Notes on the Craft
In:
Dialogue, Literary Devices
Concrete, practical methods for improving your writing.
36 Writing Essays by Chuck Palahniuk
36 exclusive craft essays on writing you won't find anywhere else online. The knowledge here is equivalent to what you'd get in an MFA program.
Storyville: 3 Essential Books You Should Read in Every Major Genre
In:
Research
Here are three essential books you should read in every major genre.
...and ACTION!: The Who, What, When, and Why of Verb Conjugation
In:
Grammar
Verbs are action words. That seems simple enough, so why are there so many different variables when it comes to conjugating them?
6 Ways You're Botching Your Dialogue
By Rob D. Young
In:
Dialogue
Want to improve your dialogue skills? This article looks at the mistakes writers commonly make.
Storyville: Tips on Putting Together a Short Story Collection
In:
Research
Are you ready to put together a short story collection? Here are some tips to help you make it shine.
Storyville: 8 Tips For Growing Your Brand
In:
Research
Here are some quick tips for growing your brand and enhancing your image.
Rejection: A Critical Device
Got a story that keeps getting turned down for publication? Here's how you can use industry rejection as a critical tool to improve your work.
Do or Dialect: 6 Tips for Building a Believable Voice
By Rob D. Young
Six tips on creating a sense of a character's voice and dialect without resorting to painful phonetic representations.
Storyville: Ten Ways to Evaluate Fiction Markets
In:
Research
Here are ten ways to evaluate fiction markets, so you can place your stories with confidence.
Put a Cap on It: Learning the Rules of Capitalization
In:
Grammar
Do You feel Compelled to Capitalize every other Word? If so, you are an OverCapitalizer. There is help—read on...
The Best Writers Break the Rules
By Erik Wecks
In:
Structure
Young writers shouldn't be afraid to challenge the conventions of storytelling if they have a plot-driven reason for doing so.
Storyville: Why Write Short Stories At All?
In:
Research
Why should you even bother with stories, novels are where it's at, right? No--walk before you can run.
Life-Changers and Soul-Crushers: 3 Books I Feel Blessed to Have Read & 3 I Wish I Could Obliterate from My Memory
In:
Plot
Let the debates begin! Three books that made me want to be a better writer and better person, and three books that made me want to gouge my eyes out.
Storyville: 20 Things I've Learned About Writing
Over the past five years I've learned a lot of things about writing — here are 20 of them.
Storyville: Ten Ways to Avoid Cliches and Stereotypes
Ten tips to avoid clichés and stereotypes in your fiction.
Talk It Out: How To Punctuate Dialogue In Your Prose
In:
Dialogue
Quotations marks, italics, em dashes, or none of the above: these are a few different ways to punctuate dialogue in your prose.
Top 10 Storytelling Cliches Writers Need To Stop Using
By Rob W. Hart
In:
Cliche, Literary Devices
There are certain storytelling clichés writers go back to again and again. And they shouldn't. Because they are terrible, and they need to be destroyed.
On Writer's Constipation, The Sophomore Slump and Zombies
By Dana Fredsti
Author Dana Fredsti talks about the trials and tribulations of writing the sequel to her hit book, 'Plague Town,' and all the anxiety and lessons that came with it.
Cut!: 4 Strategies for Trimming Your Content
By Rob D. Young
In:
Rewriting
Struggling to make effective cuts? This article walks you through four strategies for trimming, tightening, and focusing your work.
Storyville: Dissecting "Fireflies"
Dissecting my story, "Fireflies," I shine a light on my first attempt at magical realism — craft, process, and structure.
UPDATED WITH WINNER - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: March Edition
In:
Plot
Two sentences. 25 words. Flash!
Nothing New Under The Sun: The Origins of 5 Common Literary Allusions
In:
Phrases
Do you ever feel like you are reading the same things over and over again? Well, you are. Here are five familiar literary allusions explained.
10 More Words You Literally Didn't Know You Were Getting Wrong
In:
Grammar
We hit it out of the park last October by giving you ten words you were probably using wrong. Well, here are ten more.
Storyville: Writing the Grotesque
In:
Voice
Damaged, deformed, and dysfunctional characters—we still have compassion for them. This is the grotesque.
