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
By Robbie Blair
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.
Punctuation Pairs: How To Combine Punctuation
In:
Grammar
As if the rules of punctuation weren’t confusing enough, what do you do when you have more than one punctuation mark to contend with?
The Machine With a Soul: Typewriters In the Past, Present, and Future
In:
Abstracts
Perhaps our fondness stems from that image in the collective cultural imagination: a man with his typewriter, clacking away in a lonely hotel room, bottle of cognac at his side.
Better With Age: Giving Elderly Characters the Spotlight
In:
Character
Every living person on the planet has experienced childhood, but the same can’t be said for old age. Older characters have more history, so creating such a person takes considerable imagination.
Bodices Don’t Rip: Writing Accurate Historical Fiction
In:
Research
Sitting in a classroom or wandering through a sterile museum, we often feel estranged from history. But history is really about people, and that’s what makes it such fertile ground for writers.
