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Featuring everything new and experienced authors need to develop creative and technical skills. Check out writing development articles, our Word of the Day, writing prompts, anthology opportunities and more!

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Why A Beta?

We have a great tip below, written by our own Dark on "Why a Beta?". But before we launch into this tip, Podiumdavis recently approached Renee and I on another of his wonderful compilations. For this one, instead of privately gathering interviews and/or questions and pulling them together, the thought is to put out the inquiry and invite anyone interested to submit their responses privately to Podiumdavis. Then in a short bit, we'll post the best ones (and as usual, if there is enough and the an
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: The Indefinite Article

The Indefinite Article       By       andy021278       A daft question: Do I use “A” or “An”?   Well it does seem like a daft question doesn’t it, but it’s amazing how many people still struggle with this; especially when confronted by the more obscure grammatical areas such as acronyms and abbreviations?   I’ve seen wrong uses in stories posted on line, in published works in print, in newspaper articles and even in professional publications.   The bas
Writing Tips - Skills

New Author Advice #2

Have you thought about writing your first story, but it seems a little daunting? Don't worry, every new author has been there at one point or another. Thankfully, you're part of a great community that has plenty of authors willing to share their knowledge, and/or what they wished they'd known when they first started. If you're thinking that you've heard that before, it's because you have, but that's the best intro to this feature. Back in December we first introduced the "New Author Advice" feat
Writing Tips - Skills

Getting Yourself Out There

So, you've done it! You put in the time and the energy and the effort, you've drained yourself creatively, and you've put together a story that you can be proud of. One that can touch and inspire as well as excite and arouse. Awesome! Now, all you have to do is put it out where people can read it so they can be thrilled by your genius. Just find a place to post your work...and wait. And wait... And wait some more... Ok, so what's going on here? Where's the praise? Where are the gr
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Happy Nanowrimo!

It's November - so you know what that means! Yes, it's National Beard Month!   Well, ok, but it IS National Beard month too - as many of my co-workers annually remind me (I have never nor will never take that plunge but many of them do).   But it is also National Novel Writing Month, or as it is so more familiarly known, NaNoWriMo. Started just over thirteen years ago, if you've never heard about it, check out their website or the wiki page on them. - I'm still amazed at the rapid growth of
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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Feedback

Here at the blog we've talked about leaving feedback for Authors. With that in mind, I asked Hosted Author: C James if he would be willing to write something up for the blog to tell everyone why he thinks feedback is important. I hope you enjoy what he had to say and keep it in mind the next time you read a story here at GA! Feedback: Why Authors Need You   Authors differ, but most need feedback. I mean ‘need’ quite literally.   It’s not an ego thing, it is a need. The reasons vary f
Writing Tips - Skills

Writer Burnout

This week, I'd like to talk about something that I face from time to time, and it often takes a few days for me to power through it, but it can be done with a little bit of patience to balance out the frustration of not being able to sit down and write when you really want to. I'm talking about writer burn out. Don't panic, hehehe! It's not a permanent condition. But it does happen from time to time, and it's never a good feeling. But there are ways to get those rusty wheels turning ag
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #7

The hardest part of self-editing is knowing when you're doing something wrong if you don't actually know you're doing something wrong. You might have an inkling and check a reputable source and figure out how to fix your sentence or story, but, other times, you might think you know what you're doing yet still get it wrong. But sometimes we're taught wrong. I think many older authors will recognize these grammar don't rules that are really grammar do rules!   Grammar Myths We All Know Wrong
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Working With Your Beta Reader

Today we're bringing you another piece that has been written by Dark about how to work with your beta reader. He was even kind enough to share some of the suggestions made by his beta readers and his fixes or his reasoning. Enjoy! Working with your Beta Reader by Dark   When I first came to GA, I had no beta. After getting to know some of the folks here, advertising, and doing some snooping around, I started working with some folks as betas. So, now that I have a beta, what
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip Joke

How about a Blast From the Past? This was printed in our 2007 Vol2 Ed 4 Newsletter under Jokes: How To Write Good 1. Avoid alliteration. Always. 2. Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do. 3. Employ the vernacular. 4. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 5. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 6. Remember to never split an infinitive. 7. Contractions aren't necessary. 8. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 9. One shoul
Lugh

Lugh in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Show, Don't Tell

It's been said many times before. It's practically one of the first basics that every writer learns, that every mentor teaches, and that every critic jumps on. That is the idea of 'show, don't tell.' And yet, while many people may hear that, to some it's a bit unclear as to what that really means, or how to achieve that particular goal. Hopefully, this would give you a slightly better perspective on what appears to be a very simple task on the surface, but actually takes a little practice and fi
Writing Tips - Skills

Why We Write Flash Fiction

How do you write flash fiction? Well, there’s really only one requirement: Keep it short! How short depends on the game, or prompt, or you… but the difference is you write the story planning to make it as concise as possible without sacrificing the image and scene you’re trying to convey. It’s a challenge to write something that pulls in readers without having a lot of time to do backstory or a long adventure.   So why do people like writing flash fiction? For me, it’s a different kin
Writing Tips - Skills

Grammar Rodeo #10

I hope everyone has had a great month so far. It's been a while since we had a Grammar Rodeo from Cia, but it's back! Thank you, Cia for providing us with another great writing tip!   The Structure of a Sentence   Okay, so maybe this seems intuitive. After all, we all write sentences every day, right? But sometimes the visual we’re trying to get across doesn’t work because of the way the sentence has been written. A lot of the time, this can be chalked up to dangling modifiers. What ar
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Crafting A Story

Crafting a Story... More Work than You Might Think! by Cia   There's a lot that goes into writing a story, more than what the average reader would think. After thinking up the story, and writing then it, there comes the many rounds of editing. This is the nuts and bolts process, when you strip something down to its basic components and put it all back together--hopefully without any extra pieces! For me, that involves several reads of the story. Then I ask for help from my tea
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Flashbacks, Friend Or Foe?

As we've mentioned before, FictionStoriesOnline.com is a "sister" site of GayAuthors.org with some great writing advice and tips. With permission, here is one that ran last year, but the advice is great and we hope you enjoy it!   Flashbacks: Friends or Foe?   I had a discussion in a chat room recently over flashbacks. Specifically, how does an author relate history in a story of another character that isn't the main POV? This was especially important, as he wasn't known to the main
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

New Author Advice #3

Hey All! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. Today we're going to look at a writing tip provided to me by Cole Matthews. Cole has put together a bit of a primer on a way to build character. As he told me, it's something that he's always reminding himself of and he was hoping that by sharing his thoughts that it would help other authors out as well. Thank you, Cole!  If you have any advice that you would like to share with the GA authors, send me a PM!   Builds Character
Writing Tips - Skills

New Author Advice #1

Have you thought about writing your first story, but it seems a little daunting? Don't worry, every new author has been there at one point or another. Thankfully, you're part of a great community that has plenty of authors willing to share their knowledge, and/or what they wished they'd known when they first started. Today we've got both Aditus, who is going to tell how he started out, and Graeme who is going to share a little advice on planning out your story. Hope this helps!   Starting O
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: The English Language

Myr found this joke and shared it with us. It may be a joke, but it is also very informative! We'd love to know YOUR thoughts on it!   English Joke/ Writing Primer   I think a retired English teacher was bored.   THIS IS GREAT!   Read all the way to the end................. This took a lot of work to put together!   You think English is easy??   1) The bandage was wound around the wound.   2) The farm was used to produce produce.   3) The dump was so full that it had to r
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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Participial Phrases 101

Participial Phrases 101, Or The First Thing Your Editor Is Going To Yell At You About       By       Libby Drew   That’s not true, by the way. All editors are angels.   So… a participial phrase. What is it? According to grammaruntied.com, it’s a word group consisting of a present participle (also known as an -ing form) or past participle (also known as an -en form), plus any modifiers, objects, and complements.   If you find the English class gibberish definition c
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #3

Who's ready for another Grammar Rodeo? This one focuses on Affect vs Effect and Ellipses vs Em Dashes. A thank you to Cia for taking the time to put these together. I hope you find them as informative as I do. Grammar Rodeo #3 Those Pesky Word Choices   Affect vs. Effect This is one of those small things that isn’t always picked out by a spellcheck, but knowing when to use affect vs. effect can be tricky for some people to remember. I have a simple mnemonic clue for authors when
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Story Cost.... More Or Less

So, I was looking through some of the blog articles that I have and was trying to decide what would be a good choice for Wacky Wednesday. It was a hard choice, to be honest, but then I came across this little gem. Since I don't want to give too much away, I'll just let you see for yourself what I found... Story Cost... More or Less by Cia   Yes, we're putting a price on stories. No more free fiction.   *snickers*   Are you getting ready to flame me? Okay, okay, we're not goin
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Those Pesky Words

Those Pesky Words by Cia I was having a discussion with an author the other day about words. Why do we pick the ones we use when we write? What should the focus be on, the words themselves or they image they are meant to convey? When I first started writing, I used a lot of formal language. For example, from my first story, The Price of Honor: The strange color registered with his consciousness but he continued to stare blankly about, trying to process the abrupt disloca
Lugh

Lugh in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Editing Isn't For The Weak

Well, we started the week out by featuring Libby Drew's story and now we're featuring an article written by Libby Drew! I think it's looking a bit like a Libby Drew week! Enjoy!   Editing Isn’t For the Weak When you love the written word and hang out online in places that cater to that love, someone will most likely, at some point, ask you to edit their story. It may be a friend. It may be a writing partner. It may be your ex. Okay, it probably won’t be your ex, although that would be f
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: The Writer's Yellow Brick Road

We're always grateful to our contributors, and especially to Libby Drew for this great article on traveling with Dorothy from a first to a second draft. Enjoy!       The Writer’s Yellow Brick Road: Journey from First to Second Draft by Libby Drew       First drafts are often wordy. We make them that way because at the divine moment we’re crafting a scene, adding words is the only way to get the details across. Soliloquies abound. Descriptions clutter. Characters chatt
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: The Infinitive - To Split Or Not To Split

Happy 12/12/12 to everyone - and to celebrate, here is a writing tip piece by Andy021278 that we hope you find useful. Enjoy!       The Infinitive: To Split or Not to Split by Andy021278   We’ve all seen it. We’ve probably all hurled expletives over it. And more than one of us has probably fretted over it at some time or another. It’s that annoying grammar check in MS Word, and other similar word processing programs, which tells you that you’ve split an infinitive. Well
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