The Writer's Workout

For many of us, writing is a hobby. We write stories because we have stories to tell and we love getting our message out there. While it’s a labor of love for many, there’s always the hope that writing can become a profitable profession. Can you make money by writing? The honest truth is that it’s definitely possible, but it’s complex and not the same for everyone. For this Back to Basics course, we’re discussing freelance writing. What is freelance writing? First off: freela

Sometimes less is more! It’s a fun phrase that essentially means to not overcomplicate things. It can be applied to anything in life, especially writing: summaries. When it comes to writing a story it’s pretty safe to say that the most important (and sometimes most difficult) part is actually writing the story itself. But there’s also stuff that comes after the story is done, and that’s how you describe it to someone in a concise, brief, and organized way. For this Back to Ba

For this Back to Basics mini-course, we’re trying to embrace revisions— as a process . Let’s look at the basics. Getting a first draft of anything done, be it an essay, a novel, or anything in between, is grueling. Something special happens when you complete a draft: it gives you an almost indescribable feeling of joy . Sometimes we’re so proud of what we made that it can be hard to find any fault with it. But even if you think your first draft is perfect, it can never hurt t

You can’t do it alone. The writing process, that is. You can write an entire novel, or short story, or screenplay, or whatever completely by yourself, and that’s typically the norm, but you also need some sort of outside help to get you through a hurdle in your writing process. Take this blog post for example: you’re reading it because you’re hoping to find a nugget of useful info that will propel you forward in some way in your writing. Expectations are high: I’m supposed to

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.

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...

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...