Writing Techniques

Most popular posts

A game is made of different copyright licenses to suggest that learning how to copyright a book may be a fun endeavor

How to Copyright a Book Like a Pro

In the world of digital publishing, intellectual property protection is more vital today than ever. Whether you are self-publishing on...

A series of scrabble tiles placed on a plain white sheet of paper to suggest the fun of choosing effective descriptive adjectives

Descriptive Adjectives: Choosing Words That Create Emotion  

Almost every writer has, at some point, re-read something they worked hard on and realized it wasn’t quite right. It...

A series of characters that are meant to be used as tattoos demonstrate the idea of character ideas

Character Ideas

The best character ideas do not arrive fully formed. They arrive as a series of questions. Who is this person?...

A picture of photographs in a wooden crate suggests examples of memoirs to help writers find their own stories

Examples of Memoirs: What Great Memoirs Can Teach You About Storytelling

A memoir is not simply a retelling of your life story. It’s about finding meaning in your experiences and shaping...

A car stuck in a snowstorm represents the struggle of a writer who has lost the plot

Lost the Plot: What To Do When You Get Stuck

For all our enthusiasm when we start a story, it’s easy to get stuck and realize we lost the plot...

Sage archetype visualized here by a swami with a book in hand, statue, portrayal of ethos

The Sage Archetype: The Gift and Burden of Knowing 

We’ve all read stories with a mentor figure The elderly woman who lives at the outskirts of the village and...

A magnifying glass held up to a piece of writing suggests a close examination of work to observe its subtext
Blog
Alan Watt

What is Subtext?

For writers, implying subtext can be difficult, but it is also essential. The challenge lies in knowing what needs to be said

Read More »
Motorcyclists on a curved track conveys the fast-paced action of a story following the fichtean curve
Blog
Alan Watt

The Fichtean Curve

The Fichtean Curve takes a different approach from other story structure models. Most structure templates take a little time to establish the

Read More »
A woman yawns at her desk to suggest that passive voice misuse makes her very sleepy
Blog
Alan Watt

Passive Voice Misuse

You may have heard the conventional wisdom that passive voice misuse means it should be stricken from your writing entirely. While it

Read More »
A sign says please do not use quotation marks for emphasis to humorously suggest that quoting poems correctly is quite important
Blog
Alan Watt

How to Quote a Poem 

Writers often quote a poem within their own work. This can help to set the tone, build deeper thematic connections, or key

Read More »
An image of the painting by Muntz Lyall - Interesting Story - to make the authors reading this post feel that story structure is accessible, native, and important for readers of any gender or age to enjoy their work
Blog
Alan Watt

Story Structure

Think of story structure as the skeleton of your tale. We all have different lives, different styles, different appearances. But for the

Read More »
A woman is being chased by a stork in a picture used to represent historical fiction and the many ways it creates powerful images for readers.
Blog
Alan Watt

Historical Fiction

If you’ve found yourself enchanted by tales of a bygone era, you’re likely a fan of historical fiction.  In this genre, the

Read More »
Every writer wants to know how to write faster, a race car visualizes how you may speed up your process in time
Blog
Alan Watt

How to Write Faster

Every writer at one time or another thinks: I need to write faster. The page is blank. The clock is ticking. And

Read More »
Featured image for flash fiction. It's fast, it's fun, and it's meant to go by in a blur. Hopefully the intention and quickness you embrace in the simplicity brings you closer to the writing and it evokes feelings of this image as a writer
Blog
Alan Watt

Flash Fiction

If you want to become a better writer, flash fiction is a powerful way to strengthen your storytelling muscles. Flash fiction is

Read More »
A nondescript white woman paints a realistic image of hands for the blog realistic fiction. perhaps the writer reading the article may be able to imagine themselves as a painter making something realistic too
Blog
Alan Watt

Realistic Fiction

There’s a particular kind of courage in writing about the world as it actually is. Although our imaginations can take us to

Read More »
A winding road used as a visual metaphor to conceptualize how foreshadowing may be utilized by a writer in the plot of a novel, movie, or play
Blog
Alan Watt

Foreshadowing examples

Can you recall some of the most well-executed foreshadowing examples in books you’ve read? Or in your favorite films? In a great

Read More »
People in an art gallery taking photos of different walls, a woman with a child in a carriage taking a picture of a wall with the word "Euphemism" on it to visualize the art of euphemism
Blog
Alan Watt

The Art of Euphemism 

Sometimes honesty means not saying the thing outright. Master the art of euphemism to deepen character voices and explore the power of subtext.

Read More »
Three windows on a yellow wall opened to different lengths, a visual metaphor to represent the progression in a rule of three
Blog
Alan Watt

The Rule of Three

Master the rule of three to create satisfying patterns, memorable character trios, and a rhythmic story structure that resonates with your readers.

Read More »

Recent posts

A series of scrabble tiles placed on a plain white sheet of paper to suggest the fun of choosing effective descriptive adjectives

Descriptive Adjectives: Choosing Words That Create Emotion  

Almost every writer has, at some point, re-read something they worked hard on and realized it wasn’t quite right. It...

Image of the Egyptian God Thoth — representative of the third person objective point of view in myth

Third Person Objective – Point of View

Previously, I went over third person omniscient and third person limited points of view. There’s one more to consider: third...

A magnifying glass held up to a piece of writing suggests a close examination of work to observe its subtext

What is Subtext?

For writers, implying subtext can be difficult, but it is also essential. The challenge lies in knowing what needs to...

Motorcyclists on a curved track conveys the fast-paced action of a story following the fichtean curve

The Fichtean Curve

The Fichtean Curve takes a different approach from other story structure models. Most structure templates take a little time to...

A woman yawns at her desk to suggest that passive voice misuse makes her very sleepy

Passive Voice Misuse

You may have heard the conventional wisdom that passive voice misuse means it should be stricken from your writing entirely....

A sign says please do not use quotation marks for emphasis to humorously suggest that quoting poems correctly is quite important

How to Quote a Poem 

Writers often quote a poem within their own work. This can help to set the tone, build deeper thematic connections,...

A picture of a comic panel where someone bursts into a room with a word description to help understand what is onomatopoeia

What is Onomatopoeia? How Sound Brings Your Writing to Life 

As a writer, your goal is to keep your readers immersed by drawing them into the world your characters inhabit....

An image of the painting by Muntz Lyall - Interesting Story - to make the authors reading this post feel that story structure is accessible, native, and important for readers of any gender or age to enjoy their work

Story Structure

Think of story structure as the skeleton of your tale. We all have different lives, different styles, different appearances. But...

A woman is being chased by a stork in a picture used to represent historical fiction and the many ways it creates powerful images for readers.

Historical Fiction

If you’ve found yourself enchanted by tales of a bygone era, you’re likely a fan of historical fiction.  In this...

Every writer wants to know how to write faster, a race car visualizes how you may speed up your process in time

How to Write Faster

Every writer at one time or another thinks: I need to write faster. The page is blank. The clock is...

Pictured: a café that has a sign out front that employs alliteration and immediately evokes a strong feeling that answers any reader who asks the question: "What is alliteration?"

What Is Alliteration? (And How to Use It in Your Writing)

One of the best pieces of writing advice I ever got was: read your work aloud. When you do, you...

A child feeling sand for the first time is one of the images we understand to be evocative of sensory details.

How to Use Sensory Details in Your Story

Your goal as a writer is to immerse your readers fully in your story, to help them experience what it...

Featured image for flash fiction. It's fast, it's fun, and it's meant to go by in a blur. Hopefully the intention and quickness you embrace in the simplicity brings you closer to the writing and it evokes feelings of this image as a writer

Flash Fiction

If you want to become a better writer, flash fiction is a powerful way to strengthen your storytelling muscles. Flash...

A nondescript white woman paints a realistic image of hands for the blog realistic fiction. perhaps the writer reading the article may be able to imagine themselves as a painter making something realistic too

Realistic Fiction

There’s a particular kind of courage in writing about the world as it actually is. Although our imaginations can take...

A winding road used as a visual metaphor to conceptualize how foreshadowing may be utilized by a writer in the plot of a novel, movie, or play

Foreshadowing examples

Can you recall some of the most well-executed foreshadowing examples in books you’ve read? Or in your favorite films? In...

People in an art gallery taking photos of different walls, a woman with a child in a carriage taking a picture of a wall with the word "Euphemism" on it to visualize the art of euphemism

The Art of Euphemism 

Sometimes honesty means not saying the thing outright. Master the art of euphemism to deepen character voices and explore the...
Three windows on a yellow wall opened to different lengths, a visual metaphor to represent the progression in a rule of three

The Rule of Three

Master the rule of three to create satisfying patterns, memorable character trios, and a rhythmic story structure that resonates with...
Two jesters in frame wearing yellow depicting the visual carrier of satire.

Satire: Turning Humor into Insight

Understand satire, a technique that allows you to smuggle truth into critiques of power by critical construction of context and...