Be Inspired / 103 posts found
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Trying to Control Everything
Everyone makes mistakes—even writers—but that’s OK because each mistake is a great learning opportunity. The Writer’s Digest team has witnessed many mistakes over the years, so we started this series to help identify them early in the process. Note: The mistakes in this series aren’t focused on grammar rules, though we offer help in that area as well. (Grammar rules for writers.) Rather, we’re looking at bigger picture mistakes and mishaps, including the error of using too much exposition, hiding your pitch, or chasing trends. This week’s writing mistake writers make is tying to control everything. Writing Mistakes Writers Make: […]
Swan Huntley: On the Chaos in Decluttering
Swan Huntley is the author of Getting Clean with Stevie Green, The Goddesses, and We Could Be Beautiful. She earned her MFA at Columbia University and has received fellowships from MacDowell and Yaddo. Her writings have appeared on Salon, The Rumpus, GO Magazine, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, among others. She lives in Los Angeles. Swan Huntley Photo by Jen Rosenstein In this post, Swan discusses the process of writing and rewriting her new novel, Getting Clean With Stevie Green, how COVID meant more time to change things up, and more! Name: Swan HuntleyLiterary agent: Liz Parker of Verve Talent & […]
Plot Twist Story Prompts: Déjà Vu
Plot twist story prompts aren’t meant for the beginning or the end of stories. Rather, they’re for forcing big and small turns in the anticipated trajectory of a story. This is to make it more interesting for the readers and writers alike. Each week, I’ll provide a new prompt to help twist your story. Find last week’s prompt, The Message, here. Plot Twist Story Prompts: Déjà Vu For today’s prompt, have a character experience déjà vu. Of course, déjà vu describes the feeling a person gets of already having experienced the same situation. It could be a feeling that you’ve already had the […]
Paul Vidich: On Romance in Espionage
Paul Vidich is the acclaimed author of The Mercenary, The Coldest Warrior, An Honorable Man, and The Good Assassin, and his fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, LitHub, CrimeReads, Fugue, The Nation, Narrative Magazine, Wordriot, and others. He lives in New York City. Find him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Paul Vidich Photo by Bekka Palmer In this post, Paul discusses the inspiration behind his new literary spy novel, The Matchmaker: A Spy in Berlin, the drafting process and his beta readers, and more! Name: Paul VidichLiterary agent: Will Roberts, The Gernert CompanyBook title: The Matchmaker: A […]
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 598
Quick note: Moriah Richard began her second annual February Flash Fiction Challenge yesterday on February 1. Here’s the prompt for Day 1 (yesterday), AND here’s the prompt for Day 2 (today). I wrote and posted a short short yesterday, and I’m thinking of one for today. In a way, flash fiction is a sort of prose poetry. Happy Groundhog Day! For today’s prompt, write a deja vu poem. Many people have those moments of experiencing something in a way that it feels like it was previously lived exactly the same way. I know I experience it more the older I get. […]
Jessica Pryde: On Representation in Romance
Jessica Pryde is a Contributing Editor for Book Riot, where she is the co-host of the “When In Romance” podcast, and writes about bookish things of all kinds. Having earned an AB in the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis and her MLIS at San Jose State University, she is now a librarian for a public library system in Southern Arizona, where she lives with her husband and an ever-growing collection of Funko!Pops. Black Loves Matter is her first book. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Jessica Pryde © James Galloway-Reed In this post, […]
Sea Bound
Photo by Jasmin Chew on Unsplash It’s chilly outside, friends, and I’m missing the beach! The sea has always captivated me—so much so that I’d wanted to be a marine biologist when I was young. Now that I live by the sea, I can satisfy my craving for salty air and the screech of sea birds whenever I need to (even if it’s too cold to get into the water!). For today’s prompt, write about someone who is bound to the sea. Post your response (500 words or fewer) in the comments below.
Jacquelyn Mitchard: On Forgiveness in Fiction
Jacquelyn Mitchard was born in Chicago. Her first novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, was published in 1996, becoming the first selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club and a #1 New York Times bestseller. Nine other novels, four children’s books and six young adult novels followed, including Two if By Sea, No Time to Wave Goodbye, Still Summer, All We Know of Heaven, and The Breakdown Lane. Mitchard’s writing has won or been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, UK’s Talkabout Prize, and the Bram Stoker Award. A former daily newspaper reporter, […]
Jillian Cantor: On Reimagining a Classic
Jillian Cantor has a BA in English from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. She is the author of award-winning and bestselling novels for teens and adults, including The Hours Count, Margot, The Lost Letter, In Another Time, and Half Life. Born and raised in a suburb of Philadelphia, Cantor currently lives in Arizona with her husband and two sons. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Jillian Cantor Photo by Galen Evans In this post, Jillian discusses why she chose to reimagine The Great Gatsby from the women’s perspective in her new historical fiction […]
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 596
For today’s prompt, write a punishment poem. The poem could be about punishing an adult for murder or a child for fibbing about eating extra cookies. Your punishment poem might cover an adequate level of punishment or, perhaps, undeserved punishment. From the perspective of the punisher, the punished, or an objective bystander. Hope this prompt doesn’t feel like punishment. Remember: These prompts are springboards to creativity. Use them to expand your possibilities, not limit them. Note on commenting: If you wish to comment on the site, go to Disqus to create a free new account, verify your account on this […]