Stephen King: On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft | IFW
Stephen King’s ON WRITING: A MEMOIR OF THE CRAFT isn’t just a book about writing; it’s also a memoir, making it a must-read for all writers. Let’s find out why!
Reconnecting with a Work in Progress
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 problems with writing is that it’s fairly difficult to complete a project in one sitting. It can sometimes be a bit easier with a picture book where the rough…
Carroll Dale Short: A Writers Tool Kit-Institute for Writers
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > A concise book of tips to improve your writing. What more do you need? Many years ago, in a city far, far away (okay, it was Hartford, Connecticut, if you insist on destroying the magic), I had the…
8 Tips For Sourcing Your Articles
No story is complete without a source. Grab these tips for sourcing your articles including finding contacts, discovering the best answers, and what comes next.
Story Development: What’s At Stake?
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 important questions to consider when developing a story is “what is going to be at stake for my main character?” By this, we mean, “What is the cost…
To Outline or Not to Outline: That is the Question | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > To Outline or Not to Outline: That is the Question There are two types of writers in this world: the kind who outline and the kind who don’t. OK, so that may be a slight exaggeration, but I’ve…
What’s the Rush?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > When it comes to writing and submissions, there is such a thing as too soon. In fact, the number one mistake writers make in the area of submitting their work is moving…
Memoir vs. Autobiography: What’s the Difference, Anyway
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > How do I go about writing a memoir? As an editor, I often get asked, “What’s the difference between an autobiography and a memoir?” In framing my answer, I sometimes reply, “All baseballs are round, but not all…
Idea Starters: Map Your Ideas
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > An offshoot of mining for stories is mapping ideas. For me, it started as a way to think about and control how much money I make on my stories. Those of us who write for publication have all…
Idea Starters Mining Your Stash
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > If you are like me, writing can be a series of stops and starts. It is all a part of the process. I have a ton of ideas that may have been great but as I started writing,…
Must I Be Unique?
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 crippling things a writer can do in the early stage of any book is worry about whether your story (or something like it) has been done before. First,…
How and Why I Do What I Do
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The Method to My Madness—Sort Of I often get asked about my process. How do you write your novels? Where do you begin? How do you keep going? And what do you do once you’re finished? Great series…
When the Ideas Won’t Come
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 questions writers tend to be asked a lot is “where do you get your ideas?” Of course, two other questions are “can you read something for me?” and “can…
Putting It All Together
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > We’ve talked about voice, tone, and humor. We’ve also discussed viewpoint. But how do we make it all work seamlessly? And can you use the same tools in nonfiction as you do in your fiction writing? It is…
Writing Samples, Part Deux: Nonfiction
Good nonfiction writing samples have things in common with fiction ones, but they also have specific requirements, so let’s check out the difference.
Six Ways to Gear Up for NaNoWriMo Now!
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > It’s coming! Are you ready? You’re probably asking, “What’s coming?” Why, National Novel Writing Month, of course. It rolls around every November, that magical month when writers all across this great land of ours shut out every other…
Whose Story is it Anyway? Thoughts On Viewpoint
Zeroing in on the viewpoint and finding the right way into the story is difficult. Check out these tips to consider when choosing the POV of your story.
Interjecting Humor in Your Work
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Cours Catalog > Out of all the style tools we describe in this series on tone and voice, interjecting humor is probably the most difficult to pull off well. One reason is that we all see “funny” with different lenses. What…
Keeping Separate Writing Separate
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers write only one sort of book: picture books, mysteries, science fiction, humor, racy romance, etc. But many writers jump around in their careers and tackle whatever project bubbles up in…
Finding the Right Tone for Your Story
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > We’ve talked about “voice” now it is time to meet its twin sister, “tone.” If you are writing for publication, or for a specific publication, no matter what the genre, and you strike a tone that is too…
