There are two vital skills demanded of technical writers. One is to first be able to comprehend what can often be difficult and specialized language. The second
Writing Tips
A Key to Voice by Ian Martínez Cassmeyer
One concept writing-program instructors love to discuss, in lieu of craft, which might better serve their students, is voice. It seems absurd to do so because voice is the one thing one cannot teach in writing,
5 Things You can do to Build A Believable Character
The main goal of a fiction writer is to create a character that the reader will become invested in, care about, and remember long after the story is finished. Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre,
Top 5 Simple Daily Habits To Improve Your Writing Skills
Writing books, blog posts, articles, or even good captions for your photos on social media can be a difficult task. You need to get some inspiration, understand exactly what you’re going to write, and be able to wrap your ideas into a proper style. Some people think that writing is all about talent, but the truth is that writing is a skill.
5 Tips For Choosing An Editor
You’ve committed two drafts to paper, followed every spellcheck suggestion, and triple-checked to make sure your main character’s (or MC’s) eyes don’t alternate color like a kaleidoscope between chapters. You’ve done all you can…
Writing Horror
We all love to be afraid from time to time. That is why we listen to ghost stories with rapt attention from a very young age. It thrills us, makes us look over our shoulders, but we always come
back for more.
Writing Characters: Know Them Well
The characters of your story moves your story forward. In order to create characters that are real, you must first get to know your own characters well. You need to know them so well that you get inside their heads.
Writer’s Block: Breaking the Chains
We’ve all been there. Staring at the blank page wondering what we’re doing, how we got here, and what on earth to do next. For some it may be a few hours, for others it may be years. I was one of the unfortunate ones who let the Block chain me down for four years….
What Exactly is Creative Nonfiction?
When I was an undergraduate at UNM (University of New Mexico), I took Intermediate Creative Nonfiction, a class that should have branched out into various forms of nonfiction, but instead stuck solely to memoir and the personal essay. This does not mean I am not in favor of the memoir; it is the genre that holds…
How to Edit My Work for Submissions
When I started piano lessons, my teacher insisted I do daily exercises to improve speed, dexterity, and precision. I dreaded tedious repetition of drills designed to fine-tune my playing or, as my teacher put it, “to do your best work.”
5 Writer’s Blogs You Should Be Reading
I tried to make this easy. I started with 10 blogs, and then I realized that, that’s a lot to follow. Here are the top 5 author sites you should be following. They are fun and entertaining, so this shouldn’t be difficult.
Help Me Name My Character
I see the questions on Twitter about once a week: Can you please help me name my characters? What is a good Swedish name for a character?
10 Days to Write Better: A Writing Challenge
10 Days to Write Better: A Writing Challenge Writers are always looking for the ways to hone creative skills and work on certain trouble areas. The writing challenge is a great way to exercise your writing,
13 Ways to Overcome a Reading Slump
Thirteen relatively easy, tried and true favorite ways to bridge that reading void. 1) Return to an old-favorite. There is a reason why we always feel like we are returning home again, use that nostalgia, excitement, and passion to get you back to being the reading machine you truly are! 2) Make an achievable goal….
10 Tips on How to Overcome Writer’s Block
Writer’s block is something that can be discouraging to anyone. No writer wants to be in a position where your mind go blank in the middle of your writing.