What is a story? An idea or a setting or a character alone do not make a story. A fictional story is all of those and more.For the convenience of analysis and discussion, stories often are bro…

Suffering from writer’s block or need to add some spunk to your writing? The problem may be that you need to change up your routine. To that end, try this tip: List at least a dozen objects yo…

When writing a nonfiction book, novice authors often omit a key element: a summary at the end of each chapter.Usually chapters come packed with information that prove more than a reader can remembe…

This appears to be one of those words in flux, as different spellings and punctuation rules are followed by different reputable sources.Start-up works as a noun (a start-up business), verb (“Start-…

“The best advice on writing I’ve ever received is to take it seriously, because to do it well is all-consuming.” – David Guterson“Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a …

Your story ought to feel to readers like a roller coaster ride. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you write a lot of action-adventure but that your tale contains a series of mini-climaxes, all lea…

So you’ve got your story typed in manuscript form and are about to send it out. You decide to do one more spell check before printing the final copy. Good idea, right?Wrong.If you don’t feel c…

Writers often are told that they need to show rather than tell. There are times, however, when the writer must tell, that is they must use exposition. A scene that is dramatic (which means it shows…

Readers love to learn about the authors of their favorite books. You can help foster that love – and in doing so get them to purchase your next book – by including a page on your website …

Great news: You can’t get this one wrong. Either version of the word is correct.Both are used across the English-speaking world, though in the United States and Canada, afterward is slightly more p…

Every time you start a story, you want to quickly establish a problem for the main character to solve and their intention of solving it. Maybe a hacked up dead body is found, and a detective i…

“We write by the light of every story we have ever read.” – Richard Peck“Write to your fear.” – Dorothy Allison“Your job isn’t to find (new) ideas but to recognize them when they show u…

One of the big problems with ereaders is that they lack the ability to translate fancy symbols used to make bulleted lists in Microsoft Word. The result is that a bullet point ends up being a …

• Telling what ‘I feel…’ • Create playlist to write your story by • Emotions of personal turmoil • Go some place new • Use journaling to dev…

Despite widely varying writing styles, almost all writers share several common habits that help ensure their success.Drawing upon my experience working as an editor with hundreds of authors an…

Ever read story before bed and find it so gripping that you stay up far later than you should just to find out what is going to happen? If so, you’ve been a “victim” of narrative drive.Narrative dr…

Good stories center on the clashing of characters’ goals and motivations. Sometimes a character’s goals and motivations arise from trying to escape a state of confusion. Here are four writing promp…

Getting your book into a library is a good marketing tool. It’s the equivalent of giving away free copies in those Kindle programs, except in this case a lone free copy can seen by multiple pe…

Do you dream of becoming a published writer? Do you want to ensure your book reaches the largest audience possible? At Storytelling 101, I look at writing, self-publishing and marketing your book. I’m Rob Bignell of Inventing Reality Editing Service and author of 50+ books. Find out more about my affordable services at inventingrealityediting.com/home/editing.