August 22, 2015

Writer’s Digest: Its Usefulness Is Inversely Proportionate to Its Size

Another popular writing magazine, Writer’s Digest is a shorter publication with an emphasis on improving writing and getting published. It features articles related to grammar, style, and making your writing accessible (for example). At the same time, it has down-and-dirty details like how to break into the business, get an agent, demand payment, and use editing options (generally written by authors, agents,...
Categories Writer Resources Comments: 0
August 19, 2015

Acting Out: Character Motivation and Behavior

Having trouble figuring out your character’s motivation? Maybe, you should take an acting class. Yes, I’m serious. While it might seem more obvious to take a psych class or research human behavior, taking an acting class can be very helpful with writing when it comes to character motivation. That’s partly because of the way plays work. When performing a play,...
Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Creative Process/Theatre & Film Comments: 5
August 16, 2015

You Mean Real People Don’t Talk the Way I Learned to from Books?

As writers, we always want our dialogue to sound real. We don’t want it to be stiff or awkward (unless the character is) because we want our characters to sound like people, not robots. The problem with writing the way people talk is that people don’t talk in sentences, and they don’t use correct grammar (if you use correct grammar...
Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 2