Figurative Language in Poetry Writing
What is figurative (as opposed to literal) language? Figurative language says one thing but means another. However, figurative language does not intend to deceive. There is an expectation that figurative language will be understood and correctly interpreted by the listener or reader. We get the term “figure of speech” from figurative language. In poetry, we…Read More
What’s in Your Creative Writing Notebook?
This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions from qualifying purchases. I’ve been collecting writing notebooks and journals since I was a teenager. Most writers I know tend to accumulate a lot of stationery and office supplies: notebooks, pens, paper clips, and other odds and ends that we can use to manage and organize our…Read More
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better
As I travel around the internet reading blogs, watching interviews, and listening to podcasts on writing, I’ve noticed that much of the focus is not on writing at all. There’s a lot of talk about writing fast, e-books versus paper books, and the fate of brick-and-mortar bookstores. But most of the chatter is focused on…Read More
Ten Tips for Writing a Book
Writing a book is a big deal. It takes a lot of time and effort, especially if you want to do it right, which means creating something that people will find entertaining or useful and then polishing, marketing, and promoting it. It all begins with an idea — a concept. It might start with a…Read More
What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers
This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions for this website from qualifying purchases. Good fiction includes many different elements: believable characters, realistic dialogue, and a compelling plot. Every decent story has a beginning, middle, and end. Intriguing tales are built around conflict and are rich with themes and symbols. And those are just the…Read More
15 Tasty Creative Writing Prompts
Today’s post features a selection of prompts from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts. Enjoy! We all want our writing to be compelling, even mesmerizing. One effective way to captivate readers is to engage their senses. When you engage a reader’s sense of sight, smell, sound, touch, or taste, you illicit a physiological response to your writing,…Read More
Poetry Writing Exercise: Creative Wordplay
Charles Dickens invented the word boredom. Sylvia Path coined the term dreamscape. William Shakespeare gave us bandit, swagger, and gossip, along with over 1,700 other words that previously didn’t exist in the English lexicon. Writers have a long history of inventing new words, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. When we encounter an idea or…Read More
Writing Description in Fiction
Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, chapter eight: “Description and Exposition.” Enjoy! Without description, readers wouldn’t be able to visualize what’s happening in a story. We need to see the setting and the characters. Because there are no visuals in prose, writers must use words to describe a…Read More
How to Analyze Poetry
An expert is someone who has mastered their craft through a process of study and practice. Poets are no different. It takes years to become an expert poet. An important part of studying poetry is analysis. Examining the form, content, and syntax of a poem helps us develop a better understanding and deeper appreciation —…Read More
A Selection of Journal Prompts from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts
Today’s journal prompts are taken from my book, 1200 Creative Writing Prompts, which is filled with inspiration for writers and includes prompts for writing fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. The journal prompts in the book are found in the creative nonfiction section. They urge you to think about your personal experiences, beliefs, and ideas and…Read More
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