Publications / 323 posts found
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 […]
Abecedarium (or Abecedarius): Poetic Forms
The rules for the abecedarium (or abecedarius) are pretty simple. It’s an acrostic form that uses a different letter of the alphabet, in order, for the beginning of each line. Also, may also fall under the umbrella of alphabet poetry. ***** Play with poetic forms! Poetic forms are fun poetic games, and this digital guide collects more than 100 poetic forms, including more established poetic forms (like sestinas and sonnets) and newer invented forms (like golden shovels and fibs). Click to continue. ***** Here’s my attempt at an Abecedarium poem: “Basic,” by Robert Lee Brewer An acrostic poembegins with letterscreating […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Starting at the Beginning
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 starting at the beginning. Writing Mistakes Writers Make: […]
Self-Publishing in 2022: A Beginner’s Guide to Self-Publishing Success
Self-publishing is taking the book world by storm… so what is self-publishing exactly? If you’re a writer researching how to publish a book, you’re taking the right step by weighing all of your publishing options. Self-publishing has become a household term for writers and authors all around the world, thanks to technology. Being a writer in today’s digital age means you have more options than ever on how to become a published author—self-publishing being among the best for those that want full creative control over their book. What’s the big deal, you ask? Well, until recently, writers didn’t have much […]
Foreign Phrases In Your Novel – Never Use Google Translate
It’s often a temptation to use foreign phrases in a novel to add authenticity. If you set your story in Paris, for example, adding some dialogue in French might seem like a good idea. However, there are some traps that you can fall into that could have a negative effect on your readers. When you are considering using foreign expressions or phrases, you need to take a little extra care. Will readers understand foreign phrases? You might think it’s a great idea to use a sentence in another language. But are you sure that your readers will understand what it […]
Plot Twist Story Prompts: Shock to the System
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, Unexpected Mission, here. Plot Twist Story Prompts: Shock to the System For today’s prompt, send a dramatic shockwave through your story. What that shockwave is can be dramatically different depending upon the circumstances of the world your characters live in. For instance, […]
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 […]
Self-Publishing School Review: A Report at Chandler Bolt’s Self-Publishing School
If you’re looking for a Self-Publishing School review, it’s probably because you’re an aspiring author looking for a self-publishing course on how to write and publish a book. As you research how to write a book, you’ll come across several self-publishing companies. And more than likely, one of them will be Self-Publishing School. A quick Google search that includes the term “self-publishing” will likely land you on one of the company’s resources, whether it be a blog article, a YouTube video, or an advertisement. Or even other reviews of Self-Publishing School! So, let’s take an honest look at this self-publishing […]
Ladee Hubbard: On Interconnecting Individual Stories
Ladee Hubbard is the author of The Rib King and The Talented Ribkins, which received the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Times Literary Supplement, Copper Nickel and Callaloo. Hubbard is a recipient of a Radcliffe Institute Fellowship, a Berlin Prize Fellowship, and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award. She has also received fellowships from MacDowell, Art Omi, the Sacatar Foundation, the Sustainable Arts Foundation, Hedgebrook, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Born in Massachusetts and raised in the U.S. Virgin […]