Posts

How to Write a Good Story

-
Image
Regardless of what you may have heard, there is no one formula for writing a good story. Some writers are able to churn out best-selling novels using nothing more than their own intuition, while others plan and plot every step of their journey before ever putting pen to paper. The key is finding the process that works best for you and following it faithfully. With a few simple tips, however, you can give yourself the best chance of success. So sit down, get comfortable, and let’s get started! What are parts of a story? There are several key components of a story: the setting, the characters and the conflict. Setting is pretty self-explanatory and can be just about anything you want it to be. The sky’s the limit when it comes to choosing where your tale will take place! You must also decide on who all of your main characters will be and how they relate to one another. Are they related by blood, marriage or friendship? Are they co-workers? Once you have these basics figured out, all that
Read more

How to Write Short Stories

-
Image
In order to be a successful writer, it’s important to be versatile and hone your skills in different genres. Short stories are a great way to improve your writing skills and practice the techniques that you’ve learned without spending lots of time. Perfectionism can be a nasty demon that leads writers into blind alleys and dead ends. While it’s important to strive for excellence, it’s also important not to get caught up in nit-picky details when trying to write quickly. Do your best to achieve clarity, but if you find yourself fixating on grammar rules or archaic words, put the manuscript down and come back when you’re ready. Or, since it’s a short story, you can simply walk down a different path. Tell me the meaning of short stories? In a short story, the writer has fewer words to convey his or her message. In a novel you can have an entire world created from nothing, but you don’t have that option in a short story so it’s important for the author to focus on characters and plot devel
Read more

How to write an introduction paragraph

-
Image
There are many ways to write a good introduction paragraph, but they all have one thing in common. They’re engaging. Readers need to be captured and interested in what you’re writing about from the beginning of your post or they will most likely never read it. There’s no secret formula for what is an engaging intro paragraph, but there is some tried and true methods that can help get the job done right. This blog post will go over some helpful tips on how to craft a great introduction paragraph for any writing project you may be up against! Introductions can be a lot of work, but if you do the research and plan ahead, they can be as pain-free as possible. When I started my blog last year, it took me hours to write a decent intro paragraph—but now that I’ve mastered this skill over time all I have to do is follow these steps and I’m good to go! I’ve compiled a list of easy-to-follow steps that will help you craft an introduction that will grab your readers from the start. What is the pu
Read more

How to write dialogue

-
Image
Writing dialogue can be a daunting task for most writers. Dialogue is an art form that requires careful attention to detail, and many authors struggle with getting their characters’ voices right. But don’t worry! This blog post will show you how to write dialogue like the pros do. We’ll start by looking at some common rules on how to write dialogue. Next we will step back and look at what makes realistic dialogue, how that moves the story forward, how to make readers pay attention when dialogue shows, and exactly what ratio of dialogue writing to you should use in your story. 19 fast dialogue rules to building great dialogue Use dialogue to reveal traits of a person Dialogue should be natural and believable. This is their real life, so they should have their own voice. Write dialogue in the style of your genre Avoid clichés when writing conversation, such as “I’m so mad!” or “How could you?” Be careful about how much dialogue is on the page – too much can make it seem like a
Read more

How to be a Writer

-
Image
Many people dream of being a writer, but the reality is that most writers need to have a day job in order to provide for themselves and their family. In this article you will learn how to be a writer without quitting your day job. At the end of this article you will find a link to an interview with a full-time writer who explains exactly how she manages to write and publish novellas while holding down a day job. What does a writer do? Writers tell stories. If you can write, you can be a writer. Once you have learned how to create the worlds and characters that populate your story, you need to learn how to put them on paper or electronic text so someone else can read it. Before jumping into writing full time, consider what kind of stories you enjoy most and whether they would appeal to others as well. This article will teach you how to write faster with minimum editing, so start small by telling the story of something that happened in history or fiction (no fair writing about yoursel
Read more

Build a Fiction Writing Platform using Content Marketing

-
Image
Let’s start off this writing platform process by clarifying what content marketing is and isn’t about. Content marketing is where you build content that people want. They go to you to get that content. With any luck, you show them more content that is relevant and they enjoy that information. Before long, you are set in their mind as an authority on the topic. As an authority, you can help steer people to products and services that you believe in, but that also have a referral program. Or, as an authority, you can steer people to your own products and services. For non-fiction authors, this works fairly well. You build a website full of workout advice, then offer a book that shows a number of other workout options. People want the advice, trust you as an authority, and then buy your book for new workout options. However, that frame of reference doesn’t work for fiction writers. I can’t give you advice about avoiding alien politics, then give you a book about a space captain. So, how ca
Read more

The Two Types of Writing Tips You'll Encounter

-
Image
There are two types of writing tips you will often find while searching for truth. The first are writing tips that mean well, but are empty. The second are writing tips that seem simple, but reflect a greater pool of wisdom. While it’s arrogant of me to assume the following will fall into that second bucket, I will do my best. I am going to call these two types of writing tips the humblebrag and the peer. So how do you identify which is which? The Humblebrag Writing Tip: In this format, the author “just wants you to succeed” by telling you how wonderful they are doing. This can a number of forms, but one of the most popular are sharing financial figures. They then pretend to break them down, so you can “learn from their success”. This is an easy to spot humblebrag, and often times the key to their success is… wait for this shocking revelation: hard work and luck! (Sarcasm filter being added here) Aren’t you glad you dug into their financials to learn that? But wait, there is more good
Read more