Creative Writing Blog | Writing Tips and Ideas

Poetry writing exercises in time and space

Poetry Writing Exercises in Space and Time

Poetry is the most artistic form of writing. A poem can be concrete or abstract. It can be expressive or pensive. It can cover just about any subject imaginable. But despite what poetry can be, it is most often used as a form of emotional self-expression, especially by young and new poets. When we’re feeling…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

Grammar Rules: That and Which

There’s a lot of confusion about that and which. These two words are often used interchangeably, even though they’re not necessarily interchangeable. Historically, that and which may have carried the same meaning, and some English dialects may allow for that and which to be swapped without affecting the meaning of a sentence. However, in American…Read More

What’s in Your Creative Writing Notebook?

This post contains affiliate links. 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 writing projects. Over time, all these…Read More

Writing and Editing Polished Prose

Writing leaves an impression. Readers will come away from your work feeling informed, entertained, inspired, even moved. Or will they? When I was in high school and during my early college days, I wrote papers and turned them in without giving them so much as a second glance — no revisions or rewriting and no…Read More

Writing Tips: Every Word Matters

Have you ever seen the movie Throw Momma From the Train (aff link)? It’s a classic 80s comedy about the hilarious misadventures of a writing instructor (Billy Crystal) and one of his students (Danny Devito). When the film opens, Billy Crystal’s character is suffering from an extreme case of writer’s block. In fact, he can’t complete…Read More

Get Poemcrazy!

This post contains affiliate links. Part memoir, filled with poetry exercises and activities, and sprinkled with poems, Poemcrazy is sure to inspire anyone who wants to delve deeper into the art of writing poetry and the lifestyle of a poet. Poemcrazy is a delicious read with bite-sized chapters that give you a creative boost and a…Read More

Creative Writing Prompts for Movie Lovers

Today’s prompts are selected from 1200 Creative Writing Prompts. Enjoy! There’s nothing quite like sitting with a room full of strangers in a darkened movie theater. The air is filled with the smell of hot, buttered popcorn. Feet shuffle, chairs creak, and you can hear ice rattling around in plastic cups. The movie’s about to start….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

10 Reasons Storytellers Should Dabble in Poetry

There was a time when poetry enjoyed mainstream popularity. People who read poetry weren’t unusual or lurking in some counterculture, hipster coffee house. Ordinary folks read poems, enjoyed poetry, and discussed poetic works. These days, fiction takes center stage in the world of language arts. We love movies, TV shows, and video games, comic books,…Read More