Imagery in Narrative Nonfiction
Narrative nonfiction writers need to describe people, places, objects, and events in imaginative but also accurate ways. Enter imagery. Follow these 3 tips.
The Writer’s Voice and Narrative Nonfiction
The content of your piece is the what of your writing. How you say it is the voice. Time to talk about how to develop your author voice in your work.
Using Creative Nonfiction Techniques in a Memoir | IFW
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…
Using Quotes in Narrative Nonfiction
IFW Instructor Victoria Sherrow shares how to effectively use quotes from historical figures and experts when writing narrative nonfiction novels and articles.
The Appeal of Narrative Nonfiction
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…
Verb-Perfect: 7 Tips to Fuel Your Writing
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!
The “Feel” of Your Writing
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…
Time for a Sound Check?
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…
Dos and Don’ts of Dialogue
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…
4 Tips for Snappy Dialogue
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.
Punctuating Dialogue
Properly punctuating dialogue trips up even the most seasoned of writers. Bookmark this post to help you as you proofread your manuscript for submission.
The Enemies of Goal Keeping
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…
Relax! Ideas for People Who Don’t Know What to Do with Their Lives When Not Writing
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…
The Most Powerful Writing Tool
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Do you know what it is? Words don’t spring from your mind onto the page or the computer monitor. At least not yet, though I’m sure some tech genius somewhere is working on that. In the meantime, you…
A Practical Guide for Writing Goals
Discover a practical guide to writing goals by paying attention to your rhythm and stamina as a writer and the constraints your life places on your writing.
The Goal of Having Goals is Hitting Your Target | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Think about your goals before writing them down. Goals keep you focused. Pin them up where you can see them when you sit down to write. Draw a target on a sheet of paper and write your goals…
How Was Your Writing Year?
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > You can learn from failure—if you pay attention Did you achieve the goals you set? Did you exceed them? Miss by a hair or fall woefully short? Would you like to talk about something else? I would, because…
The Waiting Game
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Things to do while you’re out on submission You’ve just hit send. Your query is off to your dream agent. There are only so many times you can hit the refresh button to your email before becoming dejected.…
Tips for Winning Our Mystery First Pages Writing Contest
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Advice to take your entry to the top. Have you heard the exciting news? The Institute for Writers is now accepting submissions for its Mystery First Pages Writing Contest! Every quarter, IFW hosts a contest, and this time…
Tips for Getting Past the Gatekeeper
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > 10 reasons manuscripts are automatically rejected Before the internet, if you didn’t have a way to contact an agent, you had to mail your manuscript to their office. If the agent had not requested your manuscript, it would…
