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When Less is More: The Art of Flash Fiction

By Emily-Jane Hills Orford “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” This is one of the most quoted six-word stories in history. It’s believed to have been written by Ernest Hemingway sometime in the 1920s, as a bet to prove that he could write a complete short, very short story. Since this oft-quoted short short, countless…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Eight

How to Get the Best Feedback for Your Work

By Aliya Bree Hall After finishing a new project, whether it’s for a fiction story or article, it’s always important to get another set of eyes on your work. If you happen to have a really strong support network of other writers or colleagues, this is a great resource to tap into; however, sometimes you…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Seven

Writing Believable Dialogue

Emily-Jane Hills Orford How realistic is the dialogue in your stories? Does it set the mood of the scene? Describe the characters? Add backstory? Help the story move forward? A story without dialogue can be very dry and quickly lose readers’ attention. But, a story with unrealistic dialogue will also turn them away. In the…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Six

Where Do I Start?

By Emily-Jane Hills Orford This question, where do I start, usually refers to the writing process. Writers are good with ideas, good with sorting through the mesh of plot patterns, characters, setting and how one visions the story unfolding. Writers are told it’s best to begin with a plot map, although many, like me, dive…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Five

The Dos and Don’ts of Working on Multiple Projects

By Aliya Bree Hall As writers, we’re constantly bombarded with new and enticing ideas. Although it can be tempting to drop any other project we’ve already begun working on to focus on a new project — that can lead to a routine of abandoning your current work in progress in favor of whatever idea is…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Three

Poets: Fast Forward Your Path to Book Publication

By LindaAnn LoSchiavo During the coronavirus lockdown, when the book parties, readings, and events for my two newest poetry books were cancelled, instead of throwing up my hands, I spent more time at my desk and discovered a map that would steer me efficiently through my next literary labyrinth. How useful was my map? It…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Two

Flash Fiction: Packing a Lot into a Little

By David Galef What’s under 1,000 words and read all over? Flash fiction. You can change the limit to 500, around 300 for micro fiction, and even less for tiny miniatures like hint fiction (25 words or fewer) and nanofiction, which is the length of an old-style tweet, 140 characters, including the spaces. The principle…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Special Feature

An Accidental Novelist

By Sarah Martin Of all the different kinds of writing I’ve practised over the years, novel writing is the most exhilarating. That’s partly because things don’t always turn out the way you planned. My writing life began with school reports where careful diplomacy ran a fine line between avoiding motherhood statements or being hurtful, and…

Issue Four Hundred Eighty Nine Special Feature

3 Questions to Answer Before Your Inciting Event

By Ashley Taylor Clark Story beginnings are infamously difficult to write. Since most major story beats don’t happen until the second act, many writers are left floundering with what feels like slow, tedious detail as they attempt to write their opener. If you’re a plotter, you may have even sought out templates or other tips…

Issue Four Hundred Eighty Eight Special Feature

Rock the Mic: Giving a Poetry Reading They Will Remember

By Allison Whittenberg Readings are everywhere: in coffee houses and cafes. Bookstores and libraries. Museums and art galleries. Colleges and universities. Chances are wherever you live, you are within a stones throw or at the very most, driving distance from a reading. Perhaps the spotlight is on you this time around. Here are some tips…

Issue Four Hundred Ninety Four Special Feature

Simple Strategies for Building a Daily Writing Habit

By Emily-Jane Hills Orford We’re not all morning people. Some of us are more alert in the afternoon and evening. I’m a morning person and I’m also a creature of habit. Routines get me going, and make me feel like I’m accomplishing something and getting the day off to a good start. And by having…

Issue Four Hundred Eighty Seven Special Feature

How to Actually Use Beta Reader Feedback (And When to Ignore It)

By Aliya Bree Hall Beta readers are usually the first real readers that you’ll get outside of your critique partners that will offer insight into your story. It’s an important stage of the writing process because their comments will help you determine what’s working in your story and what still needs some work. Once you…

Issue Four Hundred Eighty Six

Case Study: How I Published My Debut Novel Off the Yoga Mat

By Cheryl J. Fish This is part of our ongoing series on how authors published their first book. You can read our other stories in this series, here, here, here, and here. I am writing about what happened to me, at the threshold of publishing my debut novel. After fifteen years, after realizing there are notable paths…

Case Studies Issue Four Hundred Eighty Six Special Feature

Case Study: How I Broke Into Traditional Publishing As A Debut Author

By Nev March This is part of our ongoing series on how authors published their first book. You can read our other stories in this series, here, here, and here. “And you’re going to speak at the Edgar Award Ceremony. You’ll go first, before the Edgars,” said Mystery Writers of America director Margery Flax. Jaw…

Issue Four Hundred Eighty Five Special Feature

3 Things Your Opening Scenes Should Achieve

By Ashley Taylor Clark You’ve done it — you’ve finally crafted the perfect plot, and you know exactly what your inciting event needs to be to get your protagonist started on their adventure. Now you just have to figure out how to get them there. You only have a handful of scenes with which to…

Issue Four Hundred Eighty Five Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author