Writing a Character Who Has Cancer
When you write a character with cancer (or other disease), things can get touchy. Here’s how to ensure your character isn’t solely defined by their illness.
Tough Characters to Sell
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As important as solid writing and well-crafted plot is to a successful book (and they’re really important), there is something that could arguably be considered even more important: characters. Your characters are the life…
Character Development, Part Deux
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Creating a Well-rounded Character Just Got More Fun! Last week, we took a broad, overall view of character development. Today, we’ll quit staring at our overalls, zero in on creating that protagonist…
Character Development: Every Character is a Casserole | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Character creation can be approached in many different ways, but overall, most great characters come about as a mixture. Like a particularly tasty casserole, a writer grabs a pinch of this and…
Three Keys to Believable Three-Dimensional Characters | IFW
When you sit down to write a new story, think about your characters. Giving characters heart, soul, and real faults—yes, faults—is vital to creating memorable characters.
Contests: Little Things Mean a Lot
How do you make a story stand out among other writing contest entries beyond simply writing a strong engaging piece? Here are three judge-grabbing suggestions.
Anatomy of a Score Sheet
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > What are judges looking for? When I was first starting out on my publishing journey, I entered a lot of contests for feedback, for the possibility of getting an agent or editor…
Why A Contest? Here are 7 Lucky Reasons
A writing contest doesn’t seem to be part of that straight line of publication. So why would you enter one? Well, here are seven lucky reasons.
Predatory Contests
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > 5 Ways to Spot a Fake Now that you’re a contest pro or at least thinking about becoming one, you need to be aware of some of the contest scams out there.…
Tighten Up the Weakest Link for a Contest Win | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Judging a contest is an interesting activity because it happens in layers. The first layer is simply removing from consideration all the entries that are not appropriate at all (prose memoirs sent…
Tweet Your Way To Representation
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > No, seriously. One of the ways social media can be a writer’s best friend is by allowing you to be up-to-date on trends. On Facebook, we’ve seen a rise in online selling.…
Want Professional Feedback on Your Writing? Enter a Contest
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > No matter what genre you write in, there will come a time when you need to get some non-biased feedback. Your friends and your writing group will only take you so far.…
Launching a Story From a Title
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > It’s hard to develop a story when you can’t get started. Though there are many ways into story creation, one that isn’t considered as often is the title. Titles are often tacked…
How to Take Your Own Writer’s Retreat
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As a writer who works from home with four young children, there is one fantasy that constantly makes its way into my mind—and it has nothing to do with any shades of…
Story Development and Revision
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For many writers, especially newer writers, revision is mainly a step for fixing typing errors, spelling errors and grammar mistakes. Some may have a checklist of things to look for such as…
7 Ways to Connect More with People as a Writer | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > 7 Ways to Connect More with People as a Writer As a writer, do you ever feel a little, well, disconnected from the world? Are there ever entire days that pass before…
Story Development: What’s At Stake?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > One of the most important questions to consider when developing a story is “what is going to be at stake for my main character?” By this, we mean, “What is the cost…
Tips for Using Scrivener for Story Development | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Tips for using Scrivener for story Development Like many writers, I am aspiring to write the next great American novel. Well, actually, that might be a slight exaggeration. I just want to…
Playing Fair with Plot
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Good stories have lots of moving parts, and it can be challenging to get all the parts to come together in a way that works. Many writers understand that a good plot…
To Outline or Not to Outline: That is the Question | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > To Outline or Not to Outline: That is the Question There are two types of writers in this world: the kind who outline and the kind who don’t. OK, so that may…