How to Read Poetry
Have you ever fallen in love with a song immediately upon hearing it? As soon as it’s over, you whip out your phone to find the song, and then you play it on repeat for the rest of the day until you know every note and lyric. It becomes your current favorite, your latest obsession….Read More
Grammar Rules: Ending a Sentence with a Preposition
A longstanding grammar myth says we’re not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition. For years, this myth has persisted, tying writers up in knots and making their heads spin around sentences that simply must end with a preposition. For example: Which store are you going to? Folks who were taught (and are now…Read More
12 Places to Find Awesome Writing Ideas
Some writers are overwhelmed with inspiration and can’t find enough time to bring every brilliant idea to fruition. The rest of us are always on the lookout for compelling writing ideas to add to our inspiration archives. But writing ideas are not always easy to come by. So we constantly search for inspiration that will keep us happily…Read More
Tips for Better Writing
By now, you’ve probably heard that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at anything. There’s some debate as to the truth of the 10,000-hour rule, but there is definitely truth to the notion that nobody’s born a master at the craft of writing. It takes time, energy, and practice to become…Read More
How to Write More
Productivity: it’s all been said and done. In fact, you could spend more time learning how to be productive than actually being productive. For us creative types, productivity can be a fleeting thing. We experience highs (a whole month packed with inspiration) and lows (three more months fraught with the ever-annoying writer’s block). It can…Read More
Writing Resources: Stephen King On Writing
Today I’m bringing back a post that’s been sitting in the archives for a while. Stephen King’s On Writing is one of the most important books ever written on the craft of writing, one of the few texts that all writers should experience, regardless of your preferred form or genre. This post has been updated…Read More
A Selection of Poetry Prompts from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts
Today’s poetry prompts come from my book, 1200 Creative Writing Prompts, which is jam-packed with ideas and inspiration for writers and includes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction writing prompts. Some of the poetry prompts in the book ask you to use a list of specific words in a poem. Some give you a topic to…Read More
Storytelling Exercise: Managing Our Ideas
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 is designed to help you manage your writing ideas (or lack thereof). It’s called “Managing Our Ideas.” Enjoy! All the storytelling skills in the world…Read More
How to Develop Your Best Novel Writing Ideas
Writing a novel is no small task. In fact, it’s a momentous task. Some writers spend years eking out a first draft, followed by years of revisions. And that’s before they even think about the grueling publishing process. In other words, you’re going to spend a lot of time with your novel. So you better…Read More
Breaking Grammar Rules in Poetry Writing
Accomplished writers respect the rules of grammar the way an acrobat respects the tightrope — grammar might be intimidating and complicated, but we need it in order to perform. Yet sometimes, an acrobat takes her foot off the tightrope. She does a flip or some other trick of physical prowess that seems to defy the…Read More
Subscribe
Subscribe and get The Writer’s Creed graphic e-booklet, plus a weekly digest with the latest articles on writing, as well as special offers and exclusive content.
