From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Rock and Rhyme (Poetry)
Today’s post features an exercise from my book, 101 Creative Writing Exercises (aff link), which is filled with exercises for various forms of writing, including fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. It will inspire you while imparting useful writing techniques that are fun and practical. This exercise comes from “Chapter 8: Free Verse.” The creative writing exercises in this…Read More
Fiction Writing Exercise: What If?
This storytelling exercise comes from my book Story Drills: Fiction Writing Exercises, which takes you through the basics of storytelling by covering a wide range of concepts and storytelling techniques. This fiction exercise is called “What If?” What If? “What if?” is a useful prompt at any stage in story development. We can use this question as…Read More
How to Break Through a Fiction Writing Block
It happens to all writers. You’re cruising through a story, and all of a sudden you hit a wall. Your characters freeze up, your plot stops cold, and you’re stuck with nowhere to go. You’ve hit a fiction writing roadblock. All of your ideas have evaporated and you sit there staring at your screen with…Read More
What is Free-Verse Poetry?
Most of my favorite poems are written in free verse, which means they do not fall under the constraints of form poetry. Not that I have anything against form poetry — it’s a lovely tradition, and I like reading and writing it — but not as much as I enjoy reading and writing free-verse poetry….Read More
Ten Grammar Rules Every Writer Should Know
The more experience I gain as a writer, the more I’m convinced that writing is one of the most difficult skills to master. It’s not enough to tell a great story, share an original idea, or create an intriguing poem; writers are also obligated to pay diligence to the craft. While the content (or message)…Read More
How to Harvest a Dream Journal for Writing Inspiration
There’s something mysterious and magical about dreams. In the dreamworld, anything is possible. Our deepest desires and greatest fears come to life. Whether they haunt or beguile, our dreams represent the far reaches of our imaginations. Journals can have similar qualities of mystery and intrigue. If your journal is full of freewrites, doodles, cryptic notes,…Read More
21 Do-It-Yourself Editing Tips
The human mind is a funny thing; it likes to play tricks on us. For example, when we proofread and edit our own writing, we tend to read it as we think it should be, which means we misread our own typos and other spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes as well as problems with word…Read More
Writing Tips: Kill Your Darlings
Kill your darlings. It’s a common piece of writing advice, but what does it mean? I once thought that “kill your darlings” was strictly for storytellers removing unnecessary or problematic characters. But this piece of wisdom has broader applications. It can be used by poets, nonfiction writers, and anyone who puts words on the page…Read More
A Must-Read for Storytellers: Save the Cat
This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions for this website from qualifying purchases. “It’s the scene where we meet the hero, and the hero does something — like saving a cat — that defines who he is and makes us, the audience, like him.” — Blake Snyder, Save the Cat Save the Cat is…Read More
Fiction Writing Prompts for the Young Adult (YA) Genre
This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions for this website from qualifying purchases. Young adult literature is one of the most exciting genres in fiction. Young people are bright, bold, and open-minded. More importantly, they’re going to shape the future. What they read matters. Classic young adult books like To Kill a Mockingbird, The…Read More
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