Category: Creative Writing Tips

Creative writing tips and tricks for beginners

How to pick out a character for your novelHow to pick out a character for your novel

This is a guest article by James Thompson. If you want to submit a guest article of your own be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

Believe it or not, but the profession of your novel characters play a major role in making your novel a big hit. Using clichéd professions such as doctor, lawyer, detective, or an actor won’t suffice — unless it’s the only relevant choice. The profession of the characters, especially the main character, is what sets the scene for your book. Readers prefer reading something “fresh”.

How often do you read about a wizarding profession? (I’m sure we all clearly remember the famous books with those characters). All right, these aren’t all technically “professions”, but they set the scene and add more flavor to the character. They make a character more memorable.

A character’s profession affects the entire novel. It pinpoints to a personality type.

For example, what kind of a personality would you expect a detective to have? Clever, unsocial, and offensive at times? How about a rich guy? Bold, clever, and slightly arrogant? The profession also affects the plot. Since the profession forms the personality and “role” of a character, it’s bound to alter the plot and the way the character acts and reacts in it.

I have stressed enough about the importance of the characters’ profession. Now, let’s move on to how to pick out a suitable career for them. Relax, they are only characters! They won’t complain about freedom of choice.

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Creative writing in 2015: here’s what you need to knowCreative writing in 2015: here’s what you need to know

There are few things constant in the world, and creative writing is not one of them.

Sure, it may not look like it on the surface. After all, creative writing is one of those things which stays evergreen, supposedly. Books on creative writing written decades ago still have relevance in the present. Creative writing advice from years ago is still useful today.

It’s the reason why I wrote Creative Writing 101 in 2010, and it’s the reason why that resource remains the most popular on Writers’ Treasure, as well as still being evergreen content. Outdated? Of course not.

But it’s been five years since Creative Writing 101, and as specified, it was a beginner’s guide. What about an upgrade? What about the next level? …..

So here you have it. Announcing Creative Writing 201 – a new series of articles, a new creative writing resource aimed to upgrade your creative writing skills to the next level. The aim is to upgrade a creative writer to become an intermediate and then an expert.

Intended as a proper successor to Creative Writing 101, this series of articles will be even more in-depth, more readable (like always).

We’ll start from a macro look at creative writing as it stands today, move on to the macro issues, macro tips and techniques, and macro examples of effective creative writing.

See the keyword? Macro? What does it mean? And our topic today: creative writing in 2015. Isn’t this topic contradictory to what I said a few paragraphs ago? The answers to these questions – and many more – are found in the full explanation below!

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The art of finishing a chapterThe art of finishing a chapter

This is a guest article by Jessica Millis. If you want to write a guest article of your own be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

The end of the chapter. A mystery that most writers who are still working towards getting their first publication have yet to solve. Having read through many poor, good, great and superb chapter endings over your years of reading, you most likely have already experienced techniques that are of the great variety and those which are of the poor.

It’s quite hard to deny those urges to continue reading more of a great book although you know it’s quite late, your spouse doesn’t want the light on much longer and you have to get up for work early in the morning! Let’s see if you recognize a technique that captivated you in this very way and help you employ them to captivate readers of your own.

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How to create characters readers really care aboutHow to create characters readers really care about

This is a guest article by Alex Limberg. If you want to write a guest article of your own be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

Some writers claim they know their characters even better than their spouses. It’s great when your spouse doesn’t just exist on paper, and even greater when you can create real, three-dimensional characters. The more real your character seems, the more your audience will root for him. Your readers will be more involved in the story emotionally and live with him through his fears and joys. This makes for a much more rewarding reading experience.

This post will show you how to make your characters come alive. Also, because it’s easy to overlook when your figures lack depth, you can download a free goodie below the post to help you discover any problems with your characters and pretty much any other aspect of your story (it uses test questions).

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How to write great scenes: tips and toolsHow to write great scenes: tips and tools

This is a guest article by Michael McPherson. If you want to read a guest article of your own be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

Writing for a living is not as easy as people think. Most persons believe that writers have a great life – just sitting at a desk, filling in blank pages. But the truth is that freelance writers struggle to survive everyday by trying to create new and exciting content. Fortunately, in our informational era, there are a lot of apps designed to help you organize the text. A better visualization of the scenes means less time spent arranging and more time spent writing.

So here are some amazing tools that a freelance writer must know about.

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Tips and tricks to add humour to creative write-upTips and tricks to add humour to creative write-up

This is a guest post by Stewart Agron. If you want to submit a guest post of your own be sure to read the guest post guidelines.

Forming up creative ideas and retaining creativity throughout a write-up is as arduous as trying to figure out how to put a giraffe in a refrigerator. But adding humour to your article, essay or a novel isn’t as difficult as you imagine.

Humour is a part of our life and we tend to use it – intentionally or unintentionally – in our everyday interaction. For instance, we tend to use the popular expression LOL or the iconic smiley when we text our friends or family.

Likewise, we sometimes say or do things that are amusing in their own way, even if the act wasn’t intentional at all. I’ve a habit of turning off my monitor when I leave my seat and turning the display on when I come back. However, sometimes when I forget to switch off the screen and later come back, I press the power button unconsciously even though the display is already on.

The point is that humour is already there and it is already in our life. Hence, anyone can use humour in his writing since having a sense of humour is a bi-directional trait of humans, us – unless you think you are emotionless like Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th.

Before I proceed to the main topic of my article, let me outline some of the common techniques of humour which I (daresay) you must understand before using it in your work.
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