Creative Writing Blog

How To Edit Your Writing By Trimming

Sun, 2 Jun 2013 00:26:49 -0400

Edit your writing by trimming out the unnecessary words. Writers often get attached to their words but often taking out the excess words can strengthen your writing by getting to the point faster.

Interview with Cameo Rowe

Sun, 2 Jun 2013 00:25:24 -0400

Author Cameo Rowe talks about writing, his new novel, and self-publishing

Writing For The Love Or For The Money?

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 16:43:25 -0500

I have always been passionate about writing. When I was 5-years old, I started writing my own diary. Every night, I would write about what had happened

Contribute to Creative Writing

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 08:50:44 -0500

Would you like to share your knowledge about creative writing? Great, find out how you can submit your story or tip here.

Are Fiction Writers Born Or Bred

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:28:54 -0400

Are good fiction writers born or bred? Writers come to fiction from many different careers. Is it possible to get good or is in an innate skill?

What Is Creative Nonfiction?

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:27:25 -0400

What is creative nonfiction? What separates it from the standard essay or journalistic article? Like art, in some cases, it's in the eye of the beholder.

Write Readable Fiction

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:58:54 -0400

Write better fiction. It's easy to get carried away when writing fiction, but remember, you're writing fiction to be read. Keep these tips in mind and you'll write fiction that gets read.

Creative Writing Edits - 10 Quick Creative Writing Fixes

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:40:51 -0400

Why does editing your writing have to be so brutal? It doesn't. Try these 10 quick fixes before you go make too many major changes.

Free Writing Tips To Overcome Writer's Block

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:10:32 -0400

Free writing tips that let you kiss writer's block goodbye. How to stop suffering from writers block and fill the page with great creative writing.

How To Write Articles Quickly: The Creative Writer's Desk

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:17:45 -0400

You want to write articles with great content but you also want to write them quickly. It's not impossible. Here are a few tips that can boost the speed you write articles

How To Sell Your Articles

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:28:13 -0400

One of the easiest ways to make money online is to sell your articles. There are several ways to do this, some are easier than others and some are much more profitable.

How To Avoid And Overcome Writer's Block

Sun, 19 Apr 2009 22:47:35 -0400

Writer's Block can strike at any time. If you know the best techniques to avoid and overcome it, you'll be back on the path to getting the words right before you know it.

How To Edit Your Writing By Elaborating

Tue, 7 Apr 2009 17:54:14 -0400

When you edit your writing, you're not always going to be cutting things out and fixing your punctuation. Part of the job is making sure that the writing is powerful. That means you have to elaborate

Review of "Writer's Guide To Character Traits" by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D.

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:29:12 -0400

Writer's Guide to Character Traits is is a classic reference for writers who want to create realistic and distinct characters. Written by Dr. Linda Edelstein, a practicing psychologist.

How To Get Creative Writing Jobs

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:12:20 -0400

The biggest challenge that a writer faces is how to find his or her first few creative writing jobs. How do you approach a client? How do you convince someone to pay you for your words?

There are only two ways to do it (at least, only two ways that I've ever heard of that actually work). There's the passive way and the aggressive way. They both have their challenges.

Overcome Writer's Block

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 07:45:06 -0400

By Nick Usborne

Writer's block is one of those problems that somehow defies a clear description or explanation.

It's tough to tie down and be clear about what it really is, simply because every writer's experience of writer's block is a little different.

But the end result is the same...one day we are writing well and productively. And the next day we come to a grinding halt.

Writer's block can slow down or halt our writing progress for a couple of hours, a couple of days or for even longer.

So what's the answer? How do we deal with it?

Write For You

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:56:27 -0500

You hear it all the time, "write for you." But why is it important? Think about this- The very best fiction a writer wrote for someone else is mediocre. I mean the kind of fiction that was written entirely for someone else. Fiction that the author would never read if he hadn't written it. Don't make that mistake. Write for you.

Good fiction is a part of the writer. It's an extension of his or her passion for the story. If the writer has no passion for a story, that story becomes nothing more than a plot and characters moving around in a black and white world. It's the author's passion that colors that world.

The Passing of A Literary Great

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:17:29 -0500

Today I heard the sad news that Author John Updike has passed away.

USA today did a great obituary. If you have a chance pick up a copy some time today.

There are a lot of good writers still working today but there are very few who are as renowned as Updike. I may feel even more strong of an attachment to him since we were both born in the same city, Reading, Pennsylvania.

If you aren't familiar with Updike's work, I reccomend picking up a copy of one of his many books or visiting The New Yorker where they still have a nice collection of his work available on-line.

Updike wrote with passion and succinctly beautiful prose. He will be missed

Emotional Writing: Making Your Readers Cry (or Laugh, or Smile, or Frown, or Cringe)

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:12:25 -0500

For years my writing has suffered from my education. It started in High School. Teachers in High School aren't interested in good writing, they're interested in formulaic writing.

Start with a thesis in the first paragraph of your introduction. Body paragraph one. Body paragraph two. Restate thesis in the conclusion.

Essentially, they want you to write so that any idiot can understand it but no one will ever want to read it. Even in high school I knew that there was better writing out there.

Then I went to college and majored in writing. I was drowned in lectures about journalistic objectivity and balancing points of view. My teacher was an editor at City's local paper.

I should have known by reading the paper what kind of writing I was learning. No one reads the newspaper anymore. They're boring.

But my education taught me all the fundamentals of "good writing."

Glutton's Guide to Creative Ideas

Mon, 5 Jan 2009 10:35:45 -0500

One of Henry's Creative Ideas. Jan 5, 2008

I don't have time to deal with writer's block anymore. There's no room for it in my schedule. It's not that I don't get stuck anymore. I get stuck just as much as I used to but now I can't afford to sit at my desk with my head in my hands wondering what I should do.

I just move on.

When you cook your dinner, do you make just an entree or do you have side dishes and salads and deserts to supplement the main dish? Do you work your way diligently through them one at a time or do you jump from one to the other and back again, depending on which has caught your eye at the moment?

Probably the later. If not, try it. It'll improve your dining experience.

Writer's block isn't usually a lack of ability to do any writing. More often it's a problem with only one project. By having a feast of projects you can easily shift your attention from one to the other. You don't have to beat writer's block. You can just pick around it.

Literary vs. Genre

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:29:39 -0500

Posted by Henry on December 22

Neil Gaiman was just asked a question in his blog (which is probably the best author blog out there) about his thoughts on the difference between literary fiction and Genre fiction.

Neil's response-

"I don't worry about it. I don't think about it. It's not something I feel I need to bother with. People put the books where they want to put them, but the books don't change. As long as I have covers that make the books like they might be pleasant reading experiences, as long as people mostly find out about them from other people who liked them rather than being told they needed to read them as a chore, I'm happy. (I'm easily satisfied.)

From where I stand, worrying about how something you are writing is going to be received critically while you're writing it is a whole lot of wasted worrying: there's nothing you can do about it anyway. Why not worry about making what you're writing the best thing that it can be, which is something you can do something about?"

And that's exactly how I feel on the subject. It's just a whole lot more interesting when Neil Gaiman says it.

Happy Holidays everyone. I'll see you back at the desk in 2009.

Why You Haven't Already Written 2,412 Books

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 13:42:40 -0500

Posted by Henry on December 18

Don't "Write what you know."

First, because it's one of the most abused cliches for writers.

Second, it's a creativity killer.

Some teachers and friends will tell you that you already have enough knowledge and experience to write a dozen books. Maybe a hundred books! Maybe A Million Books!!

...maybe not.

I'm sure you know enough junk to write a million books, but seriously, no one wants to read a million books about your weekly work schedule or how you brush your teeth.

The real problem is that what you know isn't always what other people need to know.

Like it or not, most of your experiences are shared by the people who will read your book. They already know what it's like to fall in love, break up, have a father/mother die, or do any one of the equally boring tasks that we mindlessly walk through everyday.

You might be able to take your life's story and turn it into one book, but you'd have to find an angle for it. You'd have to put some spin on your life. Luckily, there is a lot of stuff that people want to know about that you can put in your life’s story.

Reaching Your Writing Goals

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:04:20 -0500

Writing Goals- posted by Henry on December 15, 2008.

Sit down today and write a 300-page novel. Go ahead. Send it to me when you're done and I'll tell you what I think.

If you did it, I think it's amazing.

But you didn't do it and you're laughing at me right now. No one can write that fast. It's impossible. You'd have to type at 80 words per minute for 12 solid hours without taking a break to sip your coffee or reflect on what you've done.

Even if you have that kind of energy, you won't have time to develop characters, plot, or any of the other elements that make fiction successful.

Ok, so slow it down. Write a 300-page novel in a week. No? Writing goals need to be realistic.

How 'bout a month?

A month is more like it. It's still a tall order but hundreds of people do it every year. Every November actually, for National Novel Writing Month.

If you don't know about it, you should. It's more commonly referred to as NaNoWrMo. Every November 1- 30, thousands of people across the world log on and write. The goal is 50,000 words in a month.

It's difficult and most people who register don't finish. In most cases, those who do finish have a poor quality first draft but they get a lot more out of it than that. They've learned what it takes to become a novelist.

Those who finish the NaNoWrMo challenge start work on their novel before November 1. They plan, plot, develop characters, and set daily writing goals through most of October so when November 1 rolls around, they can jump in with a head start.

I've never participated in NaNoWrMo but I admire those who do and finish. It's a good way to kick start your writing life.

There are a couple things that you can take away from the experience that will be valuable to you for your entire writing life.

The first is planning. Most people who start a novel don't have a plan. That's why most people who start a novel don't finish. It's impossible to plan every aspect of your book, but having a solid idea of your major plot points will set you ahead of most of the wannabe novelists out there.

Even, more important that planning is goal setting.

Increase Your Odds of Getting Published with a Killer Query Letter

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 07:57:39 -0500

A query letter post by Henry on December 12, 2008

Dont send a Query Letter if you made stoopid mistakes

You've finished that manuscript you've been working on. The perfect story/article/column/whatever it is you're writing.

You're ready to send it out for the world to see. There's only one problem. The publisher or agent is only going to glance at for a moment before tossing it on her to-look-at-eventually pile.

A month or so goes by before she gets around to reading it. By that time she's had to go through the pile of material that's been thrown on top of yours. If you're going to get her beyond the first paragraph after reading 10 other manuscripts, you're going to have to work fast.

The most common mistakes- the ones that are sure to make an editor or agent skip your writing, are easily avoidable. Poor spelling and grammar, crazy fonts, ignoring Submission Guidelines- you know better than that.

If you don't, you probably need to go back and practice before you're ready to submit. There's no shame in it and the writing isn't wasted. It's a learning experience. The next attempt is always better.

But your copy is edited well, you've fixed the grammatical errors hiding in the dark corners of your text and you've run spell check... twice.

That gives you a much better shot- but it's still just that. A blind shot. You're hoping that the reader is going to select your writing out of a stack of names she doesn't know.

Get to know your Narrator

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:07:29 -0500

You're familiar with the three basic points of view- first person, second person, and third person. You've probably experimented with all three in different stories. It seems pretty simple but there's more to think about than just the pronouns. Think about your story in terms of the narrator.

Every story is told in someone's voice. In the first person point of view, that voice belongs to the main character. In second and third person, it's the voice through which the reader learns what the characters are doing. If you're more of a visual person, here's another way to conceptualize it. In a film, that voice, the narrator, is camera angles and cuts that make up the final product. Simply stated, he's the story's delivery boy.

Since he's how the audience hears the story, spend as much time developing him as the rest of the characters.

A New Look

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:02:02 -0500

The Creative Writer's Desk is undergoing some changes so things might get a little messy around here for a week or so.

I'm going to have everything up and running as it should be by the new year. You'll still have access to all the helpful articles and links while we're rebuilding the site, they may just look a little different.

But if you find any broken links or are having any kind of trouble finding your way around let me know about it . You can also tell me what you think of the new look.

Posted by Henry. December 10, 2008

Know Your Narrator

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:29:56 -0500

Who is the narrator of your story. There's more to picking a narrator than deciding which pronoun to use.

Learn To Write From Obama

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 16:43:54 -0500

President Obama is one of the most powerful speakers of the century. He also has plenty to teach you about writing.

Evoke An Image

Wed, 5 Nov 2008 21:38:48 -0500

Good writing should evoke an image in the readers mind. Use concrete language to achieve this goal.

Ready for Rewriting

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:17:25 -0400

The first draft is done. It's time for rewriting. How to rewrite without destroying what you've already done.

Writer's Block: Top Five Fears.

Sat, 4 Oct 2008 14:27:58 -0400

Writer's block, the top five fears that cause it and how to get over them.