Publications / 323 posts found
2022 February Flash Fiction Challenge: Day 26
For today’s prompt, structure your story as a list. Remember: As mentioned yesterday, these prompts are just starting points; you have the freedom to go wherever your flash of inspiration takes you. (Note: If you happen to run into any issues posting, please just send me an e-mail at mrichard@aimmedia.com with the subject line: Flash Fiction Challenge Commenting Issue.) Here’s my attempt at writing a list: Things You Do While Waiting for Your Life to Change 1. Online Shop It starts small. Yoga mats and free weights that you’ll use a handful of times and never again. Maybe a pasta maker […]
How You Can Check The Reputation Of A Book Publisher
One of the most frequent questions new authors ask is about the reputation of a book publisher. With so many publishing options today, and a lot of unsolicited offers, it can be challenging to know who you can trust. A new author can ask questions on social media or blog comments, which can certainly help. But it’s always better to check with more reliable resources before you decide to use a publisher. Checking book publisher reputation Many authors choose to self-publish today. It’s by far the easiest route to take, and you are in complete control of the publishing process. […]
2022 February Flash Fiction Challenge: Day 25
For today’s prompt, let’s write something that ends with a promise. It could be that a promise is made from one character to another or that your character promises themselves something or is promised something or even that a promise is broken. Remember: As mentioned yesterday, these prompts are just starting points; you have the freedom to go wherever your flash of inspiration takes you. (Note: If you happen to run into any issues posting, please just send me an e-mail at mrichard@aimmedia.com with the subject line: Flash Fiction Challenge Commenting Issue.) Here’s my attempt at ending on a promise: […]
Bring Your Secret Skillsets to the Page
Every person’s life is unique, so why not borrow some of your own eccentricities for your fiction? If “eccentric” is a word you feel you couldn’t ever claim, let me give you another option: Borrow your secret skillsets. Everyone has them. How could yours embolden your storytelling? Whether your goals are to flesh out your protagonist, to intrigue your reader with little known facts sprinkled organically amidst your storyline, or to capture unique character behaviors and non-cliché plot points, leaning into your secret skillsets is one way to ensure you’re writing a story your readers haven’t read hundreds of times […]
Hainka (Haiku and Tanka): A New Genre of Poetic Form
I feel poetry is a way of planting or rejuvenating new trees from the aesthetic old seeds, thus the poetic endeavor of experimentation and newness. I had coined the idea, precisely on the day 21st March 2016, of the fusion version of ‘haiku and tanka.’ Later the linking and repetition of the ‘fragment’ of the haiku as the ‘pivot line’ (kakekatoba) of the following tanka and its literary relevance have been conceived in the evolvement of this new genre, hainka. The new form of poetry was well appreciated by Hedonori Hiruta, Jim Kacian, Garry Eaton, Ion storr, Mohammad Helmi Al-Rishah, […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Not Asking Questions in the Drafting Process
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 researching too much. This week’s writing mistake writers make is not asking questions in the drafting process. Writing […]
The Rewards of Writing Epic Fantasy Fiction (After Writing in Another Genre)
My first historical novel, The Magician’s Lie, was published in 2015. When interviewers asked how I started writing historical fiction, I told the truth: It was an accident. I hadn’t meant to become a historical novelist, not exactly. (How to Write Time Travel Historical Fiction.) I’d been writing contemporary fiction until I got a book idea I couldn’t shake: Why is it considered unremarkable for male stage magicians to cut women in half, and what would happen if a female stage magician cut a man in half instead? As I developed the idea, it became clear it should be set […]
Rio Youers: On California Calling
Rio Youers is the critically acclaimed author of Lola on Fire, Westlake Soul, and Halcyon. His 2017 thriller, The Forgotten Girl, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. He is the writer of Sleeping Beauties, a comic book series based on the bestselling novel by Stephen King and Owen King. Rio lives in Ontario, Canada, with his wife and their two children. Find him on Twitter and Instagram. Rio Youers In this post, Rio discusses discusses exploring new settings for his new thriller, No Second Chances, the support he feels from his publishing team, and more! […]
Plot Twist Story Prompts: Transgression Moment
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, Who Am I?, here. Plot Twist Story Prompts: Transgression Moment For today’s prompt, show a character’s first moment of transgression. A transgression, of course, is an act that goes against a rule, a law, or even a moral code. Perhaps your character […]
4 Key Places for Writers to Find Those First Freelance Clients
Typing this question in a search engine will send you down a rabbit hole so deep and voluminous as to make you reconsider why you considered freelancing in the first place. First, the ads that pop up range from apps to job sites to current freelancers who want to teach you how to be a freelancer. Everyone has a trick, and no two offers of advice are the same. (20 Literary Agents Actively Seeking Writers and Their Writing.) Believe it or not, that’s a good thing! The wide diversity of advice tells you that there is no right way. You, […]