Lifestyle and Wellness
The 35 Best Gifts for Writers in Your Life
Professional authors chime in on gift ideas for writers—both during the holidays and any time of year. If you’re looking for the best gifts for writers in your life, look no further. There are lots of great gifts for creative writers—you just need to get in a writer’s head. With the help of some lovely…
Read More“Show, Don’t Tell” in Creative Writing
“Show, don’t tell” is one of the simplest guidelines in creative writing, and one of the most helpful. In short, it encourages writers to transmit experiences to the reader, rather than just information. “Show, don’t tell” encourages writers to transmit experiences to the reader, rather than just information. “Show, don’t tell” is not just a…
Read MoreLearn to Write! 8 Tips on Learning How to Write
Learning to write is a process, one that requires consistent hard work and determination—and perhaps some magic! But, as with any other skill, it’s important to work hard on the right thing. Instead of providing a list of pointers on how to learn to write for general purposes, this guide will offer eight key tips…
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, or nonfiction essay. This writing is done in isolation, with no one witnessing late nights, pages of revision, and of course, frustration. You’ve finally revised…
Read MoreWriting for Mindfulness: The Foundations of Mindful Writing
Being present, focusing on images, appreciating goodness: these are the foundations of mindful writing. Writing for mindfulness is a skill that any writer can develop, helping you to sharpen your language and keep it succinct. What are the foundations of mindful writing? Let’s explore what writing for mindfulness means in depth. What “Mindful Writing” Means…
Read MoreWhat is Blackout Poetry? Examples and Inspiration
If you struggle to find the right words, why not start with somebody else’s? Such is the philosophy behind blackout poetry, a recent artistic and literary phenomenon that has blossomed in the past decade. What is blackout poetry? Chances are, you have already seen blackout poetry in action: maybe it’s shown up on your social…
Read More9 Poems for Spring
Good news in the Northern Hemisphere: spring starts this Saturday. To commemorate, we’re delighted to share with you nine previously unpublished poems on spring from Writers.com instructors and community members. We hope these sad, warm, funny, springy poems touch you as they did us—wherever you are in these last days of winter. See Spring at…
Read MoreHow to Become a Writer
How do you become a writer? The short answer is: anyone who writes is a writer. However, becoming a writer who’s serious about their professional career requires lots of work, and if you’re wondering how to become a professional writer, you’re ready to start the journey towards a productive and successful literary career. You don’t…
Read MoreHow to Read Prose: Close Reading Strategies for Prose Writers
In this article, we’ll give you strategies to begin reading prose like a writer. We’ll discuss applying close reading strategies to prose: that is, to anything that isn’t written in verse, from short stories to novels to memoirs and more. This article is third in our series on how to read like a writer—in other…
Read MoreHow to Read Like a Writer
One of the first things I learned in a fiction writing workshop was the phrase “reading like a writer.” The term was popularized by Francine Prose’s work of the same name. Learning how to read like a writer is crucial, because a writer’s work involves continuous growth and change. Reading like a writer is a…
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