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Some writing advice is practical (cut your adverbs), some is theoretical (the structure of a story influences its message), and some is factual (the short-fiction market isn’t what it used to be). Personally, I’ve always found that the best writing advice deals with perception – the ability to understand how someone else will process your art. A hard fact of human nature can be revealed to you, …
[Read more...] about Authors Need To Know About Aphantasia: Here’s Why
We’ve talked before about using personality tests to add depth and complexity to characters. While such tests may not be definitive psychological measures, they’re sincere examinations of how people think and behave, which can make them valuable tools for writers. Well, today we’re going to be looking at another new addition to your tool belt – the StrengthsFinder. The StrengthsFinder can …
[Read more...] about Want Stronger Characters? Try The StrengthsFinder
Ever finish a story and walk around with it in your head for the rest of the month? Want that to be your reader’s experience of your story? A confusing ending, done well, might be the hook you need to keep readers thinking about, talking about, and wanting to read your book all over again. An ending gives a book its legacy. Life of Pi is a compelling story, but without the ambiguous ending, …
[Read more...] about Sometimes, A Confusing Ending Is Exactly What Your Story Needs
Donald E. Westlake is perhaps the definitive writer’s writer, having published more than one hundred books under various names, including Curt Clark, Tucker Coe, Samuel Holt, Edwin West, Judson Jack Carmichael and – most famously – Richard Stark. Why so many names? Partly because Westlake showed admirable brand management by choosing different names when writing in different genres, and partly …
[Read more...] about 7 Ways Donald E. Westlake (And Richard Stark) Can Help You Improve Your Writing
Sometimes, a project will call for an interview or two. Maybe you’re a true crime author interviewing witnesses, maybe you’re writing a biography (even a memoir) and need as many viewpoints as possible, or maybe you’re a fiction author whose research involves digging deep into phrasing and vocabulary. Maybe you’re a nonfiction author of pretty much any stripe who wants to include a unique quote in …
[Read more...] about Transcribing Speech: What Authors Like You Need To Know
You’ve probably heard of an old Greek man called Aristotle, famous for rather a lot of things. One such thing is his book Poetics, the first (or at least earliest surviving) work of literary theory. In this text, Aristotle decreed plot (or ‘mythos’) the most important aspect of drama and drew up his now-famous three-act structure, a way of telling stories that he applied solely to tragedies …
[Read more...] about Could Freytag’s Pyramid Help You Structure Your Story?
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