How do we contain our inner critic? Richard Wertime contemplates and shares practices in part four of “The Empowered Writer.”

In his third craft note of the Empowered Writer series, Richard Wertime ponders common pitfalls that may befall a writer as they draft.

In his second craft note of the Empowered Writer series, Richard Wertime ponders “writer’s sag” and how to sustain creativity.

What is it to be a writer? Richard Wertime explores this question in his latest craft note for The Woven Tale Press.

In his latest essay for WTP, Richard Wertime reflects on the nature of spectatorship and the role it plays in our reading and our lives.

In Part Four of his series Guiding Your Reader’s Eye, Richard Wertime explores the different techniques used to exit characters in fiction.

In a new craft note, Richard Wertime explores various examples of strategies to introduce groups of characters in fiction.

Richard Wertime analyzes the prologues of stories by Tobias Wolff and Bobbie Ann Mason to explore the technique of “scanning and fixating.”

DeWitt Henry spotlights a poem and a recent novel made of prose poems from prolific publisher and writer Marc Vincenz.

Richard Wertime discusses how as writers, perception “can trip us up at almost every turn, in ways both unusual and predictable enough.”

Richard Wertime reflects on how irony helps to establish and maintain the “human order,” and, ultimately, our individual sense of selves.

In a piece translated from Spanish by Nathan D. Horowitz, Abdón Ubidia shares short musings on the creative process of writing.

Writing Effective Dialogue: What is it in fiction that yields the most compelling dialogue?

In a continued series of craft notes on dialogue, WTP writer Richard Wertime outlines techniques to avoid when writing dialogue.

Richard Wertime explores the assumptions we make when “catching up” on the “vacant” context dialogue leaves, and how it impacts writing.

In his latest craft note, Richard Wertime delves further into the writing of dialogue by exploring the “etiquette” of speaking.

In a series on dialogue, Richard Wertime elaborates on the impact of skillfully blending direct and indirect discourse.

In a craft note on writing dialogue, Richard Wertime introduces direct and indirect discourse and how to use both effectively.

In an ongoing series of craft notes, Richard Wertime considers how suspense takes control of our attention in reading.

In an ongoing series of craft notes, Richard Wertime contemplates disorientation and the experience of wonder in fiction writing.

Peter Selgin’s Duplicity is a novel made of “found” composition notebooks, a confession rife with questions around philosophical dualism.

WTP writer Richard Wertime expands upon his initial reflection on metaphor, on how metaphors afford us a “magnified sight.”

WTP writer Richard Wertime reflects on the power of giving metaphor space to “breathe” and avoiding over-cluttered description.

WTP writer Richard Wertime explores how metaphor works and the impact it can have on us as readers in a series of craft notes.

WTP writer Richard Wertime explores how metaphor works and the impact it can have on us as readers in a series of craft notes.

Richard Wertime reflects on the “Minute Particulars” in the craft of fiction writing, and thee crafting of his short story “Soccer.”

WTP writer Richard Wertime reflects on the crafting of, and fictional strategies used in, his short story “Soccer,” from WTP Vol. IX #3.

WTP guest writer Ronald J. Pelias explores his writing process and the perseverance behind his longevity as a creative.

WTP guest writer Lisa Zeiger on the abiding voice of Toni Morrison.

The COVID-19 pandemic inspires WTP guest writer Lisa Zeiger to reflect on the writing of Paul Bowles, religious ideology, and endings.

Shoptalk: Character Development addresses what kind of questions a writer asks about people and of himself.

A selection by DeWitt Henry of thirty paragraphs on writing, the writer’s life, and aphorisms themselves from Richard Kostalanetz’s A WRITER’S TORAH.

WTP guest writer Ann Epstein defends the often disparaged adverb, and in the process explores why writers in particular are susceptible to arbitrary rules of style.

“What matters to me is the kind of soil in which people have, out of which they have to grow, and the kind of climate around them.” Prose editor DeWitt Henry shares his highlights from a transcribed recording of Tillie Olsen’s reading at Emerson College in 1974.

“For my ninth birthday I received my first diary. The first words I wrote: ‘I want to be a writer.’ This was the first time I articulated what I must have always known. It was always about words—and story—for me.”

“I do believe an author’s biographical identity is an insufficient marker for experience—even impossible to pin down with any accuracy—and the same holds true for a reader’s. This is the beginning of compassion for others.”

“We don’t have to bullfight to write believably about bullfighting, or love, or crime, or suicide.” DeWitt Henry on the lines writers blur between fact and fiction.

Lynn Casteel Harper on her experiences with dementia and spirituality and how they inform her writing.

Beth Kephart learns “the liability of having, the politics of possession, the sound of time crashing time, the ache of what is loved and what will be lost.”

DeWitt Henry on the challenge of balancing author tone with character tone, and the difficulties that arise as far down as word choice.

Nina Badzin questions whether there is a need for a singular “identity” in the life of a working writer.

How Viet Thanh Nguyen’s THE COMMITTED teaches memoir writer Anita Gill about storytelling.

John Skoyles writes between genres, from poetry to prose to nonfiction. He talks his most recent publication The Nut File, excerpted in WTP.

WTP Contributor Susan Tepper interviews author Donna Baier Stein at the Algonquin Round Table in NYC.

Painter Andrew Wyeth’s views on art could hold valuable insights for writers on creating and developing stories.

Contributing editor Richard Gilbert laments over the New York Times’s use of capitalization after a colon.

“Classrooms can be some of the most intimate public spaces.” J.D. Scrimgeour’s writing draws on the teacher-student relationship for inspiration.

Paul Haney of Redivider interviews Ned Stuckey-French, essayist and teacher whose work The Iowa Review and Tri-Quarterly Online.

Clarke W. Owens contemplates the age-old question among literary critics of interpretation vs. intent, and what makes true art.

Richard Gilbert visits a former student’s senior art exhibition and finds himself reflecting on not only art but also teaching and writing.

WTP Contributor Erin Wood outlines her process for creating a themed anthology and celebrates the merits of such a project.

Stephen Davenport debates the ethics of writing in first person using a narrator of a different race, gender, or age than the author, using his experience writing his second novel.

SFK Press’s Kelsey Asher ponders what it means to be a “Southern” writer, and if recently published author Maggie Mitchell and her book, Pretty Is, qualify.

SFK Press Editor Steve McCondichie provides an overview of contemporary Southern authors and the growing global inclusion in contemporary Southern literature.

Grappling with Hemingway’s claim that too much time spent in journalism can ruin a creative writer.

It’s the start of a fresh year, and maybe you’re thinking about making writing a serious goal. Whether you’re pursuing freelance opportunities or gearing up to start an indie project, like a blog or a book, there’s a key element that will drive visibility. Know what it is? Here’s a hint: it’s probably the same …

Richard Gilbert reviews and appreciates Living by Fiction, the 1982 exploration of the art of writing by Annie Dillard.

Chris Offutt’s Writing Advice

What does Chris Offutt’s memoir, My Father, the Pornographer, have to say about writing and life? Richard Gilbert reviews and reflects.

Handling the Truth

Contributing Editor Richard Gilbert interviews award-winning author, Beth Kephart, on her recent memoir, Handling the Truth.

“The Best of Everything”

DeWitt Henry on character development and voice in Yates’s “The Best of Everything”: “How do we, as writers, address the distance between us and them?”

Writing’s Values Challenge

“Writing’s Values—Intelligence, Sensitivity & Beauty—Challenge Me,” Richard Gilbert on the necessity of forgiving oneself in order to write.

“Particular words have ways of thrumming in my mind, and it was years before I would realize poetry rather than fiction would be their best conduit.”

Writing about dreams, loss, fatherhood & farming, Richard Gilbert, investigates the balance between emotions and information in his own memoir, Shepherd.

Writing: The Cinematic Technique

Chauncey has worked in print, television, stage, online, and film – and learned a variety of storytelling techniques transferable between platforms.

Five Approaches to Revising Character

Writing Character: One Most Like Yourself

“My own weakness is that the character most like myself is often the one I am least curious about.” How can a writer make that character interesting?

Plot Holes

Plot holes, those devious little blighters, have a knack of popping into existence just where you least expect them. Read how one writer has learned to circumvent them.

Layout of a Novel

One writer’s approach to planning and outlining his drafts: How to storyboard a novel trying each of the various “spreads”.

Creating the Writing Retreat I Wanted

by Amanda Saint

Amanda Saint writes about Retreat West— how she founded it and how this writing retreat grew into the hub of a creative community. On The Woven Tale Press!

Read an excerpt from Yossi Waxman’s novel, Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye I Die a Little, illustrated by acrylic paintings by the author, a professional artist from Israel.

The Woven Tale Press literary editor tells about the process of and influences on writing her first novel, Stone Seeds. Read her fascinating account!

Master of Flash Fiction

Interview by Woven Tale Press editor Jo Ely

U.K. fiction writer David Gaffney gives his pointed views on the internet, flash fiction, other authors, and more on The Woven Tale Press. When does he write?

“…I steal time from the gaps between things. Train journeys are good, as is the period between getting home and braising the giblets for the lizards, or at weekends when really I should be building a hen hut or changing the fuse in the foot spa.…”

“Writers are often cagey about the origin of their creations when asked where the story started.”

To all of you who may have taken creative writing classes: What kind of letter might you right to your classmates? newyorker.com

Who or what has been a big influence on your writing, be it a book, film, or mentor? “I started out almost as a documentary director and ended up as a producer of opera.” Michael Powell Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s amazing movie, Black Narcissus, was a huge influence on my novel The Mirror, which is set entirely …

“Character is what interests me most. I fell in love with the characters in my novels.” Interview with Mike Stone of https://uncollectedworks.wordpress.com See his work in The Woven Tale Press Vol. III #11 Tell us about your writing process. (Do you outline, revise extensively, use pen and paper, stickies, etc.) The answer depends on the kind of …

by Laura Shovan [dropcap]O[/dropcap]des are all about tone. Show enough enthusiasm for even a simple object like a shoe, and a poet can convince the reader of the object’s value, that it’s worthy of attention. That is what Chilean poet Pablo Neruda did with his Odes to Common Things, a book which still influences poets …

One of the most frequently asked questions by new independent authors is, should I copyright my book before publishing it? It’s a relevant and important question because the last thing an author wants is their creative work being ripped off and pawned as someone else’s. But just when is the right time to copyright your …

By  Amreen B. Shaikh of https://painttheworldwithwords.wordpress.com Writing is a very wise sagacious exercise. One writes to emote their thoughts, ideas and concepts to the world. But there are few words which hinder the flow of it when one reads, and actually are considered a cliche in writing. I recently read about the wrong in using the word “very”  in …

By Eduardo Suastegui of http://www.eduardosuastegui.com What is this story about? To write it, you have to know the answer to that question. It’s a simple question—deceptively so. But yeah, if you’re going to have any idea of what to write next, and if you’re going to write a semi-coherent story summary blurb, you have to know what …

Here is a list of essays, articles, quotes, and links on writing advice, tips, theory, and thought. (From 23 Tips from Famous Writers) “Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be a …

You’re tapping that keyboard late into the night and tell yourself, “Man, I’ve got to get this writing out.”  But your Wise shoulder angel slugs your Writing shoulder angel and says, “You’ve gotta sleep!  There’s an early morning ahead of you.” What do you do?  If you stop writing now, you can get some sleep …

What is that phrase you read that bugs you?  It’s not cliché (like all that and a bag of chips), but yet, because it appears in almost every single book you read, it is cliché.  My phrase:  Everything went black.  (Here’s a little something fun–the origin of the phrase “everything went black” and other clichés…) …

You know the rules.  Things have got to get worse before they can get better.  Let your character have a goal, but don’t give him what he wants.  That’s why people keep reading. You’ve also got to dish up all your character’s flaws on a silver platter.  To have a moving story, your flawed character …

By Sydney Scrogham He left before it rained. He’s across from me on the couch, sitting crisscross applesauce, and he picks at the hem of his brown t-shirt. My hands sandwich between my legs as I bounce my knees up and down against the grey-blue couch cushions—like a butterfly without flight. Shadows from my legs …

You’re a creative artist, and no one (except for other creative artists) understands you.  I get that.  Here are some things you know are true that other people around you just don’t get! There’s a season for writing (and planning, and editing…). You sit at the computer and wail at the blank screen.  Your pen …

The Timeline: Early readers of Stella Rose have asked me how I managed to keep it all straight. Granted, Stella Rose is no Game of Thrones in complexity, but it does reflect contemporary lifestyles which are complicated and tangled. So how does a novelist keep it all straight? Tools. NOTE: I hate tools. Most folks love …

As we approached Billie Holiday’s 100th birthday earlier this month (April 7, 1915 in Baltimore, MD), numerous musicians, performers, and jazz experts offered opinions about what makes Lady Day so indelible. Some mentioned her unique voice. Many focused on the emotional weight of her songs, remarking how well she translated her own misery and hardship into bluesy jazz. Others shorthanded it, saying …

A writer must consider quality content above all else: This is a great statement when you first glance at it.  It is one of these “think positive” type of messages we all love to hear or read about.  I agree with the statement, in the surface style it is given, but I don’t agree writers must …

Writing novels when you have experience is daunting. Writing a first novel, then, can seem like an impossible task, especially when you have nothing going for you except desire and a head full of ideas. I recently commented on a book by someone who asked for a review through my Review Exchange offer. I could tell …

People are often surprised to learn that an African American was one of the first non-indiginious settlers on the Mendocino Coast. While details are often contested, it’s widely agreed that Nathaniel Smith settled on a coastal bluff roughly six miles south of the Navarro River and just north of present day Elk sometime between 1851 and 1854. Other than a …

I’ve been struggling to find a literary agent for one of my two fiction novels for more than a year now. I’ve pitched the story at conferences and via email, and received a steady trickle of rejections. Mostly formulaic responses, some nicer than others, one or two with encouraging words, but all the same rejection …

As the fiction editor for Eclectica Magazine, it’s been both a privilege and pleasure to read story submissions. Finding the handful of pieces that take my breath away is what it’s all about. The good ones shine through, those that are brilliant positively sparkle. That said, it’s too bad that so many stories that come my …

So what genre would you assign to this book?  Oh, I know! It has to be about an exterminator named Ki’shto’ba who labors at destroying termite colonies by abducting their Queens! Right?! What genre is this? Hmm … hard to tell from the cover. In fact, I call it speculative literary science fiction, future history, psychological …

Here is a list of many essays, articles, quotes, and links on writing advice, tips, theory, and thought. (from 23 Tips from Famous Writers) “Let the writer take up surgery or bricklaying if he is interested in technique. There is no mechanical way to get the writing done, no shortcut. The young writer would be …

As a published Indie Writer, I attest to the hard work it takes to complete a manuscript. Family and friends’ “this is good” critiques do not good writers make, neither does moaning about the absence of the muse, or other responsibilities that may take writers away from writing. The successful Indie Writer: sets and respects stated/written goals …

    In my own personal writing experience, the path began like this:  I sat down one day and decided to write a story.  It didn’t come easily.  I struggled and flailed around, trying to find the right words, the right moments, the right shades of meaning. It’s tempting to think of one’s career path as …

A few weeks ago, I had the equivalent of a writer’s meltdown until I made two conclusions, one of which involved meeting a certain person by the name Lise Weil. (You can read about it here).  After talking to her and learning about the writing retreat that she runs a few times a year, I decided …

By Tamsin de la Harpe 1. Sentence Fragments. Look, fiction writers use sentence fragments. Most of you should know this by now, because you read books and if they’re halfway decent books you’ll see sentence fragments. Like this. Assuming, however, that your high school English teacher broke this habit out of you, along with the …

By Lee Martin of http://leemartinauthor.com I remember on New Year’s Eve, when I was a boy, my father’s side of the family would gather for a supper of oyster soup and games of cards—usually either Pitch or Rook. This was in a day when we didn’t have cell phones that took pictures, when we didn’t …

By Lee Martin of http://leemartinauthor.com Were you feeling a little disorganized around the holidays? Imagine the way writers of memoirs must feel when faced with the task of giving shape and structure to the experiences that they’re trying to render on the page. I’ve had a request to talk about such things, so here goes. When writing …

{Originally published at lisaakramer.com} I won’t deny it. I had this fantasy that I would wake up sometime during the month of December to discover that I had become an overnight best-selling author sensation. Of course that is pure fantasy in a world where hundreds of thousands of new books are published daily; the chances …

By T.K. Young of http://www.flashfictionblog.com Flash fiction is all about brevity. So if you want to write good flash fiction, focus is the critical skill for getting your message across in a format that forces you to use as few words as possible. But there are three big pitfalls that can lead to unfocused writing: Lack …

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any new writing. There is a reason for that: busy, busy, busy relaunching my first book under my own name, busy revising the sequel so it might be ready in the new year, and well, Life keeps happening. And another thing: being in this writing group of mine has really …

By Mark Fine of http://finewrites.blogspot.com/p/main-page.html In writing and researching my historical novel The Zebra Affaire, I had the privilege of viewing many wild creatures in their natural habitats. Being in the bush, tracking game (with camera, and not firearm) is not a bookish, academic pursuit. The composite of the senses are vital to telling your story: the wretched …

By Ken Elkes of http://kenelkes.wordpress.com Some musings on writing. Let’s start with three examples: 1. I was in a road traffic accident the other day. I didn’t suffer any injuries, though my car may not be repairable. Unfortunately it was my birthday. 2. I had an interesting birthday. Got into a car crash on the motorway. Not a scratch on me …

By David Kent of http://writerinthemountains.blogspot.com What’s the difference between ordinary writing and extraordinary literature? Word choice.      That is not some editorial decree to run out and buy a new thesaurus (although if you don’t own J. I. Rodale’s Synonym Finder, you should go get it), there is a lot more to word choice than a …

By Jennifer Dunn of  http://coffeeandacloseddoor.blogspot.com Yesterday I wrote about why I’ve decided to make my own writing prompts, and I described how I planned to do this. You can find out all about it right here.For a few days prior to posting yesterday, I’d been trying out my method with pretty decent success, but I wasn’t …

by Leanne Radojkovich of http://www.leanneradojkovich.com Very short stories are as old as Aesop’s fables. Jorge Luis Borges, Kate Chopin and Anton Chekov (who said “I can speak briefly on long subjects”) have embraced the form. Ernest Hemingway has 18 very short stories in his book In Our Time which might today be called flash, as might Franz Kafka’s Parables and …

Carol Cassara of http://carolcassara.com “Worship of Writers”: a phrase on wrapping paper I saw while in London, and one I think is what authors finally are, collectively.  I wasn’t sure how I would use the photo I took of this wrapping paper: Wrapping paper I saw in London Then I ran across some of the very best writing tips ever. …

Whilst editing more of the never-ending manuscript last night, I became aware that some of my writing was tight. As tight as a publisher’s wallet in fact. I can clearly discern which sections I wrote during free-wheeling, word-flowing time off when I spent a couple of hours jotting down stream-of-consciousness, vaguely-related meanderings, which eventually morphed …

By Amy Duncan A few weeks ago, I posed these questions on Facebook: Here are a few questions for my creative friends (writers, musicians, composers, artists, photographers, etc.): What is your creative process? How do you approach your work, day by day? What are your work habits? Your frustrations (if any!)? Feel free to be …

By J.R. Frontera of http://jrfrontera.wordpress.com …otherwise known as: How To Tap Into the Elusive “Everywhere.” If you are like most yet-to-be-published writers, you attempt to learn all you can from the successful career authors any chance you get. This often includes reading magazine articles, interviews, and online articles about them, and sometimes even traveling to …

By Jon Simmonds Contributing Features Editor, of http://jumpingfromcliffs.com It seems barely a day goes past without someone somewhere posting about the “rules” of writing. Now, I’m not entirely sure that I agree with this; I feel there are far too many so-called rules imposed upon one of the most creative pursuits imaginable. Creativity doesn’t follow rules …

You think you know your main character so well. You know where she came from, where he went to school, the name of her chosen dagger, and why he never goes to bed before three in the morning. But if you think you know everything there is to know about your character, think again. To …

By Shanan Haislip, Features Contributing Editor Some days, there’s nothing more paralyzing than the expanse of white paper or white Word document in front of you. The pressure! The expectations! The sheer nothingyetness of it! The unbroken marble monotony of the blank page has made me cower and back away from it many, many times. We …

A Special Feature Series: See Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 At the welcome reception for my MFA program I was asked the following question: when my novel is published and on bookstore shelves, next to which author would I like to see it placed? I had never thought about this and found myself unable to …

A Special Feature Series: See Part 1 and Part 2. Writing craft books and writing teachers will tell you that readers read for character. Indeed, the cornerstone of literary fiction is the complex character study. At a minimum, even the most surface-dwelling, plot-driven genre novel needs engaging characters to carry the story. These characters are …

A Special Feature Series: See Part 1 here. Resonant stories have depth. Forgettable stories don’t. Literary fiction, for example, takes us deep into the lives of characters and creates complex stories that touch upon the human condition. A good literary novel may resonate with the reader long after the book is finished. Genre fiction, many …

Dennis Lehane and the Four D’s If you are close to my age, or even a decade or so younger, you may remember a professional athlete whose career spanned the late eighties and early nineties. His name was Bo Jackson. He won college football’s Heisman Trophy in 1985, made his major league debut with the Kansas City …

A writing teacher (and multi-published novelist) once told me that to really understand a character you’re writing, you should make a list of the items he carries carry in his pockets. While I hate to disagree with such an august mentor, I’m afraid that I simply have to. You see, if you take a peek …

Productivity and efficiency are two things we all want more of in our lives, especially when it comes to writing. Fitting writing in whenever you can is great. But what about those longer stretches of time when you can actually sit down to practice your craft for thirty minutes, an hour, or more? Long, uninterrupted …

In my last post, “The Department of Redundancy Department,” I discussed how I use the Find feature of Microsoft Word to hunt down and eliminate redundant redundancies from my manuscripts as I go through the final edit. I also mentioned how I’ll use Find to ferret out those pesky to be verbs and get rid of as many of those as …

I’d like to call your attention to an editing tool for the editing of redundant words and redundant word phrases that turn up in rough drafts and not-so-rough drafts (what?).  Why is this important? First, good writing is concise. Thomas Jefferson said, “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” When someone writes past experience, fatally killed, foreign …

I knew early what I didn’t want to read. Though I longed for adventure my mother bought me all the usual little girl comics/magazines containing stories about ballerinas in pink tutus, owning a pony, or cute puppies and donkeys. Even at such a tender age I didn’t care for them. I’d rather be out climbing …

I hear a voice in my head. She begins speaking when I’m walking, taking a shower, or trying to sleep. She starts to tell me her story. I sit at the computer screen and hope to capture the story, but nothing happens. I’m not blocked exactly. It’s just that she doesn’t want to speak through …

Something that is often missing in stories, particularly short stories and flash fiction, is subtext. A quick search on subtext revealed a lot of posts on dialog and setting and how to use them to imply what is not expressly written. For this post, I’m taking it a little larger in the sense of looking …

Don’t let bad editing happen to you.

Because writers get so close to their work, self-editing (a critical step whether you plan to self-publish or seek out a traditional publishing arrangement) can become an obstacle to success. However, applying the principles of E-Prime to your writing is a great way to view your work anew while staying extremely close—and often, getting even closer—to the spirit of your story.