Writing Techniques

Most popular posts

A woman with an umbrella looks sullenly into a window of a storefront to provide internal conflict examples

Internal Conflict Examples: 3 Powerful Ways to Create Character Transformation 

If your narrative drive is stalling, your protagonist could be missing the most vital engine for character transformation: a powerful...

Characters drawn on papers suggest that character sheets are physical illustrations that offer details that just characterize something

Character Sheet Template: The Secret Tool for Creating Unforgettable Characters

A character sheet template can be the difference between a character who feels real on the page and one who...

Empty pages of books in motion on a pink background suggest the question: how many words per page?

How Many Words Per Page in a Book?

Have you ever found yourself comparing the length of your manuscript to other books, and wondering if you’ve written too...

Someone sits by a marked up sheet of music to suggest what is rhythm in writing

What is Rhythm? How to Bring Your Writing to Life

Rhythm is one of those craft issues that writers talk around without really discussing. They might lump it in with...

People gather around material in a professional work setting to suggest the value of a critique circle to professional effort

The Critique Circle Every Serious Writer Eventually Needs

Is there value in joining a critique circle?  Writing is one of the most solitary of all professions. You sit...

A woman looks out in the foreground with a map in her hand pointing into the distance of lush trees to suggest that avoiding plagiarism has a natural vibe filled with light and leisure

The No-Excuses Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism seems like a simple task: Just don’t steal someone else’s work. But when you’re immersed in research with...

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

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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 »

Recent posts

Someone sits by a marked up sheet of music to suggest what is rhythm in writing

What is Rhythm? How to Bring Your Writing to Life

Rhythm is one of those craft issues that writers talk around without really discussing. They might lump it in with...

A woman at attention watching someone perform in the foreground and a captive audience behind her suggest the way to write a cumulative sentence that would pull an audience in.

The Cumulative Sentence: How to Write Lines that Pull Readers In

The cumulative sentence is a versatile sentence structure that helps writers develop rhythm, reveal character, and enrich description within a...

A travel guide in the center of frame telling everyone else about something passionately as a visual metaphor for how writers can use dialogue tags in their storytelling

Dialogue Tags: The Art of Guiding Conversation 

Dialogue tags are essential to keeping up the illusion of storytelling. Dialogue ceases to be words on a page, and...

A painterly illustration of the scapegoat to suggest an approach to writing one effectively in literature

The Scapegoat: Why Your Characters Need Someone to Blame

Typically, we view a scapegoat simply as a plot device — an innocent bystander blamed for a criminal act, or...

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...