Setting the Stage for Nonfiction Success
Nonfiction is a deep market, popular with readers, and well worth considering. Today we chat about what it takes to be successful in nonfiction for kids.
Hooking the Reader
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > With all the competition from Kindle Unlimited, self-published books, and traditional publishing’s blitz of new releases and re-releases, getting and keeping a reader’s attention has gotten difficult. You need to entice the reader from the very first line,…
Setting as a Character
Write a setting so integral you can enhance your characters’ experiences, drive home your theme and mirror the characters’ journey through the novel.
Choosing a Point of View
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > All stories are told by someone. Sometimes it’s a chorus of voices as the writer dips into the consciousness of more than one character, revealing their thoughts. More often it’s told by…
Editing Descriptions to Move Your Story Forward | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Is your pacing too slow? Need to pull out your writer tools to increase story pacing? This is Part II of my “editing description to move the story forward” article. Part I focused specifically on scene imagery. This…
Elements of Setting
Lengthy descriptions of setting can feel slow and gratuitous, but we mustn’t throw away this essential, tool. Let’s talk about how to do setting well.
Editing Scene Imagery to Move Your Story Forward | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > If you’re looking to increase the tension and keep readers turning the pages, become a master of story imagery. We’re told to have sensory details, and imagery descriptions to create a well developed setting. But imagery runs the…
Setting the Stage: Scenes
Scenes are the building blocks of the story. A scene is simply the action and dialogue that takes place at a specific location in a specific time in the story.
Top 3 Source of Writer’s Block (& How to Jump Over Them Now)
Here are the top 3 sources of writer’s block and how to bust right past them from guest blogger Kristin J. Dawson. Read on for tools to help you right now!
Let’s Talk About Plot
Many writers struggle with plot. Plot has to mix and blend characters, theme, premise, and more. So, let’s break down the essentials of plot.
How to Avoid Writer’s Block
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > We spend months, even years, weaving characters and conflicts into a story. We cut, tweak, and rearrange. Yet if someone asks what our story is about, we might be dumbstruck. “It’s about a woman who inherits a cosmetic…
Yeah, It’s Work
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing is work. Now, I’m not one of those who think writing is suffering or agony. Honestly, if it were agony, I’d do something else with my time to make money for my family. But it is work.…
Live Long and Prosper with Verisimilitude and Suspension of Disbelief
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > We’re all Captain James T. Kirk when we sit down to write. We boldly go where no man or woman has gone before—and we take readers with us. The idea is not to drag them kicking and screaming.…
Falling in Love
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers create playlists for their books. Some do elaborate interviews with their characters. Some just can’t get started until they come up with names: name of the book, name of the…
Character Arc and Conflict: You Can’t Have One Without the Other
For your main character to have a satisfying character arc, there has to be conflict. Without it, how does your character grow and change? Get these tips today!
Dialogue Attribution: Small Thing, Big Effect | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Dialogue is the favorite part of story writing for many authors. In dialogue writing, the author is able to give voice to the people the author created. Also dialogue is a favorite…
The Forge for Your Characters
The literary term for life experience is backstory. This is your character’s origin story. Discover tips for backstory from IFW instructor Lynne Smith.
All Done, or Not?
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 satisfying things about writing is finishing a book or story. That last line typed, that last period placed almost always brings a rush of accomplishment. If you’re like…
People Aren’t Perfect – Your Characters Shouldn’t Be Either
While characters are often created from similar molds or archetypes, it is their imperfections that draw us in. Tips for crafting engagingly flawed characters.
The Value of Road Maps
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I do love having a GPS to guide us whenever we’re making a road trip. Still, to be honest, I miss the days when I navigated using a combination of internet map…
