Writing Requires Learning, Practice, and Repetition.
In a post for Lit Hub, Jessie Greengrass (The High House) says what many writers refuse to acknowledge and others constantly whine about: writing...
Audiences Buy Concepts, but Embrace Characters
In a post on Killzone, Garry Rodgers describes one of his former partners from his time as a police detective and a list of...
What do Genre and Media Promise to the Reader?
In this week's podcast, the Writing Excuses hosts continue talking about reader expectations, saying that your genre and medium make promises you should keep....
How Do We Write About the Monsters Inside Us?
Writers and readers both love stories about extra-fictional characters - beings that don't exist in our world. Hobbits, superheroes, sparkling vampires, talking animals, Jedi...
Has Climate Writing Dried Up?
In an essay for Lit Hub, science and environment writer Heather Houser suggests that fiction on environmental and climate themes is becoming moribund. She...
Advice for Starting in the Middle of the Action
"The chronological beginning of a story is not always the best place to start," writes Karen Debonis in a post on Writers in the...
Character Flaws Create Conflict and Tension
Hercule Poirot was vain. Sherlock Holmes injected cocaine. So many fictional detectives have alcohol problems that you'd think it's mandatory. The point is, your...
You’ll Be a Dentist!
This week's Write the Book writing prompt is inspired by Joshua Ferris' novel, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, which features a dentist...
You’ve Got a Friend in Inanimate Objects
Movies like Pinocchio, Ted, Night at the Museum, and the Toy Story series show us the enduring attraction of using inanimate objects as living...
Is This the Year You Get Around to Beating Procrastination?
Procrastination has censored more novels than any government. In a post on DIY MFA, Disha Walia offers six tips to beating this habit.
"If you...
