Subscribe to the Helping Writers Become Authors podcast on iTunes. Episode #422: How to Decide Between Plain Prose and Beautiful Prose: Writers must know how to craft words that are beautiful because they are true and words that true because they are beautiful. Consider eight principles of writing both plain prose and beautiful prose. Episode […]
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April 2, 2018 by 55 Comments ProseHow to Decide Between Plain Prose and Beautiful Prose
Truth is beauty. Beauty is truth. This is perhaps nowhere more evident than in art, which deliberately and consciously explores both. Words, in particular, are the explicit context in which humanity presents, investigates, and shares its truth. Perhaps more than any other art form, writing gives us a blatant venue for exploring the truth side […]
March 26, 2018 by 66 Comments How to Become a Writer7 Frequently Asked Writing Questions
The amazing thing about being a writer is that you get to be part of a writing community. Especially now, in the Internet age, you have access not just to the writings of the great minds who have gone before, but also to the shared wisdom, common sense, commiseration, and encouragement of all your contemporaries. If […]
February 26, 2018 by 79 Comments ProseDon’t Write Scenes–Write Images
When you think about it, the transformative power of the written word is no less phenomenal than the technological miracles of computers, televisions, and smarts phones. Both are alchemy. Technology uses wires and circuits to turn code into the wonder of light and color. Writing does exactly the same thing. Little black squiggles on the […]
February 5, 2018 by 74 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Tips for Writing to the Right Audience
Here’s my somewhat radical idea: Writers don’t need to know who their audience is. And, yes, I know this goes entirely against popular advice, which encourages (even insists) that beginning authors must know their audience. I’ve probably even said basically that somewhere or other on this site. You’re supposed to go so far as to write […]
January 22, 2018 by 89 Comments Writing InspirationThe Words That Changed Your Life: Discovering What Made You a Writer
For me, it’s almost become a cliché answer: “I write because stories have always been my language. I write because my very first memory is telling myself a story.” “Why do you write?” and “What made you a writer?” are two questions I’m ubiquitously asked in interviews. I can respond to those questions in my […]
December 11, 2017 by 72 Comments Writing LifeMy Top Books of 2017
When you’re a writer, stories are life. You can’t create them without ingesting them. That’s why Stephen King famously said: If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. That’s why this annual look back at my top books of 2017 is always one […]
November 27, 2017 by 72 Comments CharactersHow to Write Funny
Part 17 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel If you ask me, the trifecta of must-have story elements are: relationships, action, and humor. Of the three, arguably the most difficult is learning how to write funny. You can’t fake humor. It either works or it doesn’t. This might prompt some writers to […]
November 13, 2017 by 25 Comments How to Become a Writer5 (Not-So-Little) Additions to the Great Novel-Writing Checklist
Learning how to write a successful novel is largely a matter of memorizing and mentally tracking the vast number of “parts” that make a story run. Honestly, this alone is sometimes the hardest part of the entire job. There’s a lot to remember—which is why, today, we’re going to look at the second part of our […]
October 6, 2017 by 46 Comments Outlining Your NovelPreparing for NaNoWriMo: Your Guide to Outlining Success
Forget turkeys and football. NaNoWriMo—or National Novel Writing Month—has turned November into “da Writing Month.” But as so many authors have learned over the years, the best way to be successful in November is to start preparing for NaNoWriMo in October (aka Preptober). If you’re going to have a decent shot at writing 50k good words […]
