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Creative writing tips and tricks for beginners

Creative writing. Easy, but difficult at the same time. So how do we make it easier? How do we make it fun? Also, how to get better at it? Should we use figures of speech in creative writing? What priorities should we give to grammar, spelling and punctuation? Novels, short stories, biographies... it's all covered here. For the answers, read on below!

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Nine fiction writing mistakes writers need to stop doing

This is a guest article by Erin Scott. If you are interested in submitting a guest article of your own, be sure to read the guest article guidelines.

It may sound strange to say, but a writer has dark clouds hovering overhead while looking at a blank sheet of paper or the blinking cursor in a blank Word document.

Although it may appear easy, fiction is formed only after the writer has shed tears and blood (hopefully metaphorical)—poring over pages and pages of research, constructing ideas and wrecking them to pieces because they’re not good enough.

This is a routine most writers are all too familiar with.

But despite all the research and revisions, there are still fiction writing mistakes that make a story trite and unappealing. If you are struggling with creating a unique, captivating story, perhaps this list of the top three common writing mistakes can serve as guideline for your next work of fiction.

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10 ways to write an objective book review

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

If you are to write a book review, you definitely want to get some ideas on how to make it effective without spending too much time. You have already defined why exactly you need that: to reach out the publishers, to create an academic paper, or to write a blog post.

Whatever the reasons you have, the approach to writing a review is almost the same. However, if you create a review for your own book, you may skip some of the points, like reading the book as you have been working on it and know its content better than anyone.

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Six causes of a beginner writer’s expressive problem (and what to do about each)

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

Writing can seem liberating at first. You sit down at your computer, smuggle your coffee beside your writing materials, and begin the session with an enthusiastic mind.

You are charged. You can pump out a thousand words in 30 minutes. You’re thinking about how those words will change the world, how your readers will be engulfed in the emotion you want them to be in, and how they’ll swiftly take to the internet to write you an email.

But suddenly, the thoughts are all gone. Your fingers type words but delete them almost as fast as they came. Writing that scene in your novel now becomes something only a genius can do. Where did all that enthusiasm go? Where did the thoughts go?

And the worst part, you are sure it’s not writer’s block, because not that you only write, it’s not just coming from your heart.

“Oh God. I know what to say, but not how.”

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How 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 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 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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