After writing a short mystery story filled with suspense and plot twists, the next step is figuring out the best way to publish your work. With a laundry list of publications to choose from, where should you submit your short mystery story? I’ve done all the work for you by racking up a list of prime places to […]
Why should every writer consider a pen name? A pen name can be a writer’s best friend. Whether you’re a rookie who’s nervous about stepping onto the scene or someone fairly well accomplished who’s looking for a chance to start over, a pseudonym may be your answer. While some people like the idea of a safety […]
Writers, if you’re stuck in a creative rut, maybe all you need is a jam session. Art is all about connection: to the world, to each other, and to other forms of art. We often forget this last aspect, and it’s time we started learning from each other and our many different approaches to creativity. […]
If you want to rent books through a “Netflix for books” service, which one is the best? First of all, you should choose one that won’t shut down in a year or two. There are several companies that tried to offer a “Netflix for books” and failed, such as Oyster and Entitle. But Scribd, Booksfree, Bookmate and Amazon […]
In the wide world of writing prompts, the options are slim for creative nonfiction writers. Even the relevant prompts are often jumbled together with essay and fictional prompts, making it hard for writers to find what they really want. But not to worry. I present one whole hefty list of prompts just for creative nonfiction […]
By Jennifer Carr I was recently having coffee with an editor in New York, who was giving me some advice (and a pep talk) about finding a literary agent. One of the things she said was like lightning into my analytic brain: literary agents are like real estate agents. They want to move a product […]
How are creative writing exercises different than writing prompts or story generators? Good question. Creative writing exercises are designed to teach a technique. They are highly specific, more specific than creative writing prompts, and much more specific than story generators. Creative writing exercises for adults are not designed to lead the writer into crafting a full […]
One of the hardest things about literary magazines is dealing with the overwhelming number of them. You can’t keep up-to-date on all of them, so how do you decide which are really worth your time? Of course, everyone knows about Poetry Magazine, and I’d like to hear of a writer who isn’t on the New Yorker email list, but there are so many wonderful, small publications out there, just […]
The instructions for these 52 picture writing prompts are simple: write a story combining some element of all three pictures. It can be crazy or funny or wild, but you have to incorporate some element of all three images. There’s a scientific reason for why three pictures work better than a single image: because creativity […]
I hope these 37 creative writing prompt pictures of emojis either make you laugh or write. Preferably both. They’re meant to be suggestive, not to sketch out the entire story. Some of them just have a premise, while others suggest a possible ending. Feel free to change whatever you need to in your story to make […]
