Writing Techniques

Most popular posts

A woman whose style of singing sets her apart from the crowd is a simple and effective metaphor for how to visualize the ways to describe a voice for characters to be distinguished from one another easily

Ways to Describe a Voice

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called the human voice “the organ of the soul.” Writers must become skilled organists to differentiate and...

Image of the caucasus mountains used to visualize the 10,000 hour rule and how it can be applied to you, above in the background are high mountain peaks certainly worth climbing but in the foreground is a lake that suggests a serenity and calm in the achievement of joy

10,000 Hour Rule on Mastering Skills

“It takes 10,000 hours to truly master anything. Time spent leads to experience; experience leads to proficiency; and the more...

Deciding the question of "how long should a screenplay should be?" is a process of measurement against the demands of an audience, your work, and yourself that is much akin to the physical process of measuring something with a tape measure a few times over.

How Long Should a Screenplay Be?

Screenplays usually land around 90 to 120 pages. And the reason involves both technical considerations and the practical realities of...

When great character name ideas are conceived, they want to be used. The characters will want to employ themselves into personage that will go stamp themselves in the world, as visualized by rocks in a river with people's names painted onto them.

Character Name Ideas

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”– William Shakespeare,...

A visual metaphor for how an author chooses how many words in a chapter there 'ought to be. The language itself is like a large crop field, and those selected for a novel are like a great harvest of produce, from which one must batch together sections of produce to cordon into chapters.

How Many Words in a Chapter?

Authors often struggle to figure out when to add chapter breaks and how to properly split up their novel or...

Literary agents are often one of the main factors in the success of your book. Pictured is a literary agent alone in a conference room working hard on getting your book published — cool corporate lighting

Literary Agents: Steps to Securing Representation

Literary agents serve as the link between writers and the publishing houses that print and market their books. They’re often...

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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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Two people reading a newspaper named intertextuality for comedic effect
Blog
Alan Watt

Intertextuality

The active usage of intertextuality prevents passivity in archetype, story, and statement to give an author singular purpose through historical context.

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Recent posts

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...
Two people reading a newspaper named intertextuality for comedic effect

Intertextuality

The active usage of intertextuality prevents passivity in archetype, story, and statement to give an author singular purpose through historical...
paradox

Paradox in Writing: Revealing Truth Through Contradiction

“The way of paradoxes is the way of truth. To test reality we must see it on the tight-rope.”– Oscar...

hyperbole

Hyperbole: When Exaggeration Strengthens Story

Hyperbole is how we speak when ordinary language isn’t big enough. Do you remember your first heartbreak? Even though you...

extended metaphor

Extended Metaphors: Turning Simple Comparisons into Lasting Impact

Metaphors are one of the first additions to our writing toolbox, usually paired with the simile in our high school...

Prologue

What is a Prologue? How and When to Use One

Occasionally, tucked somewhere between an introduction, epigraph, and dedication, a book might have a prologue. This is the story before...

theme in literature

Theme in Literature Explained (With Examples & Tips)

Theme is a mysterious and often misunderstood term. Simply put, a theme is a unifying or dominant idea explored in...

worldbuilding

Worldbuilding: A Step-by-Step Writer’s Guide

Crafting a compelling story comes with several responsibilities. You are in charge of creating the plot, the characters, the prose,...

How to Write Dialogue

How to Write Dialogue that Sounds Authentic

Writing dialogue can be intimidating, even for the most experienced writers. Sometimes the words feel clumsy and unnatural, or we...

novella

What is a Novella? Key Characteristics Explained

Some of literature’s greatest stories aren’t in novel form at all, but a different kind of prose. Rich characters like...

purple prose

Purple Prose: When Lyrical Language Goes Too Far

Like all things in life, the way we write requires balance. When you look back on your first attempts at...

magical realism

Magical Realism: Writing Wonder into the Everyday

Magical realism invites the impossible into the ordinary. This genre asks us to accept the fantastical without question. The supernatural...

parallelism

Parallelism: Crafting Meaning in Repetition

There’s no rhythm without some repeated notes. Certain literary and rhetorical devices are so ingrained in how we speak and...