Melissa Donovan | Writing Forward

Writing and Editing Polished Prose

Writing leaves an impression. Readers will come away from your work feeling informed, entertained, inspired, even moved. Or will they? When I was in high school and during my early college days, I wrote papers and turned them in without giving them so much as a second glance — no revisions or rewriting and no…Read More

Writing Tips: Every Word Matters

Have you ever seen the movie Throw Momma From the Train (aff link)? It’s a classic 80s comedy about the hilarious misadventures of a writing instructor (Billy Crystal) and one of his students (Danny Devito). When the film opens, Billy Crystal’s character is suffering from an extreme case of writer’s block. In fact, he can’t complete…Read More

Get Poemcrazy!

This post contains affiliate links. Part memoir, filled with poetry exercises and activities, and sprinkled with poems, Poemcrazy is sure to inspire anyone who wants to delve deeper into the art of writing poetry and the lifestyle of a poet. Poemcrazy is a delicious read with bite-sized chapters that give you a creative boost and a…Read More

Creative Writing Prompts for Movie Lovers

Today’s prompts are selected from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts. Enjoy! There’s nothing quite like sitting with a room full of strangers in a darkened movie theater. The air is filled with the smell of hot, buttered popcorn. Feet shuffle, chairs creak, and you can hear ice rattling around in plastic cups. The movie’s about to start….Read More

Fiction Writing Exercise: What If?

This storytelling exercise comes from my book Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which takes you through the basics of storytelling by covering a wide range of concepts and storytelling techniques. This fiction exercise is called “What If?” What If? “What if?” is a useful prompt at any stage in story development. We can use this question as…Read More

10 Reasons Storytellers Should Dabble in Poetry

There was a time when poetry enjoyed mainstream popularity. People who read poetry weren’t unusual or lurking in some counterculture, hipster coffee house. Ordinary folks read poems, enjoyed poetry, and discussed poetic works. These days, fiction takes center stage in the world of language arts. We love movies, TV shows, and video games, comic books,…Read More

When Poets Don’t Read Poetry

I started writing poetry just after hitting my teens and quickly fell in love with the artistry, wordplay, and rhythmic challenge of crafting poems. A few years later, it occurred to me that I should be reading poetry, so I looked at a few books of poetry but found nothing that spoke to me. For…Read More

Writing When You’re Not in the Mood

Today’s post is an excerpt from Ready, Set, Write: A Guide to Creative Writing. This is from a chapter titled “Doing the Work,” which focuses on writing when you’re not in the mood. Doing the Work When you experience a burst of inspiration that leads to a satisfying writing session, the results are exhilarating. Whether you’ve gotten…Read More

How to Write Faster

There are a lot of benefits to writing fast, if you can do it. The faster you write, the more works you can produce. If you write for a living, then theoretically, that means more money in less time. Many people write slowly or write only when they feel the urge, so jumping on the…Read More

Writing Tips For Staying on Your Game

Believe it or not, there are a few writing tips that we writers can steal from athletes, strategies that show us how to stay in shape and on top of our game. Athletes work hard even when they’re off the field. They spend hours practicing with their teams. They run miles around the track when…Read More