Same situation. Same facts. Two different beliefs. Two completely different stories.