A story is more than just words on a page! Click the article to learn the 7 essential elements of a story, including setting, conflict, and characters.

In this book I will give you some advice on how to improve your writing, or at least what helps me! I AM NOT AN EXPERT. In fact, I am an amateur, and I would not, by all means call myself a real, greatly-skilled author. But these are the ways that I help myself and I think these ways will help you as well.

“Show, don’t tell” is a storytelling technique that favors action, description, and dialogue over exposition and explanations.

We hear it all the time. From the moment we start writing stories at school, to our high school creative essays, to every author training video and blog. “Show, don’t tell!” And it’s something that writers, especially new ones, grapple with… How to write from […]

A couple of years ago, in a Storyboard piece on John McPhee‘s gorgeously built Encounters with the Archdruid, the acclaimed author Adam Hochschild wrote about narrative structure: A few years ago I was with a young cousin, a college student who told me she was majoring in civil engineering. “I’ve never really understood,” I asked her. […]

Today is the third in an 8-post series on preparing your novel for Nanowrimo. In today's post, we focus on character development for your NaNoWriMo prep.

Bland. Soulless. Generic. Robotic. Totally and undeniably fake. The last thing you want is to have someone waste your time with impersonal mass-marketing emails or messages. It’s bad enough having them fill up your inbox. It’s even worse when they’re not even proofread! If you don’t care enough to at least glance over your message before hitting [SEND], why should we care about what you’re offering?

Storytelling is a wonderful way to build creativity and imagination in your students. How can storytelling activities be beneficial in the classroom? There are so many ways! inspires purposeful talkingraises enthusiasm for reading textsinitiates writingenhances communityimproves writingengages students Want to see how each of these activities work? Watch the Storytelling Activities video on my YouTube

I found these pieces of advice and I would like to share them with you. How to write a good book.

Learn how to write a short story that you can submit to publishers confidently. Read about the short story writing process.

Neil Gaiman’s eight rules of writing are right on target. There might be other rules such as, Let your writing bleed on the page, but these 8 rules of writing are worth reading more than once…

I truly believe that we are all meant to be storytellers. We all have stories within us that are waiting to get out into the world. To be seen, heard, validated, and loved. To know that our stories matter, and they do. Your story matters. So, so much. It’s so easier nowaday

Every novel must include these seven key story elements. Get these right and you can write a story readers love.

Are you ready to dive into developing stellar characters? This free course explores fine details and characteristics that convey fascinating insights!

Discover the five most important secrets of good storytelling--which also happen to be the five most common problems in modern books and movies.

Steal these for your writing unit!

Creative Writing Worksheet – Quick Character Creator (PDF) The fact is, you can fill in every 100-item questionnaire about character creation in exhaustive detail and still end up with a character who is unsuitable for the story you’re trying to tell, who isn’t interesting, and who doesn’t feel real. Here’s what Aaron Sorkin (creator of…

How to define a dark heroic fantasy story from other fantasy subgenres in fiction and roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons, and Pathfinder RPG. #DnD #amwritingfantasy

Confused about how to write a novel? Don't know where to start? Let me walk you through the process step-by-step in this video tutorial!

Learn how to write great descriptions that will engage your readers with a powerful sense of place and enhance your entire novel. Stop boring your readers.

Purchase at: Amazon iBooks, Nook, Kobo and other venues, click here The Plot Thickens:21 Ways to Plot Your Novel by Cheryl Sterling Introduction There are thirty—two ways to tell a story but only one plot – things are not what they seem. Jim Thompson THE PLOT THICKENS offers you, the writer, myriad methods of...

Show, Don't Tell: A Writing Minilesson! This blog post focuses on teaching students to write showing sentences instead of telling sentences. It includes an anchor chart and a FREE Bingo game!

Get your students reading and writing this summer with these fun and engaging enrichment activities for elementary grades.

The writing process can seem daunting if you're just finding out how to start writing a novel. Here are some tips and resources from my own writing process.

What is POV? What are objective versus involved narrators? Learn how to use points of view well in your story with this complete guide.

Kishōtenketsu is a story told in four parts. Kishōtenketsu is a Japanese story structure that doesn’t need conflict to work. Learn to write without conflict

#5 in non-fiction Tip, quotes, advices about writing that I found inspiring. I hope they help everyone who reads this book :)) I DO NOT OWN THE COPYRIGHT OF THE POSTS. They belong to several websites and blogs. Credit goes to @MartaxSofia for making the new wonderful cover .. take a look at her work and her cover shop. :))

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50+ storytelling ideas for kids. You'll find story starters, activities, tips, and more!

Susan Cain on how the stories we tell ourselves are key to our well-being and how to construct a personal narrative with positivity and honesty.