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Read These Seven Books, and You'll be a Better Writer. Donald Miller I used to play golf but I wasn’t very good. I rented a DVD, though, that taught me a better way to swing, and after watching it a few times and spending an hour or so practicing, I knocked ten strokes off my game. I can’t believe how much time I wasted when a simple DVD saved me years of frustration. I’d say something similar is true in my writing career. If you read these books, your writing will improve to the point people who read your work will begin to comment on how well you write. Sometimes the difference between an okay writer and a great writer is simple. . • The War of Art by Steven Pressfield: This book is aimed at writers, but it’s also applicable to anybody who does creative work. Pressfield leaves out all the mushy romantic talk about the writing life, talk I don’t find helpful.

. • On Writing Well by William Zinsser: Zinsser may be the best practical writing coach out there. . • Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott: Save the Cat by Blake Snyder: On Writing, by Stephen King: The 10 Types of Writers' Block (and How to Overcome Them) Sheet-for-Emotions. The Five Rules of Writing Flashbacks. Tips for effectively writing flashbacks into your scenes. Please welcome author Stuart Horwitz with a guest post on writing flashbacks.

“Flashback” is a term that we are all familiar with, even if its definition has grown a little vague. We sense that a flashback is something that happened before… but happened before what? Where we are now? In other words, what are we flashing back from? This is where I think it is useful to introduce a companion term to flashback, the reading present. The reading present is the main narrative throughline, the most commonly visited time period, the one whose beginning and end most closely mirrors the beginning and end of the book as a whole. There are good reasons to leave the reading present: by flashing back we can deepen characterization, create suspense, or introduce other characters and events that will eventually matter a great deal to our outcome. To assist with this quandary, I offer the following five rules of writing flashbacks: How to Write a Story: Creative Story Ideas, Tips to Help You Write Your Own Book. Get creative story ideas, write your own book! Want to write a good book?

Check out these tips on how to write a story that captures readers' attention from beginning to end: How to Write a Story #1: Know Your Market, Get Story Ideas and Outline Your Plot The first step is to know who you are writing for, and what your readers want; this may lead you to novel ideas for stories. Work on your plot and prepare your story outline before you begin writing. How to Write a Story #2: Plan Your Settings Familiarize yourself with your story setting.

As you write, add in details as they appear in the story. If you're writing for young children, keep the setting simple; limit the number of locations, for example home, school, playground, friends' homes. Older children, teens and adults, however, require more diversified settings to add interest to the story.

How to Write a Story #3: Flesh Out Your Characters Give your characters names; as soon as they're named, these people will come alive for you. How to Write Fiction Based on Fact. How to write fiction based on fact. Please welcome guest writer Sam Russell with a post about writing fiction based on fact. Let’s dispel a myth: you don’t have to write what you know. Yet at the same time, you need to know what you write. Fiction is neither real nor unreal but a world existing between places of factual certainty and the avenues of an author’s imagination.

The first thing you need to know about writing fiction, whatever the genre, is that you must get your facts right. But how do you do it? You need two tools at your command before you begin: experience (personal, professional, or both) and the ability to research. Armed with these, you can then pick any number of methods from the following list to make your fiction come alive in a reader’s hands. Become aware of the world around you. Every writer has a different way of using personal experiences and research to their advantage. With so much out there and in yourself, you need not fear being dull. Tips and such. How to write an excellent first chapter for your novel - Writing Tips. From philosophy to literature to learning a new language, Humanities 360 is a veritable fountain of knowledge on everything you’d like to know about the humanities. Resources for every level of writing Here at Helium Publishing, we pride ourselves on knowing a thing or two about writing. We are, after all, one of the largest online writer communities.

So where better to look for all of your writing needs? The grand world of poetry and literature There’s nothing quite like opening up a great piece of literature. Journeying across time and history If the old adage is true that history is bound to repeat itself, then find out what’s coming by boning up on what’s already happened. Learning new languages The intricacies of learning a new language can leave you tongue-tied, but in our Languages section, you can find out language learning tips, and discover the origins of new words you encounter. Fantasy: Getting Started. By Sandra C. Durham © 2003, Sandra C. Durham his is a newcomer’s guide on how to get started in the genre of fantasy writing, from one newcomer to another.

Writing fantasy, whether in the form of short stories or novels, does not necessarily follow a set pattern or formula. Contemporary and Urban Fantasy – Stories taking place in the real world, but with an element of magic or fantasy. The best approach to writing in any genre is to know your field. Once you have your book collection, read them carefully. A next logical step in progressing as a new fantasy writer might be to pick up a few good books on the subject. How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card The Writer’s Complete Fantasy Reference, from Writers Digest Books. The first book gives an overview of the field from a writing perspective. A critical step in writing fantasy is a concept called world building. Each step in the world building process is crucial to providing a cohesive background to your story. 5 situations where it's better to tell than show in your fiction. Good stuff; thanks for the article, and I agree with most of it. I think I disagree, though, at least partly, with your point near the end about the emotional/psychological stuff; I think that a lot of the time that's exactly what "show, don't tell" is meant to be all about.

For example, if your character is tired, you can say "She was tired. " Or you can indicate indirectly, through her actions and her dialogue and other people's reactions to her, that she's tired. The latter is often a lot more effective in conveying the idea that she's tired. Of course, sometimes writers don't show well, and readers are left puzzled. Anyway. @elysdir: Yeah, I think the emotional, psychological stuff is definitely a place where telling can very easily get more heavy-handed.

Fantasy world. Many fantasy worlds draw heavily on real world history, geography and sociology, and also on mythology and folklore. Plot function[edit] The setting of a fantasy work is often of great importance to the plot and characters of the story. The setting itself can be imperiled by the evil of the story, suffer a calamity, and be restored by the transformation the story brings about.[3] Stories that use the setting as merely a backdrop for the story have been criticized for their failure to use it fully.[4] Even when the land itself is not in danger, it is often used symbolically, for thematic purposes, and to underscore moods.[5] History[edit] Early fantasy worlds appeared as fantasy lands, part of the same planet but separated by geographical barriers.

Even within the span of mere decades, Oz, which had been situated in a desert in the United States when first written about in 1900,[6] was relocated to a spot in the Pacific Ocean.[8] Common elements[edit] Constructed worlds[edit] Examples[edit] How to Avoid Plot Cliches: Tips for Writers on Increasing Their Chances of Publication | Suite101.com. Nobody ever said plotting was easy. And because it's not easy, an alarming number of writers settle for so-called 'plot cliches'. Although the cliched situations that follow can appear in any story, some are more likely to be seen in a particular genre.

For example, romance writer Francesca Hawley's blog has an amusing post on Heroines Too Stupid to Live. Number 3 on her list of plot cliches is "I shall allow a minor misunderstanding to become a major issue, when a simple conversation would have cleared matters up on page 10. " For those who enjoy fantasy (or any writer who just likes a good laugh) Peter Anspach's "The Top 100 Things I'd Do if I Ever Became an Evil Overlord" shows the dumb mistakes that allow the villain to be killed or captured. What is a Plot Cliche? A cliche is an idea that has been overused to the point of losing its original effect or novelty, especially when at some stage it was considered to be 'different'.

Four Examples of Plot Cliches. Writing Tips - Publishers list of phrases for writers to avoid | authonomy writing community. We have all met people who have the extraordinary ability to talk in clichés: Y’know, not to beat around the bush or hedge your bet, this section is a must-read because it calls a spade a spade and in a nutshell leaves no stone unturned to pull the rug from under those off-the-cuff, old-hat bête noires called clichés. These are the people who’ve given the cliché its bad name. We all tend to use them, of course. Sometimes that familiar phrase is the neatest way of expressing yourself and most of us can, in a flash (cliché), unconsciously call up a few hundred of them to help us out in writing and conversation. But how aware are we of the irritation (or worse, sniggering) that the overuse of clichés can cause? Most clichés begin life as someone’s incredibly neat, timely or witty way of expressing or emphasising a thought. Many clichés are centuries old.

The grammarian Eric Partridge identified four kinds of cliché. However we haven’t yet rounded up all the usual suspects (cliché). How to Cut the Waffle From Your Writing – and Grab Readers’ Attention. (Image from Flickr by Unhindered by Talent) Have you ever read a book that was way too wordy? (For me, Stephen Covey’s otherwise excellent 7 Habits of Highly Effective People comes to mind…) The content itself might have been good – but the substance ended up buried beneath a froth of unnecessary words. Perhaps you found it hard to stay focused, or you simply stopped reading. When you write – especially if you’re writing online – it’s important to avoid waffle. So, how do you go about cutting the waffle from your writing? Step #1: Get Clear About the Topic Whatever you’ve written – whether it’s a novel, an ebook or a blog post – you need to figure out what belongs and what doesn’t. Have you included a chapter in your ebook that should really be a separate blog post?

This isn’t about how good your writing is. Do It: Write down a one-sentence summary of your post/book/etc.Skim through and ask yourself does this fit? Step #2: Cut Out Any Paragraphs That Don’t Belong At the start of your piece. 500 Cliches to Avoid in Your Creative Writing. Cliches (properly spelled clichés, with the acute accent) are words and phrases, once interesting, which have lost their original effect from overuse. They are considered trite and should be avoided in writing unless used purposely for effect. We all use them without thinking, sometimes because they fit the bill or are just the ticket (both cliches), but usually because they're metaphors, idiom, or truisms that have become so common we no longer notice them. If we say better late than never or speak of someone being down in the dumps , we likely won't register that we just used a cliche. Speech is filled with shortcuts as we aim to make ourselves understood.

Check the cliches below to see if you're prone to using them. Writing that relies heavily on cliches is considered poor or lazy writing. Editors may reject creative writing on the basis of too many cliches alone. If some cliches slip by you and your editor, it's not the end of the world. Cliche list A-K: Why Writer’s Block is Your Secret Weapon. Writer's Block: The Cause and the Cure. Scene Transitions « Becky Levine. Posted by beckylevine under Scenes | Tags: Revising, Scenes, Transitions | [4] Comments Remember, in the days when you were writing essays for English class, and a teacher would write the word “transition” in the margin of your paper?

They wanted you to smooth out the jump from one paragraph to another, to use a phrase that would make the flow of text more clean. So you’d stick in something like “After Joe got home from the zoo…” or “Once Sally dug the pickle out of the pudding…” Then you’d hand the essay back in and hope for a better grade. When we’re writing fiction, moving our readers from scene to scene, we need transitions, too. What we don’t want, though, is for our stories to sound like high-school essays, with the only goal being a higher grade.

If we use an obvious, mechanical solution like the ones I showed above, the writing is not going to make an agent or editor happy. So what do we do? We have to be elephants. So you remember the connections. Here are a few suggestions: Writing Scene Transitions. Story Structure Series. Words of Wisdom: 101 Tips from the World’s Most Famous Authors. If you've ever wanted to sit down with your favorite writer and ask advice, then you should take a look at these tips from some of the most famous authors in the world. These valuable bits of information provide guidance on strengthening your writing skills, becoming a better fiction writer or poet, learning to tap into your creativity, advice on education and school, and even a few suggestions on success and living a meaningful life.

Of course, another excellent way of improving your writing is through traditional or online master’s degrees in creative writing. General Writing Tips Improve any type of writing you do with these solid tips from successful writers themselves. Ernest Hemingway. Use short sentences and short first paragraphs. Tips for Beginning Writers If you are thinking about a career in writing, whether you have a bachelor degree or a master’s degree, or are just starting to write seriously, then use these tips for great suggestions.

Stephen King. Fiction Tips Kurt Vonnegut. Writer's Block Help - Inspired Creative Writing Ideas and Techniques. Why Fiction is So Hard to Write. I’ve been blogging for a little over three years. I’ve been writing fiction since … well, pretty much since I could write. My blog posts are read by thousands of people. Only 1% of the fiction I’ve ever written has been published. Fiction is incredibly hard to do well. Lots of people can write decent non-fiction. I’m going to say this, despite being an advocate of great writing: Non-fiction doesn’t have to be especially well-written. Of course, it needs to be competent. Fiction is very, very different. Why do you read novels? I believe we read fiction to escape the world for a little while – to escape the limits of our own experience, our own perspective, our own consciousness.

That’s why fiction writers have it so tough. When I’m writing a blog post, I don’t have too much to worry about. When I’m writing a single scene in a novel, I have a heck of a lot to do. And all those scenes need to tie together. With fiction, it’s impossible to get it right on the first pass through. Really hard. But… Eight Secrets Which Writers Won’t Tell You.

25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer. Stocking Stuffers: 13 Writing Tips From Chuck Palahniuk. Themes & Things To Keep In Mind When Writing Fantasy Stories and Adventures » Daily Encounter. 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes. Absolute Write Water Cooler - Powered by vBulletin. How to Write Thousands of Words Every Single Week. 50 Strategies For Making Yourself Work.

Writing Tips for Fiction Writers. How to write an excellent first chapter for your novel - Writing Tips. Writer’s Digest - Writing Prompts. Exercises for Fiction Writers - Page 2. 9 Editing Tips that Make Your Writing Sparkle.

30 Skills for Writers. 23 Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger. Themes & Things To Keep In Mind When Writing Fantasy Stories and Adventures » Daily Encounter. How to Recover Your Writing Confidence (Even if You Think You Never Had Any) A Simple Novel Outline – 9 questions for 25 chapters « H.E. Roulo. General Writing. 10 Reading Exercises for Fiction Writers. Your Top Reading Recommendations from 2010. 75 Books Every Writer Should Read.

201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity. 10 More Websites That Help Cure Writer’s Block With Writing Prompts. A quick overview of the Hero’s Journey » Jordan McCollum. 25 Things Every Writer Should Know. About. Creative Writing: Topics, Tips & Guidelines.

Fantasy World Generator. English 102: American Literature Course - Free Online Video Lessons | Education Portal. English 102: American Literature Course - Free Online Video Lessons | Education Portal. American Indian Literature Resources. 9 Places You Never Want To Go On A Vacation. FEELING CHART. Cure writer's block with writing prompts. I Write Like. Resources. 25 Things Every Writer Should Know. The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. 6 Abandoned Places That Will Make Awesome Supervillain Lairs. 60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers.

How to Build A Home Library On A Budget. TLC "How to Create a Home Library" 50 Super ideas for your home library. Home Library Design Ideas - Pictures of Home Library Decor. The New Canon: 15 Modern Classics You Should Read Right Now | Qwiklit. Free books: 100 legal sites to download literature | Just English. Art cyclopedia: The Fine Art Search Engine. 13 Vital Reminders For Writers. 105 Writing Tips from Professional Writers. Cure writer's block with writing prompts. 25 Things You Should Know About Character. Visual Writing Prompts. Writing prompts. Guide for Writers: Index Page. British Life and Culture in the UK.

BBC ON THIS DAY. Smithsonian education. Ten rules for writing fiction. 15 unusual words that make writers swoon. 50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind.

Novel in 30 Days Worksheet Index. Life in Fantasyland. Fantasy World Generator. World Building. How to Write Movie Scripts. Glossary. Beat Calculator. How to Write Movie Scripts. Intro to Playwriting. 12 Exercises for Improving Dialog. Writing Dialogue -- Tips on Writing Dialogue.