Craft and Creativity
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Reflect, Reset, Begin Again: A Summer Writing Check-In
Every year in January, I tell myself the same thing: This year will be different. I will be focused, disciplined, and wildly productive. I will know exactly what I want to write, how to write it, and I will do so without second-guessing every word or wandering off-course. And every July, I open whatever notebook or computer file I used to…
How to Use Tropes in Fiction
Tropes are the storytelling patterns writers return to again and again—the reluctant hero, the love triangle, the mentor who imparts just enough wisdom before disappearing. They’re not plotlines, exactly, but the recognizable shapes a story can take. Tropes are like signposts, guiding readers through familiar terrain. Encountering one can feel like running into an old…
Writing and the Search for Truth
The Truth About Truth To begin with, I encourage you to read “Why Absolute Truth is Still Worth Pursuing In a Narrative-Driven World” by Jay Nicorvo. You can find it here, in LitHub. What Nicorvo writes should be essential reading for everyone, but certainly for nonfiction writers, whose goal is, above all, the pursuit of…