Busy, What to Do When You Have a Lack of Time to Write
How address your lack of time to write in the middle of holiday chaos.
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…
Creating Quality Dialogue
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > A while ago on the Institute’s Facebook page, someone was asking about dialogue, which made me think again about this important writing tool. Readers love dialogue because it makes a scene and a…
How to Choose Your Educational Writing Sample | IFW
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The Secrets to Samples Many of us who write for educational publishers are very familiar with samples. These are the bits of writing publishers use to judge whether you’re a writer who…
How Does It All End?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Talking about how to end a book or story is a bit harder than talking about how to begin one. The first paragraph of a book doesn’t really count as a spoiler…
When It All Starts to Sag
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Momentum is a delicate thing in writing. Sometimes you start out revving along in a novel, falling in love with your main character, fascinated by the situation you’re creating and cranking out…
Writers Make the Best Friends
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing can be a lonely art form. Unlike performance artists, you don’t have audience reaction to rev you up. And sometimes family and friends aren’t incredibly supportive, especially during the early years…
Once Upon a Time
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Every story has a beginning. The best beginnings grab our attention and make us eager to read on. The best beginnings give a sense of sort of story we’re going to get…
Your Brain on Writing
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For me, being a writer is more than something I do. It’s something I am. A writer is always a writer, whether sitting before a computer or picking up a pen and…
Villainy
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Almost any strong plot is basically a story of someone’s struggle against something. That something is the villain of your story. Now sometimes you have a real human villain. If your story…
What To Do on the Hard Days
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > People often tell me how lucky I am to make a profession from something I enjoy deeply. And I am thrilled that this has been possible for me. I love being a…
Should I Contact This Publisher?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As writers we can easily get caught up in the mode of looking for anyone who will accept us. This is especially true early on in our writing careers, but all publishers…
Behold the Spider
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I was recently at the Highlights Foundation and had the opportunity to read the guest book journal in my cabin. A couple of the guests talked about a large spider they cohabitated…
Succeeding with Digital Submissions
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > When I began submitting to editors, no one used email. Okay, I’m sort of old and no one actually had email. Submissions were sent through the postal mail, so they were typed.…
Trade Secrets: Which Ones Should We Keep?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Recently I was watching a video where an artist was talking about “trade secrets” in art. He was recounting the times when he was just beginning in art and people would refuse…
Revise Your View of Revision
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers love revision. In fact, for many, the rough draft is something to be rushed through to get to the real “fun,” the revision. I’m not one of those writers. I…
8 Tips for Writer’s Websites
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Creating a writer’s website can be daunting, especially if it’s your first.Does it have to cost a lot? Should you hire someone to design it? How often do you need to update?…
Tips and Tricks for Planning a Series
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As of today, I have created three original series and written for several others where I had a fairly free hand in shaping the series beyond the original concept. I’ve worked on…
5 Tips for Writing a Strong Synopsis | Institute for Writers
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For most writers, there are few things more reviled than writing a synopsis of a book manuscript or short story. What do you put in? What do you leave out? Why is…
Time to Write
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I know folks who lament about not having time to write. They’d do it if they just had time. If they could quit work. If they didn’t have so much care-giving they…
