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 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 Robbie Blair
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.
8 Ways to Flesh Out a Character
By Robbie Blair
In:
Character
Looking to develop a character? Here are eight ways you can create a fleshier concept for who your character is and what drives them.
Flash Fiction: The Zorro Circle of Storytelling
By Robbie Blair
In:
Structure
Flash fiction can help writers answer vital questions: How can you identify which words to cut? How can you use subtlety to increase the power of your prose? And what's at the heart of a story?
Storyville: Top Ten Things Literary Journals Need to Do. NOW.
In:
Research
There needs to be a symbiosis between the journal and the author. Here are some ways that we can make that happen.
UPDATED WITH WINNER: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: February Edition - Now, with New Rules!
In:
Plot
New Rules: 25 words. 2 sentences.
How the Superheroes of Literature can save you from the Grammar Nazis
By Cath Murphy
In:
Grammar
Who can save the planet from the deadly Grammar Nazis? The Superheroes of Literature, that's who!
O-day ou-yay eak-spay ingon-Klay?: Exploring constructed languages
In:
Literary Devices
What do the Starship Enterprise, Boonville California, and an Icelandic band all have in common? Their own language! Explore a few unique constructed languages with me.
Storyville: Breaking Hearts
In:
Character
In order to break a reader's heart, you first must get them to care.
This is Not a Checklist: How to Write a Story
Some things to have taken into consideration while writing your story. Not rules, just after-the-fact guidelines.
Storyville: Researching The Best American Short Stories Anthology
In:
Research
When you are looking to do research on literary short fiction, start with the Best American Short Stories anthology.
Watching out for Reiterations: Eliminating Redundancy in Your Writing
In:
Grammar
Like Sonny & Cher on February 2nd, redundancies in your writing are driving your readers crazy.
Info Dumps Aren't Evil
By Erik Wecks
In:
Plot
Writers are often told to avoid information dumps at all costs, but this can leave a story feeling clipped and lacking necessary description.
