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Writing World

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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

Promoting Your Work

For this article, I want all of you reading this to take your loving, sweethearted, humble, nature...all of your shyness and all of your shame...crumple it up and toss it over your shoulder! Because, for the next few minutes, we need to be a full blown 'ego machine'! Period! Don't worry...you can go back to being humble again when you're done. It passes. It's like a flash fever, or a 24 hour flu. Use it to your advantage while you can. Whenever you decide that you have your story looki
Comicality

Comicality 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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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Specificity

REMINDER: Political posts/comments are not allowed in the GA Forums including status updates and chat - thanks!   So - have you started going through withdrawals from not getting a writing tip from Libby? I really enjoy the perspective she has and the experience she shares in these tips that she does for our community. Here Libby writes on "Specificity" - Enjoy!       Specificity Of course we can say “she cooked him dinner.” But why would we, when we could say “she broiled him a Del
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: Keeping It Legal

No - this has nothing to do with pharmaceuticals or jailbait - it is a much more serious tip on how to avoid legal issues when publishing your writings. We thank KingdombytheSea for this great and very timely tip, as more and more authors are looking to take the plunge into being published. Enjoy!       Keeping it Legal by KingdombytheSea   The Copyright Police do exist, and if you’re an author planning on publishing, it’s a good idea to keep that in mind.   When I wr
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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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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: Don't Leave Your Readers Deaf And Blind

I always love it when we get a feature from Libby Drew - having someone who has been there, able relate writing tips from experience, is a valuable experience. Here she talks about using the characters various senses in your writing. Enjoy!   Don’t Leave Your Readers Deaf and Blind by Libby Drew   “Stop! You’re scaring me,” Megan said   “I’m not trying to scare you,” Steve soothed. “We need to talk.”   “Don’t come any closer!” Megan cried.   “Don’t be afraid, Megan,” Stev
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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Constructive Criticism - Part I

Many authors welcome criticism, providing it is constructive, but... What is constructive criticism? The definition can vary from person to person, so rather than just one author giving their definition, I thought it would be a good idea to get multiple perspectives. I put the question out to all authors site wide and got eleven great responses. With so many great responses, I've decided to do a part 1 and a part 2. Here's part 1, enjoy!   So there's the first 6, next week you'll get th
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Getting In The Mood - Part 1

Getting in the Mood: Part One Compiled By Renee Stevens   Have you ever wondered how your favorite authors are able to write what they write? What gets them in the mood to create these wonderful works? We have, so when Podiumdavis came to us suggesting a tip on getting in the mood for writing we thought this would be a great idea; not only just to be able to feel what an authors characters are feeling, but to really set the mood for the story. You can read his thoughts on this
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Less Is More

Libby Drew has been great in providing us with content for the GA News Blog and continues to bring us some wonderful articles on the art of writing. I hope you all enjoy this lesson that she took the time to put together for us. Less is More   That thing I say all the time, how less is more? It applies to your characters too.   Less detail makes for more believable characters.   Carlton entered the room. Six feet tall, broad-shouldered, he wore a finely tailored three-piece pinstri
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Constructive Criticism - Part 2

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Last week we did a post on Constructive Criticism. I received so many great responses, I decided it was better to break it up and do two posts rather than the single one that I originally had planned. Today, we're looking at the final five author's answers to the question: What is constructive criticism? Enjoy!   So there you have it, the final five! Now, I have a question for all of you! Do you have a question you would like to put to all t
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: 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: 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

Tip Thursday: Constructive Criticism

We love getting News blog articles and tips from members - and CassieQ has been a wonderful contributor. Here she writes her thoughts on Constructive Criticism - a very detailed article that shows a lot of thought. I hope you enjoy and let us know your thoughts as well! Also, if YOU have an article you think would be great for this blog, let Renee Stevens, Andy021278 or myself know. Thanks!       Constructive Criticism by CassieQ   I'll try to make this as painless as p
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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Overworking a Story

You've written a story, you've gotten from point A to point B, and you made sure to wrap everything up, nice and tidy...but it's just not ready yet. Right? You want it to be your best work. So you go back and edit it so that it'll seem like a much better, more professional, well-written story. You take a little more time with it, but even then, it doesn't seem quite right. So you go back again, and try to 'fix' everything that you think is wrong with it. You finish up...and it's OK...but...
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Comicality in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Plagiarism

Plagiarism It was a very very long time ago but I can remember the whole issue vividly, because when I really sat down and gave it some deep thought...I was kind of conflicted about the idea. And maybe I still I am to a degree where it's still pretty hard to decide whether or not I'd be willing to say 'never say never'. And that had to do with a few Diet Coke commercials on TV and a rapidly growing technology that was suddenly brought to a screeching stop just as it was becoming something un
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Editing

I love looking back over older GA Newsletters. This gem about editing was published in the December 2006 issue - but is still very relevant today. I hope you enjoy!   Editing Tips... How Far Should You Go?   There can be little doubt that editing is an extremely complicated process. Sure, anyone with basic literacy skills and a spellchecker can read through a story and correct spelling and grammatical mistakes. It's not exactly brain surgery. Yes, it takes a certain degree of skill a
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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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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
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Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Waiting For The Next Chapter

It's time to climb into the time machine and take a trip to the.... PAST! Today we're going to look at a little gem I found that should call out to both Authors AND Readers. It was taken from a May 2004 Newsletter. Enjoy and as always, share your thoughts about it.   The Gay Authors Newsletter - May 2004 Waiting for the next chapter ... By Jevic   Nothing is more frustrating than reading a great story and suddenly find yourself hanging with nothing left to read. Sure there's
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Adverbs

So it's Wednesday again which means it's time for another Wacky Wednesday post. What should we look at today? We have a couple of different options, but I think this week we will take a look at those pesky little adverbs. That's right, adverbs! Andy021278 wrote a piece to explain adverbs in their usual role as describing words for verbs.   Enjoy, and thank you Andy for this informative article! Adverbs   An adverb is a describing word. They are the words we see scattered about storie
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 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
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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 Needs Direction

We have had so many wonderful contributors to the GA News Blog. One such contributor is Libby Drew who has sent us countless articles centered around ways to improve your writing. She has had a ton of very helpful tips and today is no different. Story Needs Direction   Wait a minute, lady. My story has a quest. How much more direction could I possibly have?   Direction is not always movement. Movement does not ensure direction. Direction implies there is a question that needs to be
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