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BACK TO BASICS

Back to Basics is a mini-course designed to help you build a strong foundation in writing. Learn "the rules" so you know when, where, and how to break them to your story's benefit. Courses may occasionally highlight specific writing styles or genres where the focal topic is most commonly used (or over-used).

Each course includes a full post on our blog and a challenge. You can submit your effort for feedback.

Back to Basics is free to all writers around the world. Talk with us on Discord and X/Twitter using the tag #WWB2B.

Find all past courses below and some on our YouTube channel!

Check out the course here.

Passive vs. Active Voice Challenge:

A couple is breaking up!

Write the same short scene three times. Try it once in passive voice and once in active voice. Then try it again using a combination of the two.

Aim for less than 500 words in each version.

Get free feedback through the

Back to Basics Dropbox.

Let's talk about it on Discord.

We're in the #b2b channel in the Crits section.

Please understand we prioritize Better Writer subscribers and may need some time to reply.

Back to Basics: Passive vs Active

Back to Basics: Passive vs Active

Back to Basics: Passive vs Active

How you tell a story says everything. You want to keep readers invested in what’s happening and not lose their interest. It’s important...

Back to Basics: MacGuffin

Back to Basics: MacGuffin

Back to Basics: MacGuffin

Every aspect of a story has to be intentional. Not only is this a great way to hook your reader, it also helps build a long-term...

Back to Basics: Narrative Structure

Back to Basics: Narrative Structure

Back to Basics: Narrative Structure

Everything is built on structure. Things have a rhyme and reason, and stories are no exception. Stories in particular rely on narrative...

Back to Basics: Rereading

Back to Basics: Rereading

Back to Basics: Rereading

Reading is important. Yeah, that’s a real shocker, I know. It’s a fundamental skill not just for writing, but for everything . For this...

Back to Basics: Goals

Back to Basics: Goals

Back to Basics: Goals

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re exploring how to set achievable goals to help keep you on track (and not beating yourself up)....

Back to Basics: Process

Back to Basics: Process

Back to Basics: Process

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re talking about your writing process. Each Back to Basics course includes a challenge at the end...

Back to Basics: Sense & Description

Back to Basics: Sense & Description

Back to Basics: Sense & Description

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re talking about the five senses and their role in description. Each Back to Basics course...

Back to Basics: Hooks

Back to Basics: Hooks

Back to Basics: Hooks

How do we keep them engaged? In this Back to Basics course, we’re discussing capturing the audience’s attention.

Back to Basics: Point of View

Back to Basics: Point of View

Back to Basics: Point of View

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re talking about point of view. Each Back to Basics course includes a challenge at the end to...

Back to Basics: Scenes

Back to Basics: Scenes

Back to Basics: Scenes

Scenes make up everything. In fact, every story is a compilation of scenes. Usually when you first begin thinking of your story, you...

Back to Basics: Hearing the Story

Back to Basics: Hearing the Story

Back to Basics: Hearing the Story

A note before we begin: This course is designed to help hearing writers achieve stronger flow and pacing. In our experience, deaf writers...

Back to Basics: Reading

Back to Basics: Reading

Back to Basics: Reading

This course honors the fortieth anniversary of one of the most influential (and our favorite) pro-reading shows on tv, Reading Rainbow,...

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