Capturing the Art of Storytelling: Techniques & Tips

the art of storytelling

It is hard to describe the art of storytelling, but you know good storytelling it when you read it. You read a passage of prose and it raises your arm hairs, makes your blood tingle, gets your heart racing; suddenly you’re swept up in the experience of beautiful writing. Indeed, writers seem to possess a…

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How to Write a Poetry Book and Get It Published

how to write a poetry book

Writing a poetry book requires courage, stamina, and a lot of patience with yourself. The poetry book ranks at the top of many poets’ to-do lists, but getting a manuscript in front of poetry book publishers takes years of writing and planning. This article covers the essentials of getting new poetry books into print, covering both…

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Word Play: Examples of a Play on Words

wordplay definition

It goes without saying that writers are drawn to language, but because we love words so much, the English language is filled with word play. By interrogating the complexities of language—homophones, homographs, words with multiple meanings, sentence structures, etc.—writers can explore new possibilities in their work through a play on words. It’s easiest to employ…

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Cinquain Poetry: How to Write a Cinquain Poem

how to write a cinquain poem

A cinquain is a stanza composed of five lines, which makes a cinquain poem a poem composed of five-line stanzas. These short poems are the perfect length to find insight through brevity, and if you’re considering tinkering with shorter poetry forms, you might want to play with cinquain poetry. What is a cinquain poem, and…

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Symbolism in Literature: What Symbolism Is, and How to Use It In Your Writing

symbolism in 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…

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Examples of Short Poems and How to Write Them

Examples of Short Poems

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…

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What is Theme? A Look at 20 Common Themes in Literature

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…

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How to Write an Acrostic Poem: Examples and Forms

how to write an acrostic poem

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…

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How to Write a Free Verse Poem: Writing Poetry Without Fixed Form

how to write free verse poetry

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…

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Repetition Definition: Types of Repetition in Poetry and Prose

Repetition Definition: Types of Repetition in Poetry and Prose

What is repetition? At its simplest, repetition is a word or phrase used multiple times in a text, for the purpose of emphasizing an emotion or idea. It might seem counterintuitive to repeat, repeat, repeat, but when wielded correctly, the repetition of words and phrases has powerful effects in literature. You’re most likely to find…

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