Improve Your Writing

Brooke McIntyre of Inked Voices explains what to look for in a critique group and how to find the best writing critique group for you.

Life experiences are what create your voice, brand you as an author, and make your writing worth reading.

Before writing your novel, imagining the first and last scenes can help clarify the story’s point and the reader’s emotional journey.

Pay close attention to any surprising details or patterns in your memoir’s scenes—they often point to the story that really wants to be told.

With other essential elements in place, short story writers can consider leaving an ending ambiguous, with room for the reader to ruminate.

Discomfort with “unlikeable” female characters may reflect readers’ own biases and have little or nothing to do with the quality of the writing.

Not only must nonfiction books offer solutions, they must also share the promise being made—the emotional outcome the reader will achieve.

When building a character, roles can be efficient shorthand—hard-boiled detective, dutiful nurse—but the best characterizations require going deeper.

If your story requires characters whose motivations don’t come naturally to you, here are some tips to help you imagine the impossible.

A good story, like a good hiking path, simply unfolds without seeming forced. Here's a tool that helps keep complex stories on track.

Both show and tell are essential tools for powerful storytelling. The trick is balancing their use at the line, scene, and story level.

Fear can limit our ability to apply reason and logic, leading to flawed choices and behavior—bad in real life, but story gold in fiction.

Omniscient POV might be resurging, thanks to some recent bestsellers. To use it well, remember three C’s: clarity, consistency, and control.

Transitioning away too often—to a flashback or a new scene—risks losing the depth of storytelling that readers get from living inside a scene.

One memoir coach sees writers rush ahead into chapters and character detail before understanding: Why am I writing this exact story right now?

A repeated word, phrase, motif, symbol, or image can create tension for your readers in small, barely noticeable increments.

Before trying to structure a memoir, you must understand how you’ve changed and what that process looked like—which can be hard to pinpoint.

Most characters have a challenge to overcome, but what about more serious physical or psychological issues that can’t be “cured” or ignored?

Faced with pursuing publication that might reopen old wounds, one memoirist overcame the challenge with help from therapy, community, and AI.

When a writer began to see her mother with compassion, her writing changed—and her stories started getting published.

Three practices separate successful memoirists from those who underestimate the writing craft.

Lack of support might come from fears about their own privacy, not understanding the enormity of your achievement, and/or information overload.

Applying genre labels to creative work can be vexing, but understanding each genre’s core concerns can also be inspiring and instructional.

When a scene shifts to a new setting, time, or POV without clearly bridging that gap, we risk losing readers’ trust and goodwill.

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to structure a story, so understanding the core principles will help you decide what’s right for yours.