It stares you down in the form of an empty word doc and a blinking cursor. Its existence is hotly debated. It is any storyteller’s biggest fear: the dreaded Writer’s Block (and see my updated post on Writers Block). However, have no fear! I’ve racked my brain for fail-safe strategies to conquer Writer’s Block, tactics […]
Why do so many writers thank their agents first in the acknowledgements? Because the agent is pretty much the most important person in a writer’s life. Countless people work behind the scenes to bring each author’s budding vision for a story to its fruition, from friends and family to the publishing house’s distribution, but none […]
Having trouble coming up for a name for your character? Look no further! This random character name generator is just the tool you need. A good writer knows that word choice can make or break a story, and character names are no exception. The names you choose resonate with readers on both a conscious and subconscious […]
A lack of creative writing ideas often leads to a writer’s worst fear: writer’s block. It’s so easy to fall into its clutches, spending hours at your laptop (or notebook or typewriter) writing sentence after sentence only to cross every one out. Or even worse—to sit an an empty page and write nothing at all. […]
Tumblr is a blog site that is good for more than just hipster photos and crying over your favorite pop culture icons. It’s also a community for writers of all genres to collaborate and share ideas. Tumblr is a great resource for writing prompts. Writing prompts on Tumblr take a number of forms, with each […]
A good book title can mean the difference between a bestseller and a lifeless shelf-dweller. If you don’t believe me, look up First Hundred Million by editor E. Haldeman-Julius. He explains that changing just the book title can rocket a book from selling 6,000 copies a year to 50,000 copies a year. In this post I’m going to give […]
You’ve been dreaming about this moment since the beginning. It’s what you’ve been working towards this whole time, and now you’re finally ready to wrap it all up and create that perfect ending to your story. So how are you going to do it? Consider this your brainstorming session. Learn from these examples how to end a story, and […]
Nobody goes through life without some help, and the same goes for your main characters. It’s nearly impossible for a story or novel to be complete without a few secondary characters to support and put a spotlight on your lead. What would Holmes be without Watson? Or Alice in Wonderland without the Cheshire Cat? Or the Merchant […]
This writing advice would have saved me a lot of broken drafts and a lot of failed expectations. After you read this, pick your favorite 3 or 4 points and tape them to the wall above your writing desk. Remind yourself of this writing advice often enough, and you’ll have a much better chance of success. 1. […]
These flash fiction prompts will challenge you to create short and gripping narratives that are under 1000 words. Though many are categorized, don’t feel limited! Flash fiction can be whatever you want it to be. Whether you use the bite-sized stories you write as exercises, standalone pieces, or segments of a larger work, the condensed length is […]
