genre / 45 posts found
3 Tips on How to Spark Romance in a Character Who Is Content With Being Single
In the 1998 Nora Ephron romantic comedy classic You’ve Got Mail, Joe Fox (played by Tom Hanks in the heyday of a cinematic era I like to call “this is Tom Hanks’s world and we’re just living in it”) is in the throes of a big-box retailer vs. independent bookseller battle with Meg Ryan’s Kathleen Kelly when his words are taken wildly out of context on the local news. “I sell cheap books. I do. So sue me.” Despite Joe’s insistence that the rest of his comments were “eloquent” and if reported in full would have reflected positively on his […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Letting Others Shame Your Genre
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, neglecting research, or trying to write for everyone. This week’s writing mistake writers make is letting other people shame your genre. […]
Entertaining With the Past: How To Write Engaging Historical Fiction
You’ve had your light bulb moment and found a riveting story idea set in the past. Maybe it was inspired by an obituary in the newspaper; you have a family story you are burning to share; you’ve read a poem that ignited your emotions; or you believe there is a gap in an account of a famous period in history that has been neglected and you want to embellish an idea or theory you hold dearly. We can’t always know what is true. There are always alternatives to accounts, different perspectives to share … so let your imagination fly. (How […]
Caitlin Barasch: On Curating Our Own Personal Stories
Caitlin Barasch earned her BA from Colorado College and her MFA from New York University. Her work has appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Catapult, Day One, The Forge, and Hobart. A former bookseller, Caitlin currently teaches creative writing at the Writers Circle. She was born and raised in New York and now lives in Brooklyn. A Novel Obsession is her debut novel. Find her on Twitter and Instagram. Caitlin Barasch In this post, Caitlin discusses the collaborative effort of publishing her literary novel, A Novel Obsession, her advice for others writers, and more! Name: Caitlin BaraschLiterary agent: Callie […]
Nisha Sharma: On Authentic Writing
Nisha Sharma is the award-winning author of YA rom-com My So-Called Bollywood Life, and contemporary romance drama The Singh Family Trilogy. She grew up immersed in Bollywood movies, 80s pop-culture, and romance novels, so it comes as no surprise that her work features all three. Her writing has been praised by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Buzzfeed, Hypable, and more. She lives in New Jersey with her Alaskan-born husband, her cat Lizzie Bennett, and her dog Nancey Drew. You can find her online at nisha-sharma.com or on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram. Nisha Sharma Photo by Jon Macapodi In this […]
Paula Merlán: On Inspiration in Nature
Paula Merlán (Vigo, 1979) is a Spanish award-winning author. She graduated in Law and Education. Currently, she combines writing with teaching, her two passions. She has published more than twenty children’s books, many of them translated into several languages such as Galician, Basque, Catalan, English, Italian, French and Korean. Her most important books are The Bizzies (Cuento de luz, 2019) and A Surprise for Mrs. Tortoise (Nubeocho, 2017), winner at the 2018 International Latino Book Awards. Find her at her blog and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Paula Merlán In this post, Paula discusses how a walk along the water […]
Writing Inspirational Novels With Flawed Characters
So, what happens when readers run into flawed characters in inspirational fiction? Do they put the book down and call it blasphemy? I hope not, because I have made a career of telling inspirational stories with thieves, liars, even killers. Oh my. (20 Ways to Write Characters Better.) A Netgalley reviewer recently wrote these words when reviewing my novel, Something Good, “After reading the first 50 pages of Something Good I had to recheck the synopsis to see if I requested the right book. It surprised me that this is in fact a Christian fiction book.” Not only did the […]
10 Myths of Writing About Crime
So, you wanna be a crime writer? (Ron Franscell: On the Secret to His Writing Success) Between your gullibility, urban legends, and Hollywood, you’ve swallowed a lot of, um, bunk about crime, cops, and courts. You’ve consumed so much crapola that I’m surprised you aren’t already on Ducky’s slab. Fabrications, fables, and fairy tales about forensics and felonious foolishness (not to mention wrongful alliteration) abound. You’ve probably accepted them as gospel since the first season of “Starsky and Hutch.” So whether you intend to write the Great American Crime Novel or a true crime that actually rings true, you should […]
Tara Isabella Burton: On Learning Something From Every Draft
Tara Isabella Burton’s debut novel, Social Creature, was named a “best book of the year” by The New York Times, Vulture, and The Guardian, and her first book of nonfiction, Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, was as praised by Tim Shriver as “the most thoughtful analysis of our current spiritual crisis anywhere.” Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Granta, and more. She received a doctorate in theology from Trinity College, Oxford, where she was a Clarendon Scholar, in 2017. Find her on Twitter. Tara Isabella Burton Photo by […]
Libby Hubscher: On Revision Shifting Genre
Libby Hubscher is an author and scientist. She studied biology at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, and holds a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular toxicology from North Carolina State University. Her work has appeared online and in textbooks, scientific journals, and literary journals. Her short story “The Unwelcome Guest” was long-listed for the Wigleaf Top 50 in 2018. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, two young children, and a menagerie of pets. Find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Libby Hubscher In this post, Libby discusses writing between genres for her new contemporary romance novel, If You Ask […]