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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 many issue a challenge. You can submit your effort for free feedback!

Back to Basics is free to all writers around the world. Talk with us on Discord in the #b2b channel in the Crits section.

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

For courses with a challenge, get free feedback through the Back to Basics Dropbox.

Back to Basics: Purpose & Theme

Back to Basics: Purpose & Theme

Back to Basics: Purpose & Theme

The more I look around the more I realize: everyone has something to say, and something they believe they have to do. In fact I would argue that we all strive to have a purpose one way or another: a grand meaning for which we lead our lives. We’re all living on a giant hunk of spinning rock after all, so why not make the most out of that, right? Nothing’s ever just what it seems, and if it was, well, life would be kind of boring. You can apply that same idea to stories, too.

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,...

Back to Basics: Prologues

Back to Basics: Prologues

Back to Basics: Prologues

Is a prologue the right move for your story? Let’s figure that out together! In this Back to Basics course, we’ll talk about prologues:...

Back to Basics: Personification

Back to Basics: Personification

Back to Basics: Personification

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

Back to Basics: Flawed Characters

Back to Basics: Flawed Characters

Back to Basics: Flawed Characters

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

Back to Basics: Setting

Back to Basics: Setting

Back to Basics: Setting

Setting is an important aspect of creative writing because it’s the place where the story unfolds.

Back to Basics: Dialogue

Back to Basics: Dialogue

Back to Basics: Dialogue

Dialogue is a very important component of stories, one that may seem simple at first but is more complex the more you think about it.

Back to Basics: Sympathetic Antagonists

Back to Basics: Sympathetic Antagonists

Back to Basics: Sympathetic Antagonists

Back to Basics: Sympathetic Antagonists talks about building villains your readers will love.

Back to Basics: Flashbacks

Back to Basics: Flashbacks

Back to Basics: Flashbacks

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re talking about flashbacks. Each Back to Basics course includes a short video (linked at the...

Back to Basics: Conflict

Back to Basics: Conflict

Back to Basics: Conflict

Why is conflict so important to a story? Conflicts drive characters to act. Characters can be in conflict with themselves, others, or nature

Back to Basics: Sentence Structure

Back to Basics: Sentence Structure

Back to Basics: Sentence Structure

For January, the Back to Basics skill challenge is sentence structure. Writing as a craft comes with so many different fundamentals that...

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