Writing Lessons
Hone your skills by using our writing lessons. These lessons have been carefully developed by professional editors, published authors, and writing professors.
Writing Lessons Learn, grow, and refresh your skills with your peers
Point of View Sep 29, 2009
Synopsis: Styles in writing change over time, and the current trend is to have one point of view per scene or chapter (unless you’re writing first person) and 2–4 POV characters per book. This lesson explains the different types of point of view, how to pick the right one for your scene, and how to execute a POV.
Tags:Show-Not-Tell Jun 13, 2009
Synopsis: To make your story come to life, avoid "telling" it to your reader. Instead, give clues that show the setting, the story, and the character. Put the mental "camera" in the scene and have it run then describe what it "records." Let your reader infer that meaning and experience it firsthand.
Tags:Dialog: Common Pitfalls May 01, 2009
Synopsis: By avoiding the pitfalls of Character Clones, Info Dumps, Bad Tags, “Said” Phobia, and Talking Heads, you can create believable dialogue.
Tags: dialog, pitfalls, mistakesScene Structure: One Domino Knocks the Next Apr 20, 2009
Synopsis: Without a solid structure, your story has nothing to hold itself up and keep readers turning pages. Keep them hooked by asking story and scene questions and then answering them in ways that push the story forward.
Tags: scene, structure, pacingArt of the Start Mar 01, 2009
Synopsis: Starting your story in the wrong place will stop the reader from getting past page one. Learn to find the right moment to begin and where not to start, using story questions to get the reader hooked.
Tags: beginning, attention grabbing, start rightDeveloping your characters Feb 16, 2009
Synopsis: A list of characteristics such as physical traits, likes, and dislikes, won’t yield lifelike characters. To truly make your characters come alive, discover—and show—how their way of viewing the world is different from everyone else’s.
Tags: Character Development