Books on Writing: What Authors, Agents and Editors Read
By Erin Reel
In:
Research
What books on writing are worth your lunch money? Erin Reel asks a handful of writers, agents who write, and one publisher what books stand the test of time.
Updated With Winners: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: September Edition (...and another chance to win Chuck Palahniuk's new book!)
In:
Plot
Get another chance to win one of three copies we are giving away of Chuck Palahniuk's next book Doomed by writing a metaphor for Purgatory in 25 words or less.
How Precocious is Too Precocious? Writing Smart but Believable Kids
In:
Character
There’s a fine line that authors tread when writing from a child's perspective. A balance must be found between a voice that is unrealistically adult, and one that is too naive to be engaging.
Storyville: Fiction As Film—Writing Scenes That Are Visual
How can your fiction be as visual and engrossing as a film? Here are some suggestions.
Ask the Grammarian: Multiple Hopes, Lay vs. Lie, Basically Useless Vocabulary, and a Stumper
In:
Grammar
In this episode, we will attack the grammatical conundrums in the following sentence: Basically, our hopes have lay with the children.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: Multiple Personalities
What you need to know about the dissociative identity disorder, multiple personalities, and SCIENCE.
Storyville: 10 Ways to Evaluate Your Writing Career
In:
Research
How do you know if your writing career is going well? Here are 10 ways to check your progress.
Thickening Skin: 6 Tips for Taking Criticism
In:
Workshop
Tips for how to take criticism—including both constructive feedback and more volatile attacks on your work.
Nothing New Under The Sun: The Origins of 5 Common Literary Allusions Part 2
In:
Grammar
Monkeys and horses and goats—Oh My! Five more common allusions explained.
Joshua Mohr and Anisse Gross Talk Plot
By Joshua Mohr
In:
Plot
LitReactor instructor and 'Fight Song' author Joshua Mohr talks writing plots with The Rumpus film editor Anisse Gross. You should probably listen.
Storyville: Manipulating Your Readers
How do you manipulate your audience? Here are a few tips.
Ask the Grammarian: 'Too' Many Commas, Sentence Fragments, and Rhetoric
In:
Grammar
Where to put (or not put) commas with the word 'too', my opinion on sentence fragments, and a dicussion of rhetoric that could get me in trouble.
It's Made Of SCIENCE: The Speed Of Light
What you need to know about the speed of light, faster-than-light travel, and SCIENCE.
Dystropia: All Hail The Magnificent Bastard
By Troy Farah
In:
Cliche
In this episode of Dystropia, we look at the Magnificent Bastard, who is cunning, charming and crafty. What makes him tick and why are we all of a sudden so attracted to him?
Storyville: Ten Tips for Successfully Publishing Your Stories
In:
Research
Here are ten tips for successfully publishing your stories.
Ask The Grammarian With Taylor Houston—Now Taking Your Questions
In:
Grammar
Got a burning question about grammar or usage? Ask Taylor Houston, LitReactor's grammar columnuist, for help.
Five Legal Issues All Writers Need To Be Aware Of
In:
Research
Have you wondered whether your work is protected by copyright? Or whether you can write a story based on people you know? This article delves into five legal issues frequently encountered by writers.
Is it the Fourth or the 4th of July?: Formatting Numbers in Your Writing
In:
Grammar
You may not know it, but there are many rules that govern when you should spell out a number and when you should use the numerals. Here are a few of them.
Write Like a Girl (or Guy)
Let's talk about sex, baby... How do you write characters of the opposite sex who don't sound like a man doing a poor imitation of a woman, or vice versa? What are the real differences in how we talk?
It's Made Of SCIENCE: Writing Characters That Are Smarter Than You
You might consider yourself intelligent, perhaps even enlightened, but nobody can know everything. How can you write characters that know more than you do?
Storyville: 15 Unconventional Story Methods
Here are 15 unconventional methods of telling a story. Why not stretch yourself?
Dystropia: Examining the Trope of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl
By Troy Farah
In:
Cliche
A column in which we explore the various misgivings and strengths of girls that are Manic, Pixie and Dreamy.
Storyville: Dramatic Structure and Freytag's Triangle
In:
Structure
Is your dramatic structure intact? Study Freytag's Triangle to see if it is.
7 Things Dungeons & Dragons Taught Me About Storytelling
In:
Plot
A nerdy confessional where I go back through some tabletop RPG experiences that taught me valuable storytelling truths.
