Short Story
Protagonist 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 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 MoreStatic Characters vs. Dynamic Characters: Definitions and Examples
You can categorize the people that populate your stories as static and dynamic characters. These categories correspond to character development: if they’re a changed person by the end of the…
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 an Antagonist? Definition & Examples
Because most stories involve conflict, most stories also involve an antagonist. Your protagonist—the main character—will struggle to achieve something important to them, and the antagonist will further complicate this struggle.…
Read MoreLiterary Fiction vs. Genre Fiction
The world of fiction writing can be split into two categories: literary fiction vs. genre fiction. Literary fiction (lit fic) generally describes work that’s character-driven and realistic, whereas genre fiction…
Read MoreLeaving
He’d be leaving town soon. He’d be leaving, lightly loaded, on the bus. Two items still to part with: A car with bad breaks, significant steering problems, and bald tires.…
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,…
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