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Building Characters is a Piece of (Layer) Cake
Judy SternlightOur brains combine our inner and outer senses to help us survive in the world. Imagine applying this depth of awareness to the characters in your story.
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Writing and Madness
Dinitia SmithFor some of us the need to write is so profound that if we can’t do it we are quite miserable. Yet the life of the writer is mined with struggle...
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Essential Books for Writers
The Center for FictionOur Essential Books for Writers list contains some of our favorite guides to writing. We know that there are many opinions on what makes great...
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Think Outside the Book
Traditional writing guidebooks can be excellent tools for getting your fingers typing, but we also know that inspiration and guidance can come...
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You Do You
Arlaina TibenskyGreat writers play to their strengths. If you’re hilarious, let yourself be funny. If you have an ear for dialogue, keep your characters talking
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When Working on Your Writing Doesn't Look Like Writing
Lily Brooks-DaltonWe have to support each other in undoing this myth that we are only working when we are literally writing words down. There are plenty of odes...
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From Scratch
Bill ChengIf it is true that a story’s start is visualized as the left-most point on a line plot, then it is also true that a story is a stone fruit—a...
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Interviewing for Fiction
Min Jin LeeIf you are fortunate enough to spend time with strangers who will tell you very harmless facts about their lives, very often, you will be allowed...
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The Writer's Trove
Alissa TorresBy writing about your experiences, you transform your memories into tangible monuments. You validate what happened to you from your own perspective...
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Something to Do with Work as Play: David Foster Wallace and “The Nature of the Fun”
Kristopher JansmaI find it remarkably comforting that someone who had recently finished a 1,079 page novel ends up right back where any young student does, trying...