Exposition is story information. It’s the facts or bare bones of your tale that the audience needs to know to appreciate what’s going on. There is a lot of skill involved in delivering exposition in story at the highest level. So what are exposition dumps? How do we avoid them? Read more…
The Best Friend / Confident Surely this article has to start with a hat tip to the best friend / confident. Where my Horatios at? I gotta stop writing these drunk. The best friend / confident is a great alternative to the soliloquy. We know what Hamlet is thinking because Read more…
Make them Sympathetic You’ll hear this all the time, but what does it mean? It means they win sympathy from the audience. Well, what kinds of people win our sympathy? Actually, the rest of the article is kind of a list of the kinds of people we feel sympathy for, Read more…
It depends on the age of the child, but here are some ideas to consider when asking children to get writing! Arguably, we want to keep things generally positive, and not excessively complex. Write what you know! Ask your students to write about their day, about their car journey into Read more…
Make them Talk! Sometimes if you can’t come with anything that feels original and exciting, it’s best just to let two of your characters talk, and see what they say! Let Jimmy tell Frank about the robbery he wants to commit. Let Alice tell Jan about her promotion. Let the Read more…
Keep a Journal Pulitzer Prize winner Donna Tartt often describes the way she carries a journal or notebook with her everywhere, so she can jot down little lines and observations as they occur to her. This means that when she comes to write a novel, she has a wealth of Read more…
There are lots of extant ancient texts, and of course we wish there were even more. The fire of Alexandria destroyed so many! We’re all probably familiar with a few names: Homer, Sophocles, Virgil. Are these ancient texts worth reading now? Is it hard to read them? And which ones Read more…
Literary theory or literary criticism can be hard to understand at the best of times. It’s frequently written in complex language, and addresses some of the most complex and challenging ideas around. So how do you even get started with this field? The best place to begin with literary theory Read more…
It’s Tax Payer’s Money! The most important thing to keep in mind, that leads to all the other points below, is that they are handing out tax payers money! This usually means that the decision maker needs to have each grant approved by the relevant minister. So imagine someone putting Read more…
Having an agent can vastly simplify the task of finding a publisher, or a producer for your writing. Whether you are a poet, a novelist, a screenwriter, a playwright, a non fiction author or any other kind of writer, an agent will send your work into the world, and hopefully Read more…