The Writing Life
Remembering Instructor Shelley Singer
Longtime Writers.com instructor Shelley Singer passed away on Thursday, November 10, 2022. Below, Writers.com founder Mark Dahlby reflects on a work relationship that spans the age of the internet itself. When Writers.com sent out an email in 1995, listing its first classes to be offered, Shelley Singer was one of the teachers. She continued teaching…
Read MoreThe Best Online Writing Workshops: How to Succeed in Creative Writing Workshops
Creative writing workshops can take your writing to the next level. The chance to experiment with your writing in a community is invaluable, and getting live feedback on your work will propel you through your writing career. That said, there are plenty of writing workshops where writers get less than what they bargained for. Finding…
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 MoreBecoming a Poet: Learn to Write Poetry!
Becoming a poet is no simple task, but with careful attention to language and the world around us, anyone can learn to write poetry. Even so, sitting down to put feelings to stanzas can seem impossible. With so many possibilities to tinker with language, where does the poet even begin? Whether you’ve just begun your…
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 MoreDiscourse and Dial-Up: The History of Writers.com
This is an interview with Mark Dahlby, the founder of Writers.com. Mark started Writers.com in 1995 as the first website for online writing education—and one of the first websites, period. He operated the site through all the changes that led to the modern internet, until retiring to an emeritus role in 2019. In this interview,…
Read MoreHow to Write a Novel
Writing a novel is like building a house: no matter how much planning and work you put into it, there is always more work you can do. No novel is perfect, and the effort required to build believable worlds, complex characters, and an entertaining plot that explores nuanced themes is certainly overwhelming. If you’re here,…
Read MoreHow to Set SMART Writing Goals for 2022
Happy 2022! We hope this year will be full of writing for you—and if you’re like us, you’ve even got writing goals among your New Year’s Resolutions. One thing to consider is that not all goals are created equal. Goals can be fuzzy (“I want to write more”), over-ambitious, or have lots of other issues.…
Read More5 Tips on Self-Publishing Your Book
For book writers, the publishing process is often a fearful mystery. Self-publishing a book can intensify this mystery, because it can seem like you’re all on your own, with no clear place to start. Although I’ve managed Writers.com since 2019, it wasn’t until this past year that I learned the self-publishing process myself, while helping…
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…
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