NaNoWriMo: Plotting on the Fly
Before you get stuck in the narrative and hit a wall, let’s think about plot. With these tips, you’ll spend more time writing your novel than planning it.
Before you get stuck in the narrative and hit a wall, let’s think about plot. With these tips, you’ll spend more time writing your novel than planning it.
Once you decide that publication is part of your writing journey, you have one of two choices: self-publishing or trade publishing. Which one is right for you?
Ideas can come from many different directions, so we’re going to look as some of the ways ideas spring up so that you can try them for your own writing.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Examples for Building a Supernatural Mystery or Paranormal Mystery Saying a mystery is about something unknown takes on a new meaning when it comes to supernatural and paranormal mysteries. Supernatural means anything beyond our natural world, beyond our…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In last week’s post, I told you about Catherine Aird’s article “Planning and Plotting the Detective Story.” Here are the points that were lightbulbs for me, and why I think you should pay mind to them. Lightbulb #1…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In last week’s post, I gave you two clues. With only one accredited class in genre writing under my belt, and a dozen creative writing classes that came nowhere near 221b Baker Street, how did I write five…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The Clue-Theory-Test Method of Plotting Mysteries For many writers trying mystery writing for the first time, one of the things that feel the hardest is leaving clues for the reader. So let’s…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Every story ever written contains some element of mystery. We’ll talk about that and a lot of other things over this four-week series. In a mystery novel—a whodunit, a police procedural, a cozy—the mystery is the story. Who…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > With romance such an important element of YA novels, it can be easy to focus all the attention on creating the main character, only to give the second romantic lead less attention (and much of it focused on…
221: Interview with Kate Milford
October 9, 2020
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The Romance novel is an example of the kind of evergreen genre that simply never stops selling and selling well. Not only that, but in young adult (YA) novels, some strong romantic element is nearly a requirement. YA…
Blending fiction structure with nonfiction facts makes narrative nonfiction a favorite of kids and educators. Discover how to successfully write this genre.
A short story is a story of not many words that’s why structure in writing short stories is so important. Lynne Smith reveals what you need to know.
Short stories for young children are often under 500 words. That’s why writing picture books and stories for kids looks easy but is actually quite a challenge.
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 common pieces of writing advice is “write the story that is in you” with the companion advice of “trends don’t matter.” So is that actually correct? If you…
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 antic ways to write humor is the spoof. A spoof is a story that pokes fun of a specific form or genre. It’s written as a caricature of…
Short story writing allows you to experiment with new plot types, genres, or voices without the commitment of a novel.Check out these tips for writing short.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > It’s National Poetry Month, and with the chaos of coronavirus that’s unsettled us and our need to stay as close to home as possible, now, more than ever, is the perfect time to delve into poetry for the…
Narrative nonfiction is popular with kids, teachers, and publishers. Here are the top three missteps to avoid when writing narrative nonfiction.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > If you’re interested in trying your hand at narrative nonfiction, there are options beyond massively researched full-length books. Some children’s magazines buy narrative nonfiction in the form of biographical sketches, profiles of contemporary figures, and anecdotal stories of…