Zainah Yousef

Suspense is a powerful story-telling technique that we see quite a lot in thrillers, horror, action and  more. Suspense is a great way to blend tension, quick and slow pacing, plot twists and more to keep the story dynamic and exciting. Most of the time, suspense gives us that feeling that we’re sitting on the […]

The lone wolf character archetype is one that we’ve seen quite often in books, movies, video games, and more. The idea of the lone wolf is complex and intriguing and can create a really interesting foundation for any story to build off of. The lone wolf tends to operate in a solo mentality and this

Villains are some of the most versatile, dynamic, and interesting characters in any story. A well-developed, compelling villain will make a reader more engaged with the story versus a story where the villain feels like a generic bad guy. I’ve talked before about creating villains that are compelling, but what about those villains that we

Our schedules oftentimes aren’t our best friends, and during our busy periods, it can be hard to make time for the hobbies and things that we enjoy doing. I relate strongly to this! Back when I was in high school, I used to write while I was in the middle of class just to get

Creating lore is a very big part of in-depth world building that can really add a lot to your overall story, give context for the way the world is, and provide a lot of immersion for your readers. Many video games tend to have a lot of lore, such as Elden Ring and Skyrim, as

A few years ago, I remember when every YA book that seemed to come out had to be a dystopian. The stories usually followed the pattern of despotic government overtakes an area, imposes despotic rules, singular teenage girl stands up against despotic government, falls in love with brooding teenage boy, they work with a resistance,

One of the most important elements you need to decide when you go to write a novel is the setting of your story. The setting plays a major role in everything, down to the language, the culture, the way of life, the religion, etc… Choosing a setting for your story can seem a bit complicated,

One of the biggest self-publishing platforms for authors nowadays has to be, without a doubt, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Amazon actually got its start as a bookstore. Since then, it’s of course evolved beyond that by a dramatic amount, but Amazon is still a giant in the book market. With its Kindle devices, it

Romance is written in a number of different ways, depending on if it’s the focus of the story or if it exists within the story’s plot, but not as the main plot. Furthermore, it also depends on if the author is going for specific tropes or not. One of the more popular structures in romance

Villains are among the most popular characters in fictional stories. Take a look at Star Wars for instance, where everybody seems to love the villain Darth Vader. There are also plenty of romance novels where the villain is a romantic interest of the main character. How about The Lord of the Rings, where the villain