tips for writing

36 Tips for Writing Just About Anything

There’s a lot more to writing than typing words. Writing well takes years of study, practice, and experience. It requires diligence, attention to detail, and dedication to the craft. Each project has a unique set of requirements and different types of writing have different rules. For example, when we’re writing fiction, we have one set…Read More

poetry tools and techniques

A Handy Book for Poets – Poetry: Tools & Techniques: A Practical Guide to Writing Engaging Poetry

This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions. I have found it quite challenging to find good books on the craft of poetry writing. My favorite resource, which is also the most comprehensive, is Perrine’s Sound and Sense. But that’s a costly book because it’s used in college-level poetry courses. For years, I’ve kept up…Read More

creative writing prompts

Creative Writing Prompts for the Young at Heart

Today’s post includes a selection of prompts from my book 1200 Creative Writing Prompts. Enjoy! Stories and poems for children are among the most magical and delightful written works in the literary canon. Children’s literature has a universal appeal; the phenomenal international popularity of the Harry Potter books and movies is a testament to the…Read More

creative writing exercises cut and paste poetry

From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Cut-and-Paste Poetry

Today’s poetry writing exercise comes from my book 101 Creative Writing Exercises. The exercises in this book encourage you to experiment with different forms and genres while providing inspiration for publishable projects and imparting useful writing techniques that make your writing more robust. This exercise is from “Chapter 8: Free Verse.” It’s titled “Cut-and-Paste Poetry.”…Read More

stock characters

Stock and Cloned Characters in Storytelling

I was recently reading a novel, and a few chapters in, I realized I had mixed up two of the main characters. In fact, I had been reading them as if they were a single character. I’m a pretty sharp reader, and this has never happened before, so I tried to determine why I’d made…Read More

learn poetry

How to Learn Poetry

Art is often viewed as a fun and leisurely activity. This is partly due to the fact that creating and consuming art is, in fact, fun. The best stories and poems flow so naturally, so smoothly, that it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone laboring over their creation. Laypersons tend to assume that people just wave…Read More

creative writing journals

Creative Writing: Journals

Today’s post is an excerpt from Ready, Set, Write: A Guide to Creative Writing, a book that provides tips and tools for writers while serving as a broad roadmap for anyone who wants to explore creative writing. This excerpt is from chapter seven: “Journals.” Enjoy! Journals are often confused for diaries. Technically, a diary is a…Read More

writing help

How to Get the Right Kind of Writing Help

I often receive requests from people who are seeking writing help. Some are seeking professional services; they want someone to edit a book they’ve written or coach them through the process of writing a novel. Other times, I get questions about writing that range from simple to complicated. One person might send me a sentence…Read More

using metaphors

Using Metaphors to Enhance Your Writing

A while back, I wrote a piece that had nothing to do with food, but food became a running metaphor while I was revising. The food metaphor was so delicious (or maybe I was so hungry) that I rewrote the entire post with food on the brain. The blog posts I write with metaphors get…Read More

writing resources

Writing Resources: Grammar Girl

This post contains affiliate links. As a writer, it’s only natural that I pay attention to the mechanics of my craft, which is why I’m always on the lookout for useful writing resources. When I discovered the Grammar Girl podcast, my interest in grammar piqued, and I started writing more consciously than ever before. Sure,…Read More

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