by Rose Sheffler | Jan 27, 2020 | Articles |
After you’ve written a paragraph, have you ever stopped to squint at the words, wondering if you’ve chosen the right ones to convey the mood you intended? Did you manage to craft a distinct voice for your viewpoint character, or does the narrative sound too much like...
by Daeus Lamb | Dec 2, 2019 | Articles |
On my first read of The Book Thief, the peerless prose stunned me. I wanted to achieve Zusak’s skill, but I didn’t know how. So I began a nightly experiment to see if any techniques would emerge. I’d take out my pencil, notebook, and angled writing board (to...
by Cindy Green | Oct 28, 2019 | Articles |
Editor’s Note: This is the final installment in our three-part series on Harnessing the Power of Poetry, which explores the insights and techniques novelists can glean from poets. You can read the introduction here and the second post here. When you think of...
by Graham Jackson | Oct 24, 2019 | Articles |
Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in our three-part series on Harnessing the Power of Poetry, which explores the insights and techniques novelists can glean from poets. You can read the introductory post here. If you’ve ever toured an art museum,...
by Daeus Lamb | Oct 21, 2019 | Articles |
Every fiction writer has fallen in love with stories and dreams of engaging readers the same way. Few, however, are interested in poetry. In our modern age, this art form fights a losing battle against flashier entertainment. For some, poetry is overly emotional and...
by Savannah Grace | Sep 23, 2019 | Articles |
I used to avoid nonfiction—in both reading and writing—until I discovered that creative nonfiction employs literary techniques usually associated with fiction. How could this be? And would trying it expand my skills? Creative nonfiction seeks to capture...
by Savannah Grace | Apr 22, 2019 | Articles |
I’m addicted to flash fiction. I enjoy the challenge of compacting a story into a thousand words or fewer—and watching other writers do it too! But flash fiction is more than a method for writing quick, poignant stories. It’s an incredibly useful yet overlooked...
by Gabrielle Pollack | Jan 21, 2019 | Articles |
Sometimes characters come to us in pieces. A whisper of dialogue, a murmur of a dream, or even a feeling can ignite a glimmer of inspiration that demands to become a person. But a character is more than a rushed scribble inside our notebooks. Although voice is one of...
