Writing Tips
Sonnet Poems: How to Write a Sonnet
The sonnet is a poetry form that poets have wielded for centuries—from Petrarch and Shakespeare to Marilyn Nelson and Terrance Hayes. These 14-line poems use restrictions of length and rhythm…
Read MoreBraided Essays and How to Write Them
When I first started reading and writing creative nonfiction, I was particularly struck by the “braided essay”—its poeticism, its interlacing movements, its endless possibilities. The beauty of a braid lies…
Read MoreProtagonist Definition: How to Create the Perfect Protagonist
If you’re writing any kind of fiction, from a short story to a screenplay, your story has a protagonist. This is the character or characters around whom the story centers.…
Read More10 Types of Nonfiction Books and Genres
From journalism to instruction manuals, travel guides to historical CNF, nonfiction is one of the broadest and most versatile categories of writing. Indeed, we encounter many types of nonfiction genres…
Read MorePun Intended: A Look at Pun Examples in Literature
What do you call a sandwich made of wordplay? A pun-ini. The English language abounds with pun examples in literature. From Chaucer to Shakespeare, from the Romantics to contemporary poetry,…
Read MoreHow to Start a Story: Examples and Inspiration
It happens to the best of us: you open a new word document, you’re faced with the many possibilities that a story can take, and then you realize you don’t…
Read MoreHow to Write Dialogue in a Story
Writing dialogue in a story requires us to step into the minds of our characters. When our characters speak, they should speak as fully developed human beings, complete with their…
Read MoreWhat is a Narrative Poem? Definition and Examples
Writers who want to set their stories in verse may be interested in the narrative poem. One of the oldest literary art forms in the history of written language, narrative…
Read MoreWhat is Tone in Literature?
Everything you read has a tone. Blog posts will have an engaging and conversational tone; Textbooks often have an informative, matter-of-fact tone. A piece of satire might have a humorous…
Read MoreHow to Submit to Literary Journals
For the last few months, you’ve opened the document on your computer and spent time constructing sentences, reading, researching, and working on the right metaphor for your poem, short story,…
Read More