Do Religion and Faith Belong in Fiction?

Some writers have been discouraged from including faith, religion, and beliefs in their fiction. But every subject is open for exploration by writers. And religion can introduce emotion and other elements in a way that other story elements can’t.

read Do Religion and Faith Belong in Fiction? »

Speech and thought patterns should differ from character to character. Learn tips for differentiating character voices.

read Variety in Character Voices »

Who says you can’t use incomplete sentences in fiction? If you were taught that “rule” in school, take your liberty and write in sentence fragments if you want to. Keep in mind, however, than not all incomplete sentences work.

read Fragments and the Incomplete Sentence »

Does grammar matter? If so, to what degree? Is it more important to be grammatically correct or to write the way people speak today? An exploration of prescriptive and descriptive language and grammar in fiction.

read Rules vs. Practice—Prescriptive and Descriptive Grammar »

Tips for writing character thought and inner dialogue. There are options for punctuation and method.

read Inner Dialogue—Writing Character Thoughts »

Writers sometimes don’t know how to begin writing a new story, but you can begin anywhere, with any story element. You can begin at any point in the story.

read What To Write First When Writing Fiction »

A story can’t be about everything and everyone; there must be focus. Direct characters and readers by pointing them where you want them to go and cut out everything that distracts or doesn’t belong.

read Focus—What’s This Story About? »

A reader wondered what she should study to help her become an editor. Study whatever interests you and a whole lot more.

read Jack of all Trades? That’d Be an Editor—A Reader’s Question . . . »

There is not only one way to write a sentence, a scene, a chapter, or a story. Writing a novel isn’t only about plugging in words and events and scenes in accordance with a formula. It’s writing with skill and artistry.

read Novel Writing Isn’t Paint by Numbers »

There’s a lot of contention concerning narrative tense—should stories always be told using the past tense or is present tense a true option.

read Narrative Tense—Right Now or Way Back Then »