Digging Deeper Into Your Worldbuilding
Welcome to part 2 of our Worldbuilding series where dig even deeper into your new world and what it should include and what you can leave out.
Welcome to part 2 of our Worldbuilding series where dig even deeper into your new world and what it should include and what you can leave out.
Worldbuilding is usually associated with speculative fiction writers, but even historical, memoir, and romance authors must create a world for their characters.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > My hands are cracking from washing them so often these days. Yours too? How about, in addition to tending to your hands with soap and water, writing a poem to and for and about them, those prehensile and…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The architect Suchi Reddy said, “We build our lives from our bodies. Then we build the next layer and the next layer—our home, our towns, our cities, our villages, our world.” Do you see your body that way,…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > List poems have an off-hand quality, as though they’re not even poems but casual jottings like a grocery or birthday list. That makes them particularly accessible and welcoming for readers to enter, and their unassuming quality keeps them…
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 writers need to describe people, places, objects, and events in imaginative but also accurate ways. Enter imagery. Follow these 3 tips.
The content of your piece is the what of your writing. How you say it is the voice. Let’s talk about how to develop your author voice in your work.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.” Those familiar opening lines from Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield are…
IFW Instructor Victoria Sherrow shares how to effectively use quotes from historical figures and experts when writing narrative nonfiction novels and articles.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Just the facts, ma’am.” These oft-repeated words are associated with Sergeant Joe Friday, a character in the 1950s TV police drama “Dragnet.” Friday’s actual words were “All we want are the facts,” but the point remains: Investigators need…
Verbs play a key role in building effective sentences, so pay close attention to them as you revise and polish. These 7 writing tips will make your story shine!
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Everything is in the tone.”—Sherwood Anderson For a well-polished manuscript, make sure you use tone and mood effectively. Tone in fiction refers to an author’s attitude toward the characters and events in the story. The tone helps to…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Hearing” your manuscript with a reader’s ear As you polish your manuscript, you will likely review it numerous times, looking for ways to improve the content, style, and presentation. Some experts suggest reading a hard copy in addition…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > What to do (and not do) in your characters’ conversations As a final check through your dialogue, a good idea is to give a scene to two friends and have them read a different character as if they…
Dialogue is a great way to get readers to care about your characters and eager to find out what happens next. Here are 4 tips for snappy dialogue.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The right way to add backstory to your dialogue In any piece of fiction, every word must count. And dialogue should do many things at once to be effective. Dialogue needs to serve a purpose, such as moving…
Properly punctuating dialogue trips up even the most seasoned of writers. Bookmark this post to help you as you proofread your manuscript for submission.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > How to win when your goals are under attack Goals are like your characters. They aren’t real until you write them down and bring them to life. Until then, they’re just dreams and aspirations. In a story or…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I have a confession to make: my name is Chaunie and I’m a write-aholic. I have always been a woman who enjoys working and independence, but when I first stumbled upon freelance writing as a career, I felt…