Dialogue is easy to spot because it has those nifty little quotation marks, but not all text that isn’t dialogue can be lumped together. The difference between description and exposition can be tricky to determine but it is most definitely there. The key is to remember this equation: How can we distinguish between description and… Read more »
This week we’ve discussed how to submit your work. While we’ve focused on submitting to literary magazines and online literary markets, many of the same ideas also apply when querying agents. Today’s prompt works equally well, whether you’re a writer of short fiction or poetry and looking for markets for your work, or if you’re… Read more »
I first learned to sketch out a story in a novel-writing class. The purpose of the sketch is to provide a snapshot of your work-in-progress (WIP), capturing all the important information on one page so that you can see it all at a glance. This technique is especially useful when you need to give a short excerpt… Read more »
As you might have noticed, I’m really into design. A graphic designer and product manager in a past life, you could say I’m a little bit obsessed with clean lines and balanced designs. I love problem-solving so that form and function work together seamlessly. One of the areas that most fascinates me in design is… Read more »
Remember back in grade school when we used to cut up magazines and glue the pictures on a board to make beautiful artwork? Believe it or not, collaging is a great way for writers to explore and express the mood of their project. I learned the benefits of this technique when I was in design… Read more »
Sometimes writer’s block is inevitable. Suddenly–without even knowing how–you hit the wall and there’s nothing to do but try to break your way through it. So what do in that situation? Do you just sit and wallow in your inability to write? The secret to getting through writer’s block is write your way through… Read more »
Writers hurt when they can’t write. They may not realize it, but their behavior speaks volumes. Often, writers will go through a series of stages before they are ready to write again and these stages are similar to the Kübler-Ross stages of grief in psychology. In other words, when writers can’t write they grieve, so… Read more »
Every so often, writers hit a road block. Sometimes we’re zipping along that writing highway and suddenly we take a detour and we’re off on a side road and boom! We run into a herd of cattle hanging out in the middle of our path. Sure, we could off-road it and drive through the pastures… Read more »
This week, as the build-up to Valentine’s Day saturates the world with candy hearts and long-stemmed roses, I thought it might be fun to think about how we found our love for writing. I became a writer at this little school pictured on the left–The Caedmon School in New York City–and this is how it… Read more »
Starting a novel or short story is like making a promise to the reader. You set up rules and expectations that your readers will rely on as they read your piece. You take your readers by the hand and guide them into your story. You develop a trust-relationship with the reader. Delaying or changing these… Read more »
