Articles
Poetry
30 Poems in 30 Days
Poetry Forms and Terms
- What is a Stanza?
- What is an Allegory?
- Rhythm and Stress
- Tercet and Triad
- Epistle
- Cinquain
- Doublets, Cinquains and Adelaide Crapsey
Expression
General Articles
- Four Ways to Publish Your Poetry
- Avoiding Poetry Contest Scams
- Wronging Writers: Don’t Get Taken
- Poetry Dot Shaft
- Bukowski
- Poetry Writing Tips
Poetry Tips Explained
- A poem with Love in the title (or Destiny, Hate, or other HUGE themes) already has two strikes against it (and I like love poems).
- The bigger your point, the more important the details are.
- Say what you want to say and let your readers decide what it means.
- Feel free to write a bad poem.
- Develop your voice. Get comfortable with how you write.
- Don’t explain everything.
- Untitled poems are lazy. They’re like unnamed children. Obviously their parent doesn’t care about them.
- People will remember an image long after they’ve forgotten why it was there.
- That one perfect line in a thirty line poem may be what makes it all worthwhile, or it may be what makes the rest of the poem bad. Keep an eye on it.
- There are many excuses not to write. Try using writing as an excuse not to do other things.
- The more you read, the more you learn. The more you write, the more you develop.
Fiction
Exercises
Character Building
- 10 Days of Character Building: Character Bio Sheets
- 10 Days of Character Building: Basing Characters on Real People
- 10 Days of Character Building: 12 Questions
- 10 Days of Character Building: Building a Character Using Multiple Perspectives
- 10 Days of Character Building: Brainstorming
- 10 Days of Character Building: Interview
- 10 Days of Character Building: Biography
- 10 Days of Character Building: Possessions
- 10 Days of Character Building: A Day in the Life
- 10 Days of Character Building: Defining Characters By Their Roles
Revising Your Novel
- Read through the first draft
- Performed a light edit
- Created a chronology
- Edited as you read
- Created an information guide
- Created a new roadmap for revision
- Added and revised scenes
- Edited with an eye towards continuity
- Had someone read and review your novel
Short Story Writing Project
- Short Story Writing Project: How do you get started?
- Short Story Writing Project: Beware of the Twilight Zone Ending
- Short Story Writing Project: To make a long story short
- Short Story Writing Project: Writing about real life events
- Short Story Writing Project: The first draft
- Short Story Writing Project: Fleshing out your world
- Short Story Writing Project: The Second Draft
Craft / Tips
- Read It Out Loud
- Lean stories get published
- Earn Your Ending
- Explaining the Unreliable Narrator
- Dialog as a Tool for Communication and Division
- Creating Memorable Characters
- Building Characters Through Adversity
- Overcoming Barriers to Self Expression
- More on Self Expression: Keep writing!
- What is an Allegory?
- Writing a Novel: The Big Idea
- Six Ways to Jump Start a Stalled Novel
- Six Tips for Writing Descriptions
- Six Quick Tips For Starting Your Story
- Six Quick Tips on Character Names
- How Setting Influences Story
- Maintaining your Novel’s Pace-Time Continuum
- The Fiction Description Prescription
- What to Do Once the Crisis is Settled
- Plotting by Elimination
- How Good is Your Bad Guy?
- Building Better Novels Through Conflict
- Are Your Characters Well Spoken, or is it Just You?
General Articles
- Formatting a Short Story for Submission to a Potential Publisher
- How do you write a role-playing character biography?
- Mainstream Erotica?
- Comic Strip Writing as a Career
Essays
- Having Your Say – Writing Personal Essays
- Perfecting Your Essay Writing Skills
- A List of Essay Writing Don’ts
- Read it Out Loud
- Autobiographical Writing: Childhood
Technical Writing
General Technical Writing Articles and Advice
- The Technical Writing FAQ
- How to Become an Expert Writer in Any Field
- Age and Technical Writing Education
- Wake Up and Smell the Technology
- Living Documentation: The Future of Technical Writing
A Six Part Guide To Technical Writing
- Overview
- What a Technical Writer Writes
- A Technical Writer’s Skill Set
- Desktop Publishing Tools
- Education
- How to Find Technical Writing Jobs
Document Hack (A Technical Writer’s Journal)
- Phone Interview
- Interview & Negotiation
- First Day
- The Acrobat & the Illustrator
- Contracting for Fun & Profit
- From Acrobat to FrameMaker
- Changing Bosses
- Boilerplate
- Visio Meets FrameMaker
- Let’s Get Visual
- Working Together Seperately
- When a Project Ends
- Document Mismanagement System
- Marketing and the Technical Writer
- Life without Editors
- Quick Review of the Quick Start Guide
- The Sinking Ship is in Beta
Writing Business
Career
- Glossary of Writing Careers
- Writing / Editing Salaries
- Beginner’s Guide To Freelancing
- Are you Ready to Freelance?
- Copywriting: Writing to Sell
- Successful Writing and Reporting for Newspapers
- Writing for City Web Sites
- How to Become an Expert Writer in any Field
Business Practices
- Working From Home
- A Penny for Your Prose
- Groups and Association for Writers
- Track your submissions
- Deadlines and How to Make Them Work For You
- Dial E for Editor
Self Marketing
- Sending Effective Press Releases
- How to Sell Articles to Weekly Newspapers
- Benevolent Dictators: The Truth About Editors
- Finding Your Market
- Promoting Your Services: Buy Business Cards
- Creative Ways to Make Money Writing
- The Tricky Art of Self-Publishing
- Escaping the Slush Pile
- The Dangers of Writing on Spec
- Prospecting for Markets
- How to Write a Query Letter
- The Query Trap
- Compiling Quizzes
- Getting Started in Newspaper Freelancing
Freelancing
Introductory
- The Beginner’s Guide To Freelance Writing
- Are you Ready to Freelance?
- Getting Started in Newspaper Freelancing
- A Penny for Your Prose
Business and Marketing
- Creative Ways to Make Money Writing
- Track your submissions
- Wronging Writers: Don’t Get Taken
- Some Business Advice for Writers
- Freelance Writing Advice
- The Dangers of Writing on Spec
- Prospecting for Markets
- Finding Your Market
Process
- Escaping the Slush Pile
- Compiling Quizzes
- The Query Trap
- Overcoming the Fear of Writing a Synopsis
- Dial E for Editor
- So You Want To Be A Christian Writer?
- Writing for City Web Sites
- Benevolent Dictators: The Truth About Editors
Publishing
The Publishing Business
- Publish America Ordered to Repay Author
- Mainstream Erotica
- The Rise of the Literary Paperback
- Poetry Dot Shaft
Self Publishing
- The Tricky Art of Self-Publishing
- Who Should Self Publish
- Sending Effective Press Releases
- Clarification About Self Publishing
- Four Ways to Publish Your Poetry
Working With Publishers
- Lean stories get published
- Wronging Writers: Don’t Get Taken
- The Basics of Book Profits
- How to Find Publishing Industry Jobs
- Formatting a Short Story for Submission to a Potential Publisher
