What is a Prologue?
Occasionally, tucked somewhere between an introduction, epigraph, and dedication, a book might have a prologue. This is the story before the story. […]
Stream-of-Consciousness Writing
There’s rhythm in prose. The rhythm might be intentionally terse, like a Charles Bukowski novel, or dense and languid like the work […]
Story Arcs
Ever since humans have been able to communicate, we share stories, weaving the tapestry of our shared existence. These stories differ wildly […]
What are “Morning Pages”?
“Morning pages” is the term coined by Julia Cameron in her work The Artist’s Way used to describe the habit of sitting […]
How to Write Round Characters
If you’ve ever fallen in love with a character who jumped off the page and felt so alive that you missed them […]
Theme in Literature
Theme is a mysterious and often misunderstood term. Simply put, a theme is a unifying or dominant idea explored in a work […]
How to Start Writing a Book
Welcome! And congratulations! If you’re reading this, you are about to begin a creative journey that can bring satisfaction and a deepening […]
What is a Thematic Statement?
Your story’s thematic statement is the central argument that drives your narrative. Writers sometimes obsess over their plot to the point that […]
How to Write Dialogue
Writing dialogue can be intimidating, even for the most experienced writers. Sometimes the words feel clumsy and unnatural, or we find ourselves […]
What is the Three-Act Structure?
In his book, Poetics, Aristotle laid the foundation for story structure by stating that all stories must have a beginning, middle, and […]
The Snowflake Method of Outlining
Writing a story can sometimes seem overwhelming. Think of your favorite books. You can tell when a writer has put a great […]
Getting Past Writer’s Block
Writer’s block can feel like a brick wall in your mind. The words stop flowing and the page seems impossible to fill. […]
Purple Prose
Like all things in life, the way we write requires balance. When you look back on your first attempts at writing, you […]
Backstory: What to Reveal and When
Backstory includes all the events from your characters’ pasts, details about their origins, plus any essential background information necessary to advance the […]
Personal Narratives
All writing carries something of the writer within it, but few forms are as intimate as the stories we tell about our […]
What is the “Story Circle”?
In simple terms, storytelling consists of three things: the beginning, middle, and end. However, this basic structure can often hide extremely complicated […]
The Writing Process
Writing is an act of magic. Out of thin air you’ve conjured something and put it onto the page. People come up […]
What is Magical Realism?
Magical realism invites the impossible into the ordinary. This genre asks us to accept the fantastical without question. The supernatural appears alongside […]
