Pro tips for avoiding clichéd characters in fiction
Banish those walking clichés from your work for good with these tips.
Jack Smith
Pro tips for writing the ending of your novels and short stories
How to successfully navigate the last chapter of your work.
Spark, flicker, zap: Using catalysts to jump-start your fiction
How authors can best harness inspirational “sparks” and turn them into full-fledged works of fiction.
From mess to success: A writer’s guide to revision
A no-fear guide to revising your novel.
Pro tips for writing and publishing speculative fiction
Seasoned writers explain what speculative fiction is, and literary agents share how you can get it published.
When verse meets prose
How writing poems can enhance your fiction – and vice versa.
Understanding irony in fiction
Learn the differences between the three basic kinds of irony, verbal, dramatic, and situation, and how to incorporate them in your writing.
Finding the heart of your story
Authors share their tips and advice for discovering the essence of your story or novel.
What’s the best thing you can do to improve your writing?
Top authors advise how to make your fiction work improve tenfold, and provide steps to making it happen.
Do you really have to write every day?
What does an ideal writing life look like? We asked successful authors to share their essential goals, habits, and routines.
Here are the books that writers should have on their summer reading list
Five authors suggest novels you should add to your summer reading list to help improve your writing.
Setting the tone: How to handle voice in your fiction
Authors provide tips for how to find and create voice in your writing that will resonate with readers.
Pub crawl: Editors and publishers discuss the fate of literary novels
Smaller presses, with an eye toward excellence and craft, may hold the key to publication. But you’ll need patience and persistence to unlock the doors, say these successful editors and publishers.
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Figurative language in fiction: Putting words to work
Figurative language in fiction results in deeper meanings and poetic beauty, and puts your words to work.
Writing magical realism: The ultimate guide
How modern writers seamlessly blend fantasy with reality.
Is the memoir market oversaturated?
We took a trip down memoir-y lane and asked: What makes a memoir truly great? What’s the best way to sell one? And – gulp – is this megapopular market finally oversaturated? Memoirists, agents, and publishers speak out.
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Filtering fact through fiction
The blessings and perils of writing autobiographical fiction.
Augusten Burroughs is bold, frank, and fearless in his search for personal truth
Aspiring memoirists should take note from the New York Times best-selling author.
Tips on handling the omniscient POV in fiction
Is “playing god” the right POV for your story?
Expert tips for writing the best flash fiction
Flash fiction has never been hotter. Here’s our guide for how to write it – and where to sell it.
Christine Sneed interview: Le mot juste
Novelist Christine Sneed shares advice for making every page a work of poetry.
Alice Hoffman interview: Story magic
This best-selling author is a master of blending the real and the fantastic.
The novella: Stepping stone to success or waste of time?
Writers and editors weigh in.
Viet Thanh Nguyen: From both sides
In fiction and nonfiction alike, this Pulitzer Prize winner aims to shed fresh light on war, race, culture, and, ultimately, our humanity.
How to find your novel’s structure
Five writers share processes for developing frameworks that allow stories to stand on their own.
When to use the second-person POV in fiction
Should you take a chance with the most challenging POV?
How to conduct, manage, & cull research in fiction
Research is just as essential in contemporary novels as it is in historical ones.
Tim O’Brien: The things he carries
For Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam War has remained a crucible in his fiction, but the power of imagination and memory, and ‘our elusive interior worlds,’ loom large too.
Sue Monk Kidd: How I Write
“Allow yourself to write badly in the beginning. That’s good tried and true advice. And then let it evolve as you rewrite.”
In good humor: Using comedy in fiction
How do you want to approach the comedy in your fiction?
Elizabeth Strout is there
Although she has lived in New York City for most of her life, Elizabeth Strout looks to her home state of Maine for stories. Turns out, you can get there from here.
Adam Johnson: How I Write
“Each narrative you tell has to discover itself completely anew.”
In the shadow of terror
In her debut novel, Vaddey Ratner looks to her personal memories about fleeing the Khmer Rouge and to creative spirit as an artist to honor the lives of the fallen.
Russell Banks’ currency
The novelist talks about developing character, crafting stories and the passion necessary for both.