Writing a Short Story vs a Novel
The pros and cons of shorter stories—and how to tell what length is right for you.
Writing: Page 11
Lessons From the Terrible Writing of Sword of Shannara, Chapter 1
A meandering, flair-over-substance approach spoils this Tolkienesque opening.
Ten Quick Style 101 Exercises
Try these tricks for spicing up your sentences.
Conveying Character Emotion
How to make your protagonist's feeling pop out of the page.
Pacing Your Dialogue
How your characters' conversations can pump up the drama.
Shaping the Sound of Your Dialogue
How to craft your conversations to sound realistic on the page.
Labeling Your Dialogue
How to keep your tags important while making them invisible.
Episode 43: Using Feedback on Your Writing
Chris, Mike, and Oren discuss the difficulties that come with revising a story based on feedback.
Nine Questions to Ask About Your Draft
How to spot the biggest potential pitfalls for your story.
Three Writing Exercises for Better Characters
Use these tricks to deepen your story's stars.
Establishing and Transitioning Atmosphere
How to make your story's feeling and setting believable—including when you change it.
Establishing and Satisfying Plot Threads
How to keep your story on track from beginning to end.
Establishing Important Characters
How to establish who's the star of the show—and stick to that promise.
Seven Tips for Receiving Feedback
How you can make criticism as constructive as possible.
Five Books on Writing Fantasy, Compared
What these guides will and won't teach you about crafting fantastical stories.
Should You Show or Tell?
How far you should zoom your story in—and when you should zoom out.
Staying Interested in Your Work
How to maintain investment in the stories you craft, even when it wanes.
Should You Outline?
Whether or not to plan your story's big points from the outset—and what you can do instead.
Six Tips for Doing More With Less
How to get your story elements firing on all cylinders.
The Penguin Cat