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How To Find The Story In Your Nonfiction Project

September 10, 2018 by Rebecca Langley 4 Comments

How To Find The Story In Your Nonfiction Project

Is there such a thing as actual nonfiction? In short, yes, but it almost always comes in the form of graphs, bone-dry reports, and scientific studies where the authors deliberately fight against a sense of narrative in favor of pure fact. Everything else – diaries, memoirs, historical writing – has a dash of narrative in it, whether it’s in the form of presentation, focus, or content. In its most …

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The Color-Coding Technique That Will Save Your Writing

August 27, 2018 by Rebecca Langley 2 Comments

The Color-Coding Technique That Will Save Your Writing

A while back, we talked about reasons people will put a book down and how to make sure it isn’t your book they’re ditching by page 13. One major thing that turns readers off is a book that’s too homogeneous – it’s all the same, page after page. Books that are homogeneous are easy to drop, but also, unfortunately, easy to write and publish. That being the case, let’s explore a colorful method for …

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Do You Really Need To Start At The Beginning?

August 15, 2018 by Robert Wood Leave a Comment

Do You Really Need To Start At The Beginning?

One of the biggest hurdles when improving a story is moving past its original form. While authors instinctively set to work improving character, dialogue, description, action, and voice, most consider the first plot structure they set down on the page to be the definitive version. As a consequence, important elements of a story are improved, but they all remain married to the most basic version of …

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Judy Blume MasterClass Review: Is It Worth Your Money?

August 8, 2018 by Robert Wood Leave a Comment

Judy Blume MasterClass Review: Is It Worth Your Money?

If you enjoy this review and are considering purchasing or trialling MasterClass then you can support us by doing so through one of the links on this page. If you click on one of these links we will receive a small payment (commission) from MasterClass, this does not affect the price you pay and has no impact on our editorial line, it does however support our team of writers and allow us to keep …

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3 (More) Writing Myths You Should Feel Free To Ignore

July 25, 2018 by Rebecca Langley 4 Comments

3 (More) Writing Myths You Should Feel Free To Ignore

Recently (in 3 Writing Myths You Should Feel Free To Ignore), we talked about why it might be okay to vary your dialogue tags or make strategic use of the passive voice, and what it actually means to write realistic dialogue. Today, I’d like to call into question a few more myths about what writers ‘must’ do and discuss when so-called rules are useful and when it’s better to go your own way. Myth …

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What Is A Crucible, And Why Should You Include One In Your Writing?

July 16, 2018 by Fred Johnson 8 Comments

What Is A Crucible, And Why Should You Include One In Your Writing?

First things first: no, I’m not talking about the Arthur Miller play The Crucible or the film starring Daniel Day-Lewis. There will be no witches or men getting crushed to death by stones here, I’m afraid. Instead, a literary crucible is a narrative mechanism coined by writer James Frey designed to help out writers whose central conflicts are becoming so intense (good for drama) that characters …

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