Hide Your Mistletoe: The Bizarre Tradition of Holiday Romance
In:
Cliche
Since it’s the season of generosity, I figured I would give the internet a present: Puritan sex.
8 Ways to Make Your Characters More Relatable
In:
Character
Relatability in your characters will help your work strike a chord with readers. This article explores ways that you can make your heroes, villains, and other characters more relatable.
Finding the Big in the Very Small with Tanka Poetry
In:
Poetry
Tanka poets have a unique way of perfectly freezing a moment in time, of turning a short impression into a story of five lines.
Storyville: Advance Your Writing Career—NOW!
In:
Research
Advance your writing career right now! Hop to it—some tips and tricks.
Edit My Paragraph! Episode Seven
By Gayle Towell
In:
Rewriting
This column explores the art of revision by giving detailed edits of reader-submitted paragraphs.
Ursula K. Le Guin, Master of Realism
In:
Character
Ursula K. Le Guin is best known for her sci-fi and fantasy, but part of what makes her work so remarkable is the deeply realistic way it handles the nuanced intersections of character and culture.
The Gift of Gab: Mastering the Maximal
In:
Word Play
Hemingway, famously, kept it short and sweet. But if you've got the gift of gab, like Nabokov and Marquez, you can stretch out with sentences that gallop, guffaw, and bulge with overstuffed wit.
Edit My Paragraph! Episode Six
By Gayle Towell
In:
Rewriting
This column explores the art of editing by giving detailed edits to reader-submitted excerpts.
Storyville: Avoiding Tropes in Horror
What are horror tropes, and how can you avoid them?
NaNoWriMo vs. The Three-Day Novel Contest: Pros and Cons
In:
Abstracts
Are you a tortoise or a hare? NaNoWriMo isn't the only writing marathon, and participating in different challenges can help you discover more about your own habits.
8 Ways to Outline a Novel
In:
Plot
I go into several methods for outlining longer pieces, including free-write summary, skeletal summaries, "snowflake" summaries, visual outlines, and more.
Edit My Paragraph! Episode Five
By Gayle Towell
In:
Rewriting
This column explores the art of editing by providing detailed edits of reader-submitted paragraphs.
How to React When Someone Says They Don’t Read
In:
Vocabulary
A 2013 poll showed that 28 percent of adults asked had not read a book in the past year. What are some of the reasons behind a continuing aversion to reading, and what can readers do to help?
Five Real Book Thieves
In:
Abstracts
Who doesn’t love a good heist story? Markus Zusak may have popularized the idea in his YA novel, 'The Book Thief,' but literary theft isn’t exclusive to the realm of fiction.
So You Want to Write a Book, Part 1: Ready, Set, GO!
By Leah Rhyne
In:
Objects
In the second installment of So You Want To Write a Book, we talk about the actual mechanics of getting started. Where will you write? How will you format? What else should you do?
Screenwriting: The Emotional Spine
In:
Structure
Got your three acts, your hero's journey and your turning points sorted? Good. But, what's holding them all together? Take your screenplay to the next level by addressing the emotional spine.
It's Made of SCIENCE: Cloning
In:
Literary Devices, Research
Everything you need to know about cloning, genetic modification, and SCIENCE!
Edit My Paragraph! Episode Four
By Gayle Towell
In:
Rewriting
This column explores the art of editing by carefully analyzing paragraphs submitted by readers.
An Abundance of Robin Hoods: How Social Bandits Defy Time and Culture
In:
Character
Whenever a source of authority grows too powerful and begins to usurp the common people, Robin Hood-like characters start to appear in film and literature.
On Weed: Should Writers Write While High?
By Peter Derk
In:
Research
Does weed help the writing process? Let's find out.
Six Tips for Troubleshooting the Novel
In:
Rewriting
Every novel is a special snowflake, sure, but many go wrong in the same ways. An editor breaks down known issues at the level of plot, structure, and characterization she sees over and over again.
Storyville: Writing a Novel Without Plotting it Out
Tips on how to write a novel without plotting it out.
Why Are Textbooks So Fucking Expensive?
In:
Abstracts
Differing studies have found that the average U.S. student spends between $600 and $1,200 a year on textbooks and supplies. What exactly makes textbooks so expensive?
So You Want to Write A Book: Part 0 — Ready, Set, Don't Go Yet
By Leah Rhyne
In:
Research
In this, the first in a new series of columns about the mechanics of writing a book, we'll talk about the prep work that should occur before you even sit down at your computer/notebook/typewriter.
