Fiction Writing | Writing Forward

Genres: Literary Fiction vs. Everything Else

In creative writing, we talk about form and genre. Form is what we write: fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction. Genre is how we further classify each of these forms. In fiction writing, there’s literary fiction and everything else. In fact, literary fiction and all the other genres are so at odds with each other that…Read More

Tips for Developing Story Writing Ideas

This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions. Short stories, flash fiction, novels, and novellas: there are countless stories floating around out there — and those are just the fictional works. It’s no wonder writers get frustrated trying to come up with a simple concept for a story. One look at the market tells you…Read More

12 Character Writing Tips for Fiction Writers

Characters are the heart and soul of every story. Almost every great story is about people. Plot, setting, theme, and other elements of fiction are secondary to realistic characters that an audience can connect with on an intellectual or emotional level. There are exceptions, of course. Some readers enjoy plot-driven stories, but they never seem…Read More

Writing Resources: No Plot? No Problem!

This post contains affiliate links. There are a million ways to approach writing a novel. You can outline your plot. You can create a series of scenes and use note cards to organize them. You can use a tried and proven formula from any number of plotting resources. Or you can create a couple of…Read More

Character-Driven Fiction Writing Prompts

Most authors agree that fiction is primarily driven by characters. Authors will often talk about characters who take over the story, who have their own separate and independent consciousnesses. Outlines and plans for plot go out the window as characters insist on moving the story in a direction of their own design. Because characters are…Read More

How to Write Better Stories

This post contains affiliate links. You know that feeling you get when you read a novel and become completely lost in it? You can’t put it down, so you lose track of time. When you finally finish, you wish it would just keep going. Isn’t that the kind of story you want to write? Over…Read More

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

From 101 Creative Writing Exercises: Symbols and Symbolism

Today’s post comes from my book 101 Creative Writing Exercises (aff link). This is from “Chapter 5: Fiction.” Let’s take a look at symbolism in fiction. Symbols and Symbolism In Alice and Wonderland, a white rabbit appears, and Alice follows him down the rabbit hole that leads to Wonderland. The white rabbit is a herald —…Read More

Archetypal Characters in Storytelling

The hero, the mentor, the sidekick. We’re all familiar with archetypal characters in storytelling. We’ve seen them before. We know the roles they play. Archetypal characters shouldn’t be confused with stock characters or stereotypical characters. Although we’ve seen all these characters before and will surely see them again, stock and stereotypical characters are based on…Read More

Story Starters: Ten Fiction Writing Prompts

Fiction writing prompts are a fun and inspiring way to stimulate creativity when you’re in the mood to do a little writing but need some fresh story ideas. Prompts and other creative writing exercises can activate your imagination. Sometimes, prompts and exercises help you come up with new ideas for projects you’re already working on,…Read More