We can all agree that reading extensively makes us better writers. We subconsciously learn craft and absorb common conventions of the books we love. When we carefully analyze masterworks and comparative titles in our chosen genre, we better understand our readers, learn how to write books that our readers will [...]
May #WritersRead Book Club Chat: Thursday, May 28th @ 7pm EST Join on Twitter! Details on how to join here While reading great books allows us to see how things are done well in the wild, reading books on craft forces us take an active step in [...]
So far in #WritersRead, we’ve been pursuing growth in our story craft through analyzing books outside our usual comfort zones. This month, we’re taking a deeper look at books on writing to learn from the experts themselves. While reading great books allows us to see how things are done well in [...]
April #WritersRead Book Club Chat: Thursday, April 30th @ 7pm EST Join on Twitter! Details on how to join here Banned books are those that have been challenged (by an individual or group) and removed from schools and/or libraries in order to ‘protect children’. This month [...]
Banned books are those that have been challenged (by an individual or group) and removed from schools and/or libraries in order to 'protect children'. Sometimes, books have been banned out of genuine concern for students, other times groups have used the label of 'concern' to block students' exposure to diverse [...]
March #WritersRead Book Club Chat: Thursday, March 26th @ 7pm EST Join on Twitter! Details on how to join here This month we all read 'Children’s and middle grade stories' to see what we could learn about story craft from these books written for younger folks—especially since [...]
Children's and middle grade stories have all the same elements of longer, more complicated novels, but in a condensed format. As writers, we can benefit from studying the way they're structured. Keeping stories short and simple is a bigger feat than you'd think. This month, we're THRILLED to welcome our [...]
February #WritersRead Book Club Chat: Thursday, February 27th @ 7pm EST On Twitter & Instagram Details on how to join here! For the #WritersRead book club this month, we read in the theme 'a book set in the future.' Through these stories, we imagine the future, [...]
Science fiction and futuristic novels allow us to examine, collaboratively, the question of: What If? Through these stories, we imagine the future, armed with what we know about ourselves now (the good and the bad). We imagine the consequences of making, or not making, certain decisions. We picture how the [...]
January #WritersRead Book Club Chat: Thursday, January 30th @ 7pm EST On Twitter & Instagram Details on how to join here! For the #WritersRead book club this month, we read in the theme 'something in a genre you never read.' As writers, it's important we read [...]
Great scenes build an exhilarating push and pull between a story’s plot and characters. Plot events drive characters to make choices, and their choices in turn shape future plot events. This wave of tension locks in readers, compelling them to read chapter after chapter. With the 15 key elements in this guide, you can claim this page-turning power as your own! We’ve included two analyzed, annotated scenes to show you how it all works.
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