Writing Techniques / 28 posts found
10 Tips for Retelling Shakespeare in a Fresh Way!
(Editor’s Note: We love Shakespeare at WD, but we also love reinterpretations of Shakespeare. Recently, romance novelist Alana Quintana Albertson, author of Ramón and Julieta, took some time to share her 10 tips for retelling Shakespeare in a fresh way.) 1. Read the original! Time to go back to high school English class. Actually, reread the play and learn about all the characters and backstory. This will allow you to dig deep and find the elements that resonate with you and also the parts that you want to leave behind. Take notes as you go and enjoy it. 2. Watch […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Tailoring to Trends
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 is tailoring to trends. Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Tailoring to Trends I […]
Choosing a Setting for Your Fight Scene: FightWrite™
In my last post I said that this month we would look at how to start a fight. But then the WD Blog made a special request for another subject, and I could hardly turn them down. (They gave me donuts.) So, in this installment of FightWrite on the WDB, we will be looking at where a fight takes place. Which, you wouldn’t imagine that where a fight happens would be so important, but it absolutely is. In fact, where a fight takes place is more important than who is fighting. Think about it like this: would you rather fight […]
Mastering Vivid Descriptions: Draw Upon the Backdrops of Your Life to Reimagine Your Descriptions
Without a sense of place, your dialogue exists on a black movie screen. Without a backdrop, your characters and their actions are floating in space. Without specific details, that setting of yours can pass beyond the familiar and into the territory of cliché. (The Four Doorways Into Story and How to Use Them to Create a Bestselling Novel) But you can be better than that. You already have all the tools you need to be a maestro of settings. Give yourself credit, writer. You’ve lived a life. You’ve seen some things—and more important to this conversation, you’ve seen some places. […]
The Four Doorways Into Story and How to Use Them to Create a Bestselling Novel
What is your favorite part of a fictional book? What part of a good book do you remember long after you’ve finished reading it? What is the most important part of a book to you? The way we answer these questions as readers often has a major influence on how we write, whether we realize it or not. (How to Love Writing a Book) Librarian Nancy Pearl has a theory she calls the Four Doorways, which states that, for readers, there are four main doorways into fiction. These doorways are story, character, setting, and language, and which one you enjoy […]
How Writers Can Apply Business Tools to Their Writing
When artistry unites with a little business know-how, you can grow your writing career, reach new audiences, and increase the impact your words get to have on the world. (What Is an ARC in Publishing and Writing?) In my first term of graduate business school, I stood in front of my class to give a presentation introducing myself to them. I started by talking about my day job career as an analyst and what had led me to pursue my MBA. Then I looked down, paused, looked back up, and started over, this time introducing myself as a fantasy and […]
Going From Me to We: Collaborating on the Writing of a Novel
Most writers are lone wolves. Our words are our babies, and we don’t like them messed with. Over the years, some of my novels have made the rounds in Hollywood, with a few of them going into pre-production. The worst thing about those experiences was getting feedback from individuals who apparently read my book with cursory interest, and whose comments about possible changes in the book’s adaptation seemed to come out of left field. Hollywood is a collaborative process. When the right people come together, it can lend itself to wonderful magic, but in my own experience it felt as […]
Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Dismissing Other Genres
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 dismissing other genres. Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Dismissing […]