Consider Essayists as Models for Connection
In a post on the Killzone blog, PJ Parrish says that fiction writers can learn lessons from great essayists about connecting with their readers. Essay...
Deliberate, Don’t Default
In their final episode of their series on worldbuilding, the Writing Excuses hosts discuss how to insert originality by deliberately avoiding defaults, cliches, and...
Prompt: Finding Sparks in Randomness
During an interview with the Write the Book podcast, Joy Cohen suggests a writing prompt popular with her students. First, create a list of...
Use Awe to Spark Creativity
All writers have a sense of curiosity about people and our world. We write stories to figure things out, from big philosophical questions to...
How to Handle a Revise & Resubmit
You might be fortunate enough to get an agent's attention for your manuscript. However, that often isn't the end of the line. You might...
How Much is Too Much and When?
For fiction writers, successful communication is all about balance. We need to hone our instincts so that we know the right amount to put...
How to Train Your Brain for Writing When You’re Not Writing
While many creative people have set hours for their project time, the creative process itself is no respecter of schedules. At worst, our minds...
Use the Audience’s Imagination to Fill in Blanks Between Scenes
We don't know how they do it, but writing advice blogs seem to hit similar points at the same time. Not counting blog tours...
Do You Trust Your Reader?
You might be forgiven if you find the act of writing requires you to walk a number of tightropes. Characters need to be consistent...
How to Create an Antihero Who Isn’t a Sociopath
We love our antiheroes but they are challenging to write well. There's a fine line between antihero and villain that is crossed on a...
