For Writers

© Elizabeth Sparg

If You've Ever Wanted to Write a Book, Here's How

Grammar/ Technical Resources

8 Things I Learned from My Cats about Writing Haiku

Does your novel pass the readability test?

Automatic Readability Checker

(Free Text Readability Consensus Calculator)

Writing for your Audience – Flesch-Kincaid Readability Tests

Online Utility Tool - Check your own manuscript for readability.

Grammarly Punctuation Checker.

Word Association Network

Formatting Your Manuscript

More Free Tools for Authors: Grammar Checkers.

A Simple Technique for Writers to Cope with Information Overload

Word Count & Chapter Length

Word Count Guide: How Long Is a Book, Short Story, or Novella?

Word Count for Novels and Children's Books: The Definitive Post | How Long Should a Book Be?

The Age Levels for Children’s Books You Should Know

AR Book Finder - Find the word counts of your favorite books

Word Count Dracula 

Rules of the Road: Chapter Length, and Chapter Length Consistency

Chapter Length Matters. Here's Why.

Tips and Tricks to Fix Word Count Issues

How to Write Children's Books (with word counts for age categories)

How Many Pages Are in a Children's Book?

Character Driven Stories

Character Development: 12 Steps, Arcs, & Guides

What Does Your Hero Want?

What is a Character Arc?

Want Memorable Characters? Focus on Little Things 

5 Steps to Writing Great Character Chemistry

11 Secrets to Writing an Effective Character Description

Character Grid.

6 Requirements for Writing Better Character Goals

7 Reasons Your Characters Feel Flat

2 Different Types of Lies Your Character Believes.

The Reasons Readers Didn't Care About Your Protagonist (and 4 Tips on Making them Care)

Lesson 8: Secondary Characters  

Writing Character Thoughts

5 Things Your Characters Need

Don't Be Too Easy on Your Characters

4 Ways to Discover Your Protagonist's Identity

Make Every Character Count

8 Tips to Make an Unlikeable Character Likable

5 Tips for Writing and Structuring Effective Turning Points for Your Characters

What is Your Character Hiding: The Power of Secrets

How to Reveal a Character's Internal Conflict

12 Dos and Don'ts of Revealing Critical Backstory in a Novel

Other Ways to Write a Hero

Boring Characters

5 Tips for Creating Compelling Casts

The More a Character Puts into the Bucket, the More There is to Spill

Hot Tip for Character Relationships: The Relationship is a Character

Bad Behavior Makes for a Compelling Read

The Wound and the Contradiction

Mastering Turning Points in Relationship Plots

Effect and Cause

Why Protagonists Have to Be Active

List of Character Reactions

Stories Within Stories: Letting Characters Tell the Tale

Back Story vs. Deep Story

7 Growth Milestones to Build a Character Arc .

Characters Can Just Know Things

Creating Stunning Character Arcs, Part 5: The Characteristic Moment

Writing Children's Books from the Inside Out

How to Interview Your Characters

77 Character Archetypes

Shy, Depressed, Grieving, and Adrift Characters Still Need to Be Active

If Your Protagonist Is Bored, You Can Bet Your Readers Are Too

5 Tips for Writing Series Characters 

Holidays, Belief Systems, and a Character's Journey

Tough Love Approach to Backstory

Naming Your Characters

The Rules of Fiction: What They Are and What They're Not

How Writers Can Use the Four Stages of Knowing in Character Arcs

Disillusionment Arc in Storytelling: A Powerful Tool for Character Growth 

Writing the Party of Four

How to Write a Fall Arc: How to Show a Characters' Moral Decline

Writing Emotions

Seven Ways to Access Vulnerability

6 Tips to Write Deeply Emotional Fiction

"Just Right" Emotional Appeal 2.0: Goldilocks and the Three Unbearables

We're Trying to Break Their Hearts: Exploring the Power of Emotion in Art

6 Tips for Writing Deeply Emotional Fiction

How to Write a Big Emotional Scene: Fault Lines by Nora Shalaway Carpenter

You're Saying Too Much: The Power of Subtext (and How to Use It)

Antagonists

Enter the Antagonist - No Scratch That- Enter the Antagonists, Plural

Let Your Villains Take the Lead

There is No Bad Guy: What to do when your Antagonist isn't a Villain

The Four Main Types of Epic Antagonists

Negative Trait Thesaurus

10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist

Qualities of a Great Nemesis #1: Power

Writing Unlikeable Characters Readers Will Root For

A First Class Bad Guy: How the X-Men Can Help You Craft a Better Antagonist

Write a Sympathetic Antagonist

How to Create a Great Villain

Writing a Satisfying Self-Destructive Villain

Plotting

Manuscript Length: How Long Should a Children’s Book Be?

Pacing in Writing: 10 Powerful Ways to Keep Readers Hooked

How to Write an Unforgettable Ending

How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method

Janice Hardy on plotting 

25 Ways To Plot, Plan and Prep Your Story

The Plot Clock: The Structure Template that Saved My Career

Plotting with Michael Hague's Six Stage Plot Structure

Why Your Plot isn't Working

4 Questions to Prevent Plot Holes

10 Fixes to the Most Common Plot Problems in Novels

The Midpoint as the Swivel Point of Your Plot's Linked Structure

What are Pinch Points and Where Do They Go?

Conflict in Fiction: What it Really Is and Why It's Important to Plot

Losing the Plot: Writing By the Seat of Your Pants

Close Off Your Protagonist's Easy Off-Ramps

How to Pull Off a Plot Twist

 

Five Tips for Creating Subplots

How Perfect Does Your Structural Timing Have to Be?

How to Outline a Thriller Novel that Works

Where Should You Start Plotting Your Story?

The Breakout Outline with a Twist

7 Writing Lessons I Learned the Hard Way

Writing Multiple Plotlines: Everything. You Need to Know

Six Reasons You're Confusing the Reader

The Art of the Cliffhanger

3-Step Process for Overcoming the Blank Page in a New Writing Project

The Idea to Plot Struggle: 14 Authors Give Their Best Strategies

4 Questions to Ask When a Tour Becomes a Plot

The Midpoint: Secrets of Story Structure (Pt. 7 of 12)

How to Craft a Reversal in Your Novel

Secrets of Suspense

The Two Halves of the Midpoint

Your One-Sentence Summary

How to Make Your Novel Unputdownable

Causal Chain Experience Redux

Kishotenketsu: A Plot Structure without Conflict

Planning Your Novel

6 Tips on Writing for Children

Writing Insights Part Two: The Rough Draft

Start Your Outline with These Four Questions

My 20 Step Plan to Writing a Book Part 1 (Steps 1-10)

So, You Want to Write a Series

How to Outline a Novel

Worksheets for Writers

 

Basics Of Plot Structure

The 7 Main Story Elements and Why They Matter

The Main Reason Your Story Premise is Important

How to Make Your Novel Un-put-down-able

Three Key Elements to a Successful Story

6 Novel Basics You May be Overlooking

Drafting

Sentence Flow: Fixing Choppy Writing

Top 3 Tools for Writing Fast (video with Jesse Q. Sutanto)

Chris Tebbetts: The Secret is, There is No Secret

Avoid Aimless Stage Directions

It's About Time: Backstory, Flashback, and Chronology

Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Rushing the Drafting Process

Six Ways Clichés Can Help Your Writing

5 Screenwriting Tips for Novelists

Find and Delete These Phrases from Your Novel

Pacing

4 Pacing Tricks to Keep Readers' Attention

How Pacing Helps Readers Care about Our Characters

7 Tools for Pacing a Novel & Keeping Your Novel Moving at the Right Pace

7 Quick Tips for Mastering Pacing in Your Story

Why Does this Read Slow?

4 Story Weaknesses that Lead to a Sagging Middle

Character Time and Reader Time

Pacing Your Exposition in Writing

14 Tips for Dealing with the Passage of Time in a Story

How to Use Chapter Cliffhangers in Your Fiction

Learn How to Pace Your Story (and Mind Control Your Readers) in Eight Easy Steps

What Sleeping with Jane Eyre Taught Me About Pacing

Worksheets

Story Structure Worksheets

Writer's Notebook Worksheets

Worksheets for Writers: Jami Gold

Show, Don't Tell

Writing Insights Part One: Becoming a Writer

More Showing, Less Telling

When to Show, When to Tell, and When to Do a Bit of Both 

How to Show Emotion on the Page: The Cheat Sheets

3 Tips for Improving Show, Don't Tell

How to Get Emotion Onto the Page

Critique: 4 Ways to Write Gripping Internal Narrative

The Three Words That Almost Ruined Me as a Writer: Show, Don't Tell  

When to Tell and Not Show

Filter Words

Rules Schmules: Don't Follow the Rules, Tell a Good Story

Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Omitting Sensory Details

3 Tips for Improving Show Don't Tell

The Static Hiss

What Happens On and Off the Page in Your Novel

Beware of Summarizing Across Scenes

How to Avoid Explaining Your Novel

Braided Storytelling

Please Explain (how to explain lesser known phrases, idioms, etc)

The Fallacy of "Show Don't Tell" in Writing

POV

Want to Evoke Emotions in Readers?

Everything You Need To Know About Writing a Third Person POV

How to Use Close Third-Person to Get Closer to Your Characters

How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View

Writing Multiple Points of View

5 Questions About How to Balance Multiple POVs in Your Story

How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View

How to Write Multiple POVs the 'Game of Thrones' Way

How to Write a Novel in Present Tense: The Pros and Cons of Present Tense

Writing Omniscient Narrators; How to Know When to Know it All

All About Perspectives in Novels

Third Person Point of View

Narrative Distance and How to Control It

Rise of the Omniscient Voice

How to Bridge Characters' Thoughts in an Omniscient POV

How to Write Third-Person Omniscient POV: The All-Seeing Narrator

Who is Telling the Story--And When?  Creative (and Purposeful) Uses of "Purpose" and "Tense"

Voice

What is the Writer's Voice? How Do You Find Your Writing Voice?

From the Editor's Desk: More Tips on Finding Your Voice

Voice: A #DVpit Blog Hop Roundtable Discussion: Part 1

Voice: Writing Words that Sing

A Surefire Technique for Finding Your Voice

How to Find Your Writer's Voice

What is Voice in Writing (Examples Included)

Character Voice versus Narrator Voice

How to Write With Style

Dissecting Voice

Week 9: Finding Your Voice

Sequels

5 Rules for How to Write a Sequel for your Book

How to Plan a Book Series

The Power of Chiastic Story Structure (Especially in a Series)

How to Plan a Marketable Fiction Book Series

Storytelling

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling

10 Things to Make an Editor Stop Reading Your Manuscript

7 Qualities of High Concept Stories 

TED: Clues to a Great Story: Andrew Stanton 

How to Use Foreshadowing

How to Raise the Stakes in Your Novel

The 10-Step Checklist to Writing and Above Average Novel

The Efficient Author's Cheat Sheet for Creating Suspense and Tension

Psst! Novelists - Steal These Screenwriting Secrets!

How to Know Which Parts of Your Story Readers will Like Best (It Isn't Always What You Think)

No Story Conflict? Explore Your Options

Wired for Story (TED talk by Lisa Cron)

Storytelling Tip: Follow the Pain

Story Theory and the Quest for Meaning

The Four Doorways Into Story and How to Use Them to Create a Bestselling Novel

Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling (part 1)

Six Lessons from My Writing Crush

10 Mistakes Killing Your Story - And How to Avoid Them (Twitter thread)

How to Write a Psychological Thriller Without Frying Your Brain

Break the "Rules" and Get Away With It

A Hidden Reason Why Readers Read

Three Reasons I Usually Get Stuck in My Stories

Action Scenes

How to Choreograph a Great Action Scene

Blow-by-Blow: Writing Action and Fight Scenes - 5 Tips

Tips for Writing A Memorable Fighting Scene

Tips on Writing a Fighting Scenes with Multiple Characters/Allies

How to Build Tension in Your Fight Scenes

How to Write Sharp Action Scenes 

Write Better Action Scenes: Make it About the Characters

Beginnings

How to Start a Story: 9 Tips from Our Editors

Start Your Novel with a Bang

Starting a Novel With Setting Description

Make Your Novel's Opening Pop

How to Use the Inciting Incident to Rescue the Beginning of Your Screenplay or Novel

4 Steps to Establish the Beginning of Your Novel

Everything You Need to Know About Inciting Incidents

The Promise of the First Chapter

7 Key Elements to Include in Your First Chapter

How to Write the First Chapter of Your Novel

3 Questions to Ask Yourself for a Stronger First Chapter 

7 Top Tips for Nailing the First Line of Your Novel

How to Create a Story Opening Line

In the Beginning: What Makes a Good Beginning? (Richard Peck)

The Secret Ingredient of Successful Openings

Erin Dionne: Promises, Promises (tips on beginnings)

Writing 101: How to Write a Prologue

Clearing Up Some Misconceptions About In Media Res

Don't Let Your Opening Cement in Your Mind

Problems with Opening Lines (Twitter thread)

Do You Need a Prologue? Take the Test

Checklist for Beginning a Story: Plot Considerations

The Hook (Secrets of Story Structure)

Top 4 Tips for Writing Great Beginnings

5 Tips to Hook Readers from Chapter One

6 Tips for Writing a Compelling First Sentence 

Chapters 

How to Organize a Chapter

Don't Start a Scene Without These Four Essential Elements

Chapter Template

Endings

How to Structure a Killer Novel Ending 

Scared of the Anticlimactic Ending? Here's How to Kick it to the Curb

Great Endings #9: Does Your Screenplay Have a Bow and Arrow Moment?

How to End a Story: 3 Secrets to Writing a Captivating Ending

How to Write A Good Ending to a Story

How to End a Story Right: 13 Tips Every Author Should Know

The Do's and Don't's of Novel Endings

Scenes

How to Write Interesting Happy Scenes? 6 Tips

10 Ways to Launch Strong Scenes

Writing the Perfect Scene

Craft: Proactive and Reactive Scenes

8 Steps for Writing the Perfect Scene Every Time

Advanced Scene Technique: The Jump Cut

Writing Tip: Make Sure Your Scene Endings Hook Your Readers

Motivation-Reaction Units: Cracking the Code to Good Writing

Rule of Threes: No, the Other One

Brick by Brick: How to Build a Scene from the Ground Up

How to Build a Scene

Scene Layering with Examples

The 3-Minute Scene Fix

An Intuitive 4-Step Process for Creating Vibrant Scene Structure

5 Tips for Building Tension in Your Scenes

Questions To Ask When Writing a Scene

5 Questions about Scene Sequence

Not Starting a Scene Without these Four Essential Elements

An Intuitive 4-Step Process for Creating Vibrant Scene Structure

Writing the Perfect Scene

3 Questions to Make Sure You Aren't Missing Out on Important Scenes  

The Building Blocks of Scene

Don't Build Scenes Around the Information You Think You Need to Impart

Try to Get Your Scenes to Do More Than One Thing

How to Write Emotional Scenes (Without Making them Cringey)

How to Structure a Scene

Don't Dribble Out Morsels of Information Within a Scene

Options for Conflict in Scenes 

Do's and Don'ts of Writing Flashbacks

Scene Mastery: Navigating Common Goal-Driven Scene Pitfalls

5 Easy Tips to Strengthen Your Scenes

8 Different Types of Scenes

Scene Structure and Transitions in Big Scenes

Dialogue

Dialogue Compression: The Key to Realistic Dialouge

10 Dos and Don'ts for Writing Realistic Dialogue

9 Rules for Writing Dialogue

Use Speaker Tags and Beats Correctly

Writing Great Dialogue: Create Power Moments Rich in Subtext

Critique: 10 Ways to Write Excellent Dialogue

Everything Authors Need to Know About Dialogue Tags

Speech Tags

Your Novel is Not a Screenplay

World Building

5 Tips for Writing about Fictional Technology

Technology in World Building 

The Where of it All: Place and Story, a guest post by Kathi Appelt

The 7 Deadly Sins of World Building

How Do You Describe a Place? 6 Setting Tips

How Can We Worldbuild on an Epic Scale?

Creating Your Own Rules: How to Build a Story World

N.K. Jemisin: But, but, but--WHY Does Magic Have to Make Sense?

What Makes a Great Setting in a Novel

Mary Buckham on Active Setting

Novel Setting: Where's It Going to Be?

Are You an Accidental Info-Dumper?

8 Tips for Creating Believable Fictional Towns

Tips and Tricks for Writing Setting (Twitter thread)

5 Common World Building Mistakes

How to Write Clear Physical Descriptions

How to Write Historical Fiction

Ye Olde Fantasy Language Problem

5 Tips for Adding Otherworldly Elements

How to Choose Story Settings: The 4 Basic Types of Setting

The Joys and Perils of Research (or a Lack Thereof)

How to Make Your Fantasy World Feel Real: 6 Pillars of Organic Worldbuilding

Avoiding Pitfalls

Save Readers from Boredom: 5 Fool-Proof Preventives

Are Your Waving the Novice Writer Flag?

Most Common Writing Mistakes

Clichés Are More than Words: Avoid Cliché Images, Scenes & Characters

Action, then Reaction

General Writing

The 8 Essential Elements of a Story

Neil Gaiman's 8 Rules of Writing

Fiction University: Online Resources 

The Top Four Lists of Writing Tips

How to write a Book: 10 Ridiculously Simple Steps

Swoon Author Aiden Thomas: 5 Takeaways from Maggie Stiefvater's Writing Seminar

Excellent Craft Conversation with Emma Kress and noted authors

8 Ways Your Writing Could Be a Lot Better

Are Your Words Working Hard Enough?

The Matter of Titles. . .Because Titles Matter

Designing for Reader Experience

Horror

How to Write Horror

How to Write a Ghost Story

Playing with Perception in Writing Horror Fiction

Themes

How to Write Unique Themes 

Use Theme to Determine Subplots, Supporting Characters, and Tension

How to Find Your Thematic Principle 

What is the Relationship Between Plot and Theme? 

5 Ways to Use Theme to Create Character Arc (and Vice Versa)

Story Rulez: Two Things Every Novel Needs to Do

What is Theme?

How (and How Not) to Advocate via Fiction

The Secret to Writing Strong Themes

Publishing Resources

Odyssey Writing Workshops Podcasts

Resources for Children's Writers 

Publisher's Marketplace 

Huge List of Children's Publishers

The Book SCBWI's guide to publishers, agents, magazines, and more

Writing How-To's (Books and other Writing Guides)

Genres

How to Craft a Great Mystery in a Novel

7 Things I Learned While Writing Across Genres

8 Tips for Plotting a Great Heist Novel

PodCasts

All The Wonders- author interviews with Matthew Winner

12 Empowering Podcasts for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators

The Kidlit Deconstruction Zone - authors drill into the craft of children's literature

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