10 YouTube Channels that Will Improve Your Writing by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
10 YouTube Channels that Will Improve Your Writing
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS PAGE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND RECORDS, IT IS OUTDATED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWEST VERSION.
10 YouTube Channels that Will Improve Your Writing – With Links
There are a plethora of resources for the beginning writer: from books on writing, to amazing stories, to published writers who regularly blog. Today, I want to share my compilation of important YouTube channels for developing your writing skills, and share why each is important—organized by what purpose they serve. Watch them when bored, listen to them as you clean or when you feel uninspired, and be sure to subscribe t
6 Tips for Crafting your Story's Monster by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
6 Tips for Crafting your Story's Monster
6 Tips for Crafting your Story's Monster
Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0
Chapter 5 “Characters” – Section 3.3 “Monsters”
(Previous Tutorial) (Next Tutorial)
"Alien' is a C film elevated to an A film, honestly, by it being well done and a great monster. If it hadn't had that great monster, even with a wonderful cast, it wouldn't have been as good."
-Ridley Scott
In stories, there exists a type of protagonist that is neither malicious nor misguided; we call these forces of destruction "monsters." but they are simply forces of destruction. Unlike a villain, a monster has no shred of humanity in it, ev
8 Tips for Having Your Story Critiqued by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
8 Tips for Having Your Story Critiqued
8 Tips for Having Your Story Critiqued
Today I want to talk about the critiquing process—mainly, how to prepare for and deal with another person test-reading your story. With these suggestions, I hope to prepare writers for critiques of multiple calibers, how to interpret them, how to deal with the person giving the critique, and how to handle the suggestions that are given. It sounds simple but it may, in fact, be the most difficult part of the writing process to learn. But remember, I have faith in you, or I would not be writing this! :)
Tip 1: Remember that the critic is your best friend.
No matter if you are dealing with a very l
7 Guidelines to Carefully Craft Story Paragraphs by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
7 Guidelines to Carefully Craft Story Paragraphs
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS PAGE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND RECORDS, IT IS OUTDATED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWEST VERSION.
7 Guidelines to Carefully Craft Every Paragraph in your Story – With Reference Links
One of the most unexpectedly difficult tasks in writing is learning how to craft paragraphs. It's simply not a skill that we learn in most schools, and mostly relies on our reading and slowly learning the skill from those authors who have mastered it. However, from what limited resources exist on the internet, we can build a checklist to make sure that all of our paragraphs have a solid foundation, as we
6 Insights on Writing from *The Edge Chronicles* by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
6 Insights on Writing from *The Edge Chronicles*
6 Insights on Writing Fiction from “The Edge Chronicles” (1)
Any professional writer has one universal and fundamental truth to share when it comes to learning how to write—and that is that you must read. This is one of the primary rules of Stephen King, John Green, and most writers kind enough to pass on bits of advice to the rest of us. And so, today I will be focusing on things that one can learn from specific stories. Today's story? “The Edge Chronicles – Book One – Beyond the Deepwoods” by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell.
Insight 1: The reaches of fantasy are limited only by our imagination.
&
Notes on writing dialogue by TheBrassGlass, literature
Literature
Notes on writing dialogue
Dialogue can be one of the most challenging components of writing fiction. Often, the conversations come off feeling too forced or too clunky, lacking in natural rhythm.
However, improving one's dialogue-writing skills is well within anyone's reach, especially considering that there is an art form solely devoted to dialogue: plays/screenplays. We are going to look at how to take tips and pointers from these things, and apply them to our own writing.
Recognizing problems
He would never say that!
Have you ever watched a movie or seen a play and thought, “Geeze, no one would ever say something like that.” Or maybe, “Why wou
Abstract vs. Concrete by bloedzuigerbloed, journal
Abstract vs. Concrete
Abstract vs. ConcreteA simple way to evoke more meaning
Hey, it's me, bloedzuigerbloed! Some of you may be familiar with my "Improve Your Writing! Tips and Techniques" and "Characters: Using them, making them, voicing them" journals. While that (excessively long) journal covered many topics, it's time to add a bit more onto each of those by giving the important ones their own tutorial.
Ever think there must be a better way to beef up your writing than to spill on for pages and pages? There is. To use an idiomatic expression, the devil is in the details. Now let’s get specific.
Think about playing ‘Mad Libs.’ They often a
Plotting: It Can Always Get Worse by DaintyL5, journal
Plotting: It Can Always Get Worse
This here's going to be a simple tutorial but, as the title says, contains a rule that every writer should know. If you're working on a plot, keep this mantra in mind. And here it is.
It Can Always Get Worse (and by hell it should)
When you're writing a plot, everything should be building up to the climax. The climax is, essentially, where everything comes together in a section of awesomeness, or whatever. Anyhoo, this means that everything you write before the climax should be piling difficulty onto difficulty. Give your characters challenges until they don't think things can possibly get worse, then throw something else at them.
How do y
Try This: A Writing Trick You Haven't Heard Of by woodland-Blue, journal
Try This: A Writing Trick You Haven't Heard Of
This is guaranteed to help you become a better writer, no matter the genre. I’ve personally used this to understand what people look for in books. Great for beginners, but valuable for experts too.
Name a book. Any book. Try one with a genre that you’re familiar with. Try one of those controversial books where half the readers hang the author’s photo up on the wall in a gold frame, and the other half also frame it—and then throw darts at it.
Now go into Amazon and look up the title. If the book has multiple editions, try to pick the most popular one, one that has the most reviews. The average star rating is inconsequ