Posts by Sean Glatch
Inciting Incident Definition: The “Why” of Fiction
“The inciting incident is how you get [your characters] to do something…. It’s the doorway through which they can’t return, you know. The story takes care of the rest.” —Donald Miller The inciting incident in a story plays a central role in that story’s structure. It provides the “push” that gets the story rolling—it sets…
Read MoreSymbolism in Literature: What Symbolism Is, and How to Use It In Your Writing
Symbolism describes the use of concrete images to convey abstract ideas. Because this literary device is widely open to interpretation, and because many readers form different relationships to concrete objects, this is one of the more slippery elements of literature to both understand and convey to an audience. Nonetheless, understanding symbolism, and knowing what is…
Read MoreNaNoWriMo Tips: Preparing for National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month begins in November, and if you’re planning on organizing your own novel writing intensive, you’ve got some NaNoWriMo prep to do. Novelists of all fiction genres use NaNoWriMo to bring a novel from idea to finished book, and if you’re itching to blitz through your first draft, November is the month…
Read MoreExamples of Short Poems and How to Write Them
Great poetry can be any length: long poems can sprawl across pages like interstate highways, but short poems can be just as moving and powerful. Short form poetry, which includes forms like micropoetry, pack lots of meaning in a small amount of space. The best short poems make each word carry tremendous weight, and this…
Read MoreRevising and Editing for Creative Writers
Want to learn more about revising and editing? Check out our self-paced class The Successful Novel, which gives you the tools to write, revise, and publish the novel waiting to be written inside you. Although the terms revising and editing are often used interchangeably, stylish writers know the difference between revising and editing. When it’s time…
Read MoreHow to Write a Novel
The novel form is a large, unwieldy, towering project, and if you find yourself wondering how to write a novel, you might already be daunted by the project’s size and complexity. Good. How you’re feeling is how every great novelist has ever felt before approaching the blank page; you have already put yourself in the…
Read MoreWhat is Theme? A Look at 20 Common Themes in Literature
When someone asks you “What is this book about?”, there are a few ways you can answer. There’s “plot,” which refers to the literal events in the book, and there’s “character,” which refers to the people in the book and the struggles they overcome. Finally, there are themes in literature that correspond with the work’s…
Read MoreHow to Write an Acrostic Poem: Examples and Forms
If you’re a fan of steganography—the art of concealing messages in text—you might enjoy writing an acrostic poem. From the abecedarian to the golden shovel, acrostic poetry hijacks the poem’s use of line breaks. With this form, you can embed hidden meanings, derive inspiration, or simply have fun with the structure of poetry. Famous acrostic…
Read MoreHow to Write a Free Verse Poem: Writing Poetry Without Fixed Form
A free verse poem is a poem that doesn’t rely on any particular form, meter, or rhyme scheme, yet still conveys powerful feelings and ideas. Rather than letting a certain structure define the poem, the poet lets the poem structure itself through the interplay of language, sound, and literary devices. Wait a minute—poetry doesn’t have…
Read MoreFlat Character vs. Round Character: Definitions and Examples
Every fictional person that populates books, movies, and plays falls into one of two categories: flat characters and round characters. Flat and round characters each fill important roles in works of fiction, and while this isn’t the only way to categorize fictional characters, it’s a useful distinction to help guide your own character writing. What…
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