Good storytelling is all about the big pieces: structure, character, theme. But good writing? That’s much more intricate, much more intimate. Good writing is about creating purposeful and interesting prose. Creating prose of that caliber starts with the mechanics of grammar and spelling. But any middle-schooler is supposed to be able to do that. The art of […]
August 2, 2015 by 54 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 43: Too Many Exclamation Points!
Exclamation points! Woohoo! Yeehaw! Is there any punctuation mark that could possibly be more fun for writers to use? (Okay, so there is the interrobang, but that’s still kinda the same difference.) Exclamation points are there to help us express our big emotions: excitement, joy, anger, passion. Naturally, we want all those big emotions in our stories, so […]
October 8, 2014 by 25 Comments DescriptionThe Power of the Senses: How to Fire Up Any Story Description
As writers, it is our job to give our readers a powerful emotional experience, via story description. Many emotions come about because one or more of our five senses has been stimulated, so one way to elicit emotions is to “awaken” your readers’ senses. Sight is probably the easiest sense to incorporate, because when you are […]
September 21, 2014 by 67 Comments ProseYou’ve Been Writing Sentences Wrong All Your Life! Find Out Why
The sentence. It’s the building block of all books. Without it, we may have a poem, a song, a movie, a painting, an interpretative dance. But we sure as scuttlebutt don’t have a book. Most of us learn how to write (and diagram!) sentences in grade school. Out of the many potential pitfalls of writing a […]
January 5, 2014 by 78 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Choppy Prose
Choppy prose is one of the most common writing mistakes that can pull readers out of a story. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, fragmented sentences, run-ons, and punctuation misuse can create an awkward, jarring flow. If your writing feels clunky or hard to read, you may be dealing with choppy prose. This article explores […]
November 8, 2013 by 20 Comments Editing Your Novel5 Key Ways to Choose the Right Word (Without a Thesaurus!)
Figuring out how to choose the right word is probably only the second most difficult writing trait to master (right after ideas). Your word choice is a crucial part of your writing that directly correlates with your readers’ reactions to your content. Sure, you could have a spectacular idea, but without the appropriate words, you’re […]
September 8, 2013 by 28 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Animate Body Parts
If you’re including animate body parts in your prose, you might be writing a horror story and not even know it! Picture this: body parts scattered all over the room. We’re talking a regular massacre. But it gets worse. These aren’t just any ol’ body parts. They’re . . . aliiiiive! What’s that, you say? […]
August 25, 2013 by 35 Comments ProseThe One Rule for Choosing Your Story’s Tone
Choosing your story’s tone can make or break your book. It will affect every single page you write. Tone guides readers in figuring how they’re supposed to view a story. Funny? Serious? Edgy? Sarcastic? Wielded with understanding, tone will help you create a more cohesive story and will pull readers that much deeper into the […]
August 20, 2013 by 2 Comments Structuring Your NovelAction and Reaction in Plot: The Building Blocks of Story Structure
Today, I’m guest posting on Jody Hedlund’s blog, with the post “Action and Reaction in Plot: The Building Blocks of Story Structure.” Here’s an excerpt: Sometimes writers get a little freaked out by the idea of story structure. Too complicated, too confining, too vague. This is ironic, since structure, when properly understood, actually simplifies the […]
June 28, 2013 by 23 Comments ProseHow to Make Adverbs Work for You
This post is by Janice Hardy (@Janice_Hardy). We hear it all the time: never use adverbs in your writing. Sound advice, but if we follow it to the extreme, we could miss out on their very useful properties. As bad a rep as adverbs have, they’re actually pretty handy during a first draft. They allow us to […]
