Storytelling Exercise: Concepts and Premises
Today’s storytelling exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which helps beginning to intermediate storytellers develop skills in the craft of fiction writing. This exercise addresses two useful tools for developing and promoting stories: concept and premise. Enjoy! The premise of a story can be summed up in a few…Read More
Creating Characters That Resonate
Today’s post is an excerpt from my book, What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing. This is from chapter one, “Characters.” Enjoy! Creating Characters We see ourselves in a story’s characters. We see people we know—people we love, people we hate, people we fear, people we admire, and people we want to emulate. We…Read More
From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Haiku
Today’s writing exercise comes from my book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises, which takes writers on an exciting journey through different forms and genres while providing writing techniques, practical experience, and inspiration. Each chapter focuses on a different form or writing concept: freewriting, journaling, memoirs, fiction, storytelling, form poetry, free verse, characters, dialogue, creativity, and article and…Read More
Homophones: Its and It’s
Homophones confuse some people and annoy others. I often see people online complaining about other people who can’t differentiate between the spellings of homophones like your and you’re; they’re, their, and there, and of course, its and it’s. While I find these mistakes mildly annoying, I don’t know if I’d go so far as to…Read More
26 Creative Writing Careers
If creative writing is your passion, then you’d probably enjoy a career in which you could spend all day (or at least most of the day) pursuing that passion. But creative writing is an artistic pursuit, and we all know that a career in the arts isn’t easy to come by. It takes hard work,…Read More
Breaking the Rules: When Good Grammar Goes Bad
Today’s post is an excerpt from 10 Core Practices for Better Writing. Enjoy! “And all dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before—and thus was the Empire forged.” — Douglas Adams Everyone knows the old saying: rules were made to be broken. But some…Read More
How to Cultivate and Save Your Best Writing Ideas
Doesn’t it seem like the best writing ideas come at the most inconvenient times? It happens when you’re driving, in the shower, or eating dinner at a restaurant. Unfortunately, you’re not sitting in front of your computer, and even if you were, you don’t always have time to stop what you’re doing to make notes…Read More
Writing Resources: Wonderbook
This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Jeff VanderMeer’s Wonderbook is not your average tome on the craft of writing. It’s more like a portal, and once you enter, writing becomes a strange and awesome adventure. Subtitled The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction, the book addresses fiction in general but occasionally emphasizes speculative fiction; any writer will…Read More
Journal Prompts for Bookworms
A good book is a writer’s paradise. At least, it should be. A book can be an adventure. It can show us the world from a new perspective. It can be a mirror, a microscope, or a telescope. It can reflect the world, magnify it, or carry us away to far-off places. Books are extra…Read More
Storytelling Exercise: Character Choices
Today’s storytelling exercise is an excerpt from my book, Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which helps beginning to intermediate storytellers develop skills in the craft of fiction writing. This exercise explores one of the most important elements of any story: the characters. It’s called “Character Choices.” Enjoy! Character Choices We get to wherever we are…Read More
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