# data[].attributes.body
Get some tips by these amazing authors!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Here's one way to become a better writer. Listen to the advice of writers who earn their daily bread with their pens. During the past week, lists of writing commandments by Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard (above) and William Safire have buzzed around Twitter. (Find our Twitter stream here.) So we decided to collect them and add tips from a few other veterans -- namely, George Orwell, Margaret Atwood, and Neil Gaiman. Here we go:

Henry Miller (from Henry Miller on Writing)

1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.
2. Start no more new books, add no more new material to "Black Spring."
3. Don't be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
4. Work according to the program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!
5. When you can't create you can work.
6. Cement a little every day, rather than add new fertilizers.
7. Keep human! See people; go places, drink if you feel like it.
8. Don't be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.
9. Discard the Program when you feel like it-but go back to it the next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.
10. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.
11. Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards.

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Margaret Atwood (originally appeared in The Guardian)

1. Take a pencil to write with on aeroplanes. Pens leak. But if the pencil breaks, you can't sharpen it on the plane, because you can't take knives with you. Therefore: take two pencils.
2. If both pencils break, you can do a rough sharpening job with a nail file of the metal or glass type.
3. Take something to write on. Paper is good. In a pinch, pieces of wood or your arm will do.
4. If you're using a computer, always safeguard new text with a memory stick.
5. Do back exercises. Pain is distracting.
6. Hold the reader's attention. (This is likely to work better if you can hold your own.) But you don't know who the reader is, so it's like shooting fish with a slingshot in the dark. What fascinates A will bore the pants off B.
7. You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and a grip on reality. This latter means: there's no free lunch. Writing is work. It's also gambling. You don't get a pension plan. Other people can help you a bit, but essentially you're on your own. Nobody is making you do this: you chose it, so don't whine.
8. You can never read your own book with the innocent anticipation that comes with that first delicious page of a new book, because you wrote the thing. You've been backstage. You've seen how the rabbits were smuggled into the hat. Therefore ask a reading friend or two to look at it before you give it to anyone in the publishing business. This friend should not be someone with whom you have a romantic relationship, unless you want to break up.
9. Don't sit down in the middle of the woods. If you're lost in the plot or blocked, retrace your steps to where you went wrong. Then take the other road. And/or change the person. Change the tense. Change the opening page.
10. Prayer might work. Or reading something else. Or a constant visualisation of the holy grail that is the finished, published version of your resplendent book.

Neil Gaiman (read his free short stories here)

1. Write.
2. Put one word after another. Find the right word, put it down.
3. Finish what you're writing. Whatever you have to do to finish it, finish it.
4. Put it aside. Read it pretending you've never read it before. Show it to friends whose opinion you respect and who like the kind of thing that this is.
5. Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.
6. Fix it. Remember that, sooner or later, before it ever reaches perfection, you will have to let it go and move on and start to write the next thing. Perfection is like chasing the horizon. Keep moving.
7. Laugh at your own jokes.
8. The main rule of writing is that if you do it with enough assurance and confidence, you're allowed to do whatever you like. (That may be a rule for life as well as for writing. But it's definitely true for writing.) So write your story as it needs to be written. Write it honestly, and tell it as best you can. I'm not sure that there are any other rules. Not ones that matter.

William Safire (the author of the New York Times Magazine column "On Language")

1. Remember to never split an infinitive.
2. The passive voice should never be used.
3. Do not put statements in the negative form.
4. Verbs have to agree with their subjects.
5. Proofread carefully to see if you words out.
6. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading a great deal of repetition can be by rereading and editing.
7. A writer must not shift your point of view.
8. And don't start a sentence with a conjunction. (Remember, too, a preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with.)
9. Don't overuse exclamation marks!!
10. Place pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as of 10 or more words, to their antecedents.
11. Writing carefully, dangling participles must be avoided.
12. If any word is improper at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is.
13. Take the bull by the hand and avoid mixing metaphors.
14. Avoid trendy locutions that sound flaky.
15. Everyone should be careful to use a singular pronoun with singular nouns in their writing.
16. Always pick on the correct idiom.
17. The adverb always follows the verb.
18. Last but not least, avoid cliches like the plague; seek viable alternatives.

Related Content: Ray Bradbury Gives 12 Pieces of Writing Advice to Young Authors (2001) John Steinbeck's Six Tips for the Aspiring Writer and His Nobel Prize Speech Elmore Leonard's Ultimate Guide for Would-Be Writers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Writing Tips by Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman & George Orwell

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here's one way to become a better writer. Listen to the advice of writers who earn their daily bread with their pens. During the past week, lists of writing commandments by Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard (above) and William Safire have buzzed around Twitter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Today is the 110th birthday of writer John Steinbeck, whose great novel of the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath, gives an eloquent and sympathetic voice to the dispossessed. In 1962, Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception." You can watch him deliver his Nobel speech above.

And for insights into how Steinbeck reached that pinnacle, you can read a collection of his observations on the art of fiction from the Fall, 1975 edition of The Paris Review, including six writing tips jotted down in a letter to a friend the same year he won the Nobel Prize. "The following," Steinbeck writes, "are some of the things I have had to do to keep from going nuts."
1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just one page for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised. 2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material. 3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn't exist. In writing, your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person--a real person you know, or an imagined person and write to that one. 4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it--bypass it and go on. When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn't belong there. 5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing. 6. If you are using dialogue--say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.
"As you write," Steinbeck says, "trust the disconnections and the gaps. If you have written what your eye first saw and you are stopped, see again. See something else. Take a leap to another image. Don't require of yourself that you understand the connection. Some of the most brilliant things that happen in fiction occur when the writer allows what seems to be a disconnected image to lead him or her away from the line that was being taken."
Related content: Writing Tips by Henry Miller, Elmore Leonard, Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman & George Orwell Remembering Ernest Hemingway, Fifty Years After His Death

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
John Steinbeck's Six Tips for the Aspiring Writer and His Nobel Prize Speech

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Today is the 110th birthday of writer John Steinbeck, whose great novel of the 1930s, The Grapes of Wrath, gives an eloquent and sympathetic voice to the dispossessed. In 1962, Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 'for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By Mark Nichol - 2 minute read

One of the many fascinating features of our language is how often words with pleasant associations are also quite pleasing on the tongue and even to the eye, and how many words, by contrast, acoustically and visually corroborate their disagreeable nature - look no further than the heading for this post.

Enrich the poetry of your prose by applying words that provide precise connotation while also evoking emotional responses. (Note the proportion of beautiful words to ugly ones in the compilation below; it's easier to conjure the former than the latter, though I omitted words associated with bodily functions, as well as onomatopoeic terms.)

Notice how often attractive words present themselves to define other beautiful ones, and note also how many of them are interrelated, and what kind of sensations, impressions, and emotions they have in common. Also, try enunciating beautiful words as if they were ugly, or vice versa. Are their sounds suggestive of their quality, or does their meaning wholly determine their effect on us?

Beautiful Words

Amorphous: indefinite, shapeless
Beguile: deceive
Caprice: impulse
Cascade: steep waterfall
Cashmere: fine, delicate wool
Chrysalis: protective covering
Cinnamon: an aromatic spice; its soft brown color
Coalesce: unite, or fuse
Crepuscular: dim, or twilit
Crystalline: clear, or sparkling
Desultory: half-hearted, meandering
Diaphanous: gauzy
Dulcet: sweet
Ebullient: enthusiastic
Effervescent: bubbly
Elision: omission
Enchanted: charmed
Encompass: surround
Enrapture: delighted
Ephemeral: fleeting
Epiphany: revelation
Epitome: embodiment of the ideal
Ethereal: celestial, unworldly, immaterial
Etiquette: proper conduct
Evanescent: fleeting
Evocative: suggestive
Exuberant: abundant, unrestrained, outsize
Felicity: happiness, pleasantness
Filament: thread, strand
Halcyon: care-free
Idyllic: contentedly pleasing
Incorporeal: without form
Incandescent: glowing, radiant, brilliant, zealous
Ineffable: indescribable, unspeakable
Inexorable: relentless
Insouciance: nonchalance
Iridescent: luster
Languid: slow, listless
Lassitude: fatigue
Lilt: cheerful or buoyant song or movement
Lithe: flexible, graceful
Lullaby: soothing song
Luminescence: dim chemical or organic light
Mellifluous: smooth, sweet
Mist: cloudy moisture, or similar literal or virtual obstacle
Murmur: soothing sound
Myriad: great number
Nebulous: indistinct
Opulent: ostentatious
Penumbra: shade, shroud, fringe
Plethora: abundance
Quiescent: peaceful
Quintessential: most purely representative or typical
Radiant: glowing
Redolent: aromatic, evocative
Resonant: echoing, evocative
Resplendent: shining
Rhapsodic: intensely emotional
Sapphire: rich, deep bluish purple
Scintilla: trace
Serendipitous: chance
Serene: peaceful
Somnolent: drowsy, sleep inducing
Sonorous: loud, impressive, imposing
Spherical: ball-like, globular
Sublime: exalted, transcendent
Succulent: juicy, tasty, rich
Suffuse: flushed, full
Susurration: whispering
Symphony: harmonious assemblage
Talisman: charm, magical device
Tessellated: checkered in pattern
Tranquility: peacefulness
Vestige: trace
Zenith: highest point

Ugly Words

Cacophony: confused noise
Cataclysm: flood, catastrophe, upheaval
Chafe: irritate, abrade
Coarse: common, crude, rough, harsh
Cynical: distrustful, self-interested
Decrepit: worn-out, run-down
Disgust: aversion, distaste
Grimace: expression of disgust or pain
Grotesque: distorted, bizarre
Harangue: rant
Hirsute: hairy
Hoarse: harsh, grating
Leech: parasite,
Maladroit: clumsy
Mediocre: ordinary, of low quality
Obstreperous: noisy, unruly
Rancid: offensive, smelly
Repugnant: distasteful
Repulsive: disgusting
Shriek: sharp, screeching sound
Shrill: high-pitched sound
Shun: avoid, ostracize
Slaughter: butcher, carnage
Unctuous: smug, ingratiating
Visceral: crude, anatomically graphic

What did I miss? Add to these lists in a comment below.
Want to improve your English in 5 minutes a day? Click here to subscribe and start receiving our writing tips and exercises via email every day.
Recommended Articles for You

Subscribe to Receive our Articles and Exercises via Email

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Mark Nichol - 2 minute read One of the many fascinating features of our language is how often words with pleasant associations are also quite pleasing on the tongue and even to the eye, and how many words, by contrast, acoustically and visually corroborate their disagreeable nature - look no further than the heading for this post.

# data[].attributes.body
Use interjections to make your dialogues or first-person POV more lively!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Looking for tips on creative writing craft and techniques? You've come to the right place! We've collected our most informative articles on both the craft of writing and the best creative writing techniques-all here, in one convenient place. You'll find great advice on: characterization, writing description, showing vs. telling, beginnings, endings, sagging middles, and much more. We also cover many creative writing techniques for authors of novels (and all books), poetry, short stories, personal essays, memoir, and other nonfiction.

If you like our Writing Craft And Technique Tool Kit, be sure to check out our additional free Publishing Tool Kits, available via the Leads & Tips drop-down menu on our navigation bar!

Writer's Relief is an author's submission service that has been helping creative writers get published since 1994. Find out how we can help you get published!

Sentence Length: The Power Of Placing Periods-With good technique, your period placement can have a big impact on readers. Here's how!

Repurposing Words: Surprise Your Readers With Unusual Word Choices-Craft exciting sentences by using unexpected, creative words.

Putting Verve In Your Verbs-Let's zero in on your verbiage, or verb usage, and harness the tremendous power of active verbs!

How To Find Your Voice As A Writer-If you're trying to find your voice as a writer, you're not alone.

How To Write A Great First Line (With 12 Unforgettable Examples)-Here are some examples of first lines from literature that offer great insight into opening line techniques.

How To Craft A Great Title For Your Book (Or Story Or Poem)-A weak title can deter editors and agents before they read a single sentence of your work. Here's how to craft a great title.

The Forgotten Fifth Sense: Are You Making Use Of This Little Used Writing Technique?-Most writers routinely use four of the five senses. Are you missing the fifth?

9 Rhetorical Devices You've Never Heard Of But Might Already Be Using-In addition to familiar rhetorical devices like metaphor and alliteration, many literary techniques with obscure-sounding names also add impact to your writing. In fact, you're probably already using them-at least occasionally!

Creating Mood And Atmosphere In Your Writing-To become a better writer, you need a conscious, practical sense of the tools you can use to manipulate mood, atmosphere, and tone in your writing.

Be Honest: 5 Self-Editing Tips For Increased Objectivity-It can be hard to "see" your own writing as it truly is. These editing tips will help.

Mail Call: Is It Okay To Reuse Phrases From Your Own Work?-Have you written a line so perfect, you want to use again (and again)? You're not alone. Here's what to do.

The Moral Of The Story: 7 Tips For Socially Or Politically Conscious Creative Writing-If you want to influence the world with your writing, you need to be well-informed, bold, and aware of your own predispositions and intentions.

Literary Locales: What Great Books Teach Us About Setting-Setting will be important in almost every piece you write. Here's how to craft great, evocative settings.

Four Ways To Organize Your Writing (Or Not) Before You Sit Down To Write-Put your best foot forward each time you start writing by using these smart techniques.

The One Thing All Great Love Stories Have In Common-And What It Means To Your Writing-If you're crafting anything with a romantic element, you must know this important writing technique.

Words And Phrases You Don't Hear Anymore-We've dusted off some of the more unique words and phrases you don't hear anymore! Perhaps some of these will add a sense of nostalgia or historic accuracy to a story or poem you're writing.

How To Write A Happy Ending That Doesn't Fall Flat (A Checklist)-You've undoubtedly experienced the unhappiness of a quickly resolved, artificial happy ending. When writing a book or story, don't let your eagerness to please your audience backfire!

Will Your Characters' Love Story Stand The Test Of Time? Take Our Self-Test!-Writing a love story? Take this quiz to see if your couple's romance will resonate.

7 Tips For Writing Realistic War Stories-Writing about war can be tricky: Some readers might be sensitive about graphic depictions of war and violence; others may have a hard time understanding what's happening if you don't go into detail.

The Author's Unofficial Guide To Critique Translation. Having your writing critiqued during a workshop or writers group meeting can be an emotional minefield. But being able to accept critique and make effective use of good feedback is what most writers should strive for.

What Is Women's Fiction?-While romances, mysteries, and sci-fi novels often have pretty clear characteristics, women's fiction is so wide, the parameters are difficult to define.

4 Creative Essentials For Better Sports Writing-You might think that writing about sports is limited to news articles and sound bites. But with the right training (and eating your Wheaties), you can develop the skills to write about sports creatively and effectively.

Sex And Literary Journals: Are Your Sex Scenes Killing Your Shot At Publication?-You've heard the old maxim "sex sells." But when it comes to submitting to literary journals, your sex scenes might just be too much of a good thing!

9 Tips For Writing Believable Horror And Suspense. Smart writers of horror and suspense know all the tricks for preying on the fears of their readers. Suspense is in the details!

How Important Is "Writing For The Market?"-You've mastered craft and technique. But what about market considerations?

You Want Me To Do What? Dealing With Agent Or Editor Revision Requests. Here's what to do if a literary agent or editor demands a change to your writing.

15 Exercises To Strengthen Your Writing-Looking for ways to build your writing muscles? Check out these 15 exercises!

Ways To Back Up Your Writing In The 21st Century. The twenty-first century offers easy ways to effectively back up your writing so it'll never be lost and can quickly be recovered. Find out what they are here!

7 Sneaky Ways Writers Get Distracted From Work Without Realizing It. Some distractions seem legitimate, but are actually-gasp-procrastination in disguise! Learn about these distractions and how you can ignore them to better focus on your writing.

How To Come Up With The Right Title For Your Poem (With Examples). Writing a poem is hard. Coming up with a title can be harder! Find out here how to come up with the right title for your poem!

HINT: Learn more about staying motivated and inspired while you improve your writing craft and technique!

Fiction Or Nonfiction? Memoir Or Novel? Know What To Call Your Story Or Book-First things first: What is it that you're writing, exactly?

Is It Prose Poetry, Short Prose, Or Flash Fiction?-Not sure that your writing is really, um, "prosey" enough to be called prose? Here's what to call your short creative piece.

How To Write A Good First Line (For Books, Novels, Short Stories, Essays, and Articles)-Start off write-we mean, right! -with these first line techniques.

Point of View Techniques-Few decisions are as important as deciding who should tell your story. Here's how you choose the right POV for the right tale.

"Show, Don't Tell": This Essential Craft Axiom Finally Explained-All writers have heard, "show, don't tell." Here's how to make this timeless writing technique work for you.

The Goldilocks Approach To Writing Description: Not Too Little, Not Too Much-Some descriptions go on too long. Some are lacking. Here's how to get it just right.

I Have A Dream: 8 Heart-Stopping Rhetorical Techniques Of King's Speech-MLK might be the king of rhetorical techniques; all these years later, he still has lots to teach writers!

5 Strategies You Can Use To Get The Most Out Of A Writing Prompt-Use these writing techniques to turn a simple writing prompt response into a masterpiece!

9 Key Elements Of Great Endings For Books And Stories-Here are the writing techniques that will show you how to take your ending from good to great.

Writing Sex Scenes: How Much Is Too Much?-Read up on ways to write sex scenes in mainstream fiction. Why? Because bad sex scenes are REALLY bad.

Setting: Using Scene To Enrich Your Writing Craft-Set the scene for a great story or poem by focusing on your setting.

The Craft Of Fear Mongering: How (And Why) To Scare Your Readers-Many people love reading something scary! Here's how to amp up the fear factor, whether you're writing about zombies or family picnics.

How To Write Fiction Based On Real Life-Is your true story the stuff of fairy tales or nightmares? Here's how to turn real life into fiction.

Stop Sagging Middle Syndrome: 5 Plot Devices That Will Amp Up Your Story-Whether you're writing a short story, memoir, or novel, you'll need to keep readers turning the pages, especially through the middle of your story. Use these creative writing techniques.

Writing Advice From A Snowstorm-Grab a blanket, a cup of hot cocoa, and your laptop or your favorite pen. Here are our best snowstorm-inspired tips for writers.

Character Development In Stories And Novels-New to the concept of character development? Start here!

5 Ways To Make Your Characters More Three-Dimensional-Flat characters are forgettable. Dazzle readers with well-rounded characters using these writer techniques.

5 Ways To Craft Characters That People Care About-Sympathetic characters are compelling characters. Here's how to make us love your MCs!

Characters We Love To Hate: How To Pull Off Unlikable Characters-We love to read about cringe-worthy characters. Are they unlikable? Unsettling? Yes. Can we possibly sympathize and like them anyway? You bet!

How To Pick The Right Names For Your Characters-It can be hard to come up with the right name for your characters; here's how to choose!

Main Characters: How To Kill Your Protagonist Without Killing Your Fanbase-If you're going to kill your MC, there's a right way and a wrong way to do it.

Write Strong Female Characters Without Being Cliché. From superheroes to career women to stay-at-home moms, strong women come in many forms. Here are some tips to help you create a believable, well-rounded, strong female protagonist.

Fictional Politicians: 8 Things They Teach Us About Effective Characterization Techniques-Politicians are perennial favorites with readers-and with good reason! Cast your vote for the most useful writing craft tips here!

Mail Call: Should A Writer Finish His/Her Book Before Submitting?-Okay, this isn't exactly a craft question. But the answer is important to your success!

Genre Fiction Rules: Find Out If Your Novel Meets Publishers' And Literary Agents' Criteria For Publication-Once you've mastered your craft and technique, be sure to master your book genre (including word count)!

How Do You Know If Your Novel Is Literary Or Mainstream Fiction?-How long is a general fiction book? Craft plays a key role in deciding whether a book is literary or mainstream (commercial). Let us be your guide.

How To Revise Your Novel-Are you in the beginning stages of revision? Start here to get the best results.

Think Like A Doctor: Diagnose And Cure What Ails Your Book-Grab your stethoscope and listen to these time-honored techniques of self-editing.

Why Your Opening Pages Are Key To Landing A Literary Agent-Not convinced that your first five pages need to display your very best writing techniques? Let's try to change your mind!

Five Tips For Your First Five Pages-Make the opening pages of your book shine with these important craft tips.

5 Things Novelists Can Learn From Screenwriters-Here's your ticket to the blockbuster plotting and characterization techniques of screenwriters.

5 Tips For Creating A Strong Excerpt From Your Novel Or Memoir-Excerpts can help you get your book published! Here's how to create a buzz-worthy stand-alone excerpt.

7 Best-Seller Elements To Make Literary Agents Want Your Book-Have you crafted a book with strong popular appeal? Read this to find out!

The Book That Everyone Will Love: Writing For Young Adult And Adult Audiences-Some authors can write books that appeal to young and old readers alike; here are the key techniques for reaching such a wide audience.

New Adult Fiction: The Next Big Thing In Publishing?-New adult fiction readers are between the ages of 18 to 30. Here's how to reach them!

How To Craft A Synopsis For A Novel-Write a killer synopsis with these important tips.

5 Common Synopsis Mistakes That Fiction Writers Make-Avoid these synopsis writing pitfalls!

The Craft Of Poetry: Creative Writing Techniques For Poets

Is It Prose Poetry, Short Prose, Or Flash Fiction?-If your poetry reads like prose, it may be more difficult to define your genre. But we can help.

Free vs. Formal Verse Poetry: A List Of Types Of Poems-Know your free verse from your formal, traditional styles.

Seven Techniques You Must Know To Make Editors Notice Your Poetry Submissions-Editors receive sooo many poetry submissions. Make sure your poetry stands out by using these techniques!

Poetry Submission Turnoffs: Styles And Formatting That Make Editors Cringe-There are no written-in-stone rules for crafting poems. But today's editors eschew these poetic notions!

Length Matters: The Best Length For Submissions-Did you write a poem that is prohibitively long or short? Find out here!

Un-Think Your Poetry: How To Craft Better Poems-Want better results when you make submissions to literary journals? Don't think about it-read this!

Rhyming Poetry: DOs, DON'Ts, And DEFINITIONS-Rhyme is tricky. If you are going to make rhyming submissions, know how to craft a good rhyming poem.

Rhyming Poetry Techniques That Don't Annoy Readers-Good rhyming poetry is difficult to write well-but not impossible. Consider this a master class in rhyme.

Ten Writing Techniques To Make Your Poetry Submissions Stand Out In A Crowd-Competition for literary magazine space can be tough! Here's how to make sure your poems are exceptional!

How To Craft Confessional Poetry-Your poems may be deeply confessional. But are they publishable? What your confessional poetry must do to get an editor's attention.

Fostering Originality In Poetry Submissions-Yes, it's all been done before. But maybe you can do it better.

The 8 Signs You've Written A Good Poem-It can be difficult to know whether you've written a good poem. Here are some signs that a poem is solid, successful, and has a good chance of getting published.

Make It Easy For Editors To Say YES To Your Poems-Use these poetry writing techniques to improve your chances of getting an acceptance letter.

The Nature Of Nature Poetry: 5 Techniques For Writing Your Best Nature Poems-How to craft inspiring nature poems.

Short Story Craft: Techniques For Short Story Writers

Short Story Or Novella? Where To Publish Shorter Fiction-Will your short prose be more publishable as a story or as a novella? We'll help you decide.

Short Prose Genres: Defining Essay, Short Story, Commentary, Memoir, and Mixed Genre-If your short story incorporates any elements of nonfiction, read this!

Starved For Inspiration? 12 Ideas to Get Your New Story Started-What should you do when you're trying to write a short story, but you can't find inspiration to get started? Don't quit -try one of these suggestions!

8 Techniques To Up The Drama Factor In Your Short Stories-Craft a more dramatic and emotional short story using these tips.

5 Techniques To Develop Your Short Story Into A Novel-You wrote a great short story-here's how to expand your idea into a novel!

5 Ways To Shorten Your Short Stories-Check out these can't-miss techniques for concise story writing.

Short Story Shortcuts: 4 Techniques For Making A Big Impact In Few Words-Every word in your short story must multitask if you want it to make a big impression.

Short Story Checklist: Techniques For Getting Short Stories Published-Use our checklist to see if your short story is ready for possible publication!

Is Your Short Story Publisher-Friendly? 8 Ways To Make It Easier For Editors To Say YES!-These short story techniques will make it easier for editors to send you an acceptance letter.

Want To Publish Your Short Stories? Be Fresh!-Here are the best writing techniques for imbuing your short story with originality.

The Long And The Short Of It: What's The Best Length For A Short Story?-The word count of your writing submission can make or break your odds of getting an acceptance. Learn how to determine the best length (word count) for a short story here!

Nonfiction Writing Craft And Technique Tips: Memoir, Personal Essays, And Other Nonfiction

Fiction Or Nonfiction? Memoir Or Novel?-Know what to call your story or book: Is your story based partly on real life? Or maybe you've disguised names and places? Here's how to determine your genre.

Can You Make Up Dialogue In Memoirs Or Nonfiction Books?-As a memoirist, you can't be expected to remember every word spoken to you. So how should you craft dialogue?

Not-So-Great Advice: 7 Needless Errors Self-Help Writers Make When Trying To Get Published-Avoid these self-help writing pitfalls when crafting your book!

How, Why, And When To Write An Introduction For A Nonfiction Book-Readers (and editors, and agents) love to see introductions for nonfiction books. Master the technique by starting here.

Creative Nonfiction: How To Stay Out Of Trouble-How "creative" can you really be when writing creative nonfiction or your memoir? Use these smart nonfiction writing techniques to avoid problems and legal pitfalls.

The Art of the Nonfiction Book Proposal-Here's the best way to organize and write a proposal for a nonfiction book.

Is It Worth Your Time To Write A Memoir?-Some people say you have to be a celebrity to publish a memoir. We weigh in.

In With The Old; Publishing Memoir In The New Year-Writer's Relief president Ronnie Smith talks about the importance of writing memoir.

How And Where To Submit Creative Nonfiction For Publication-Creative nonfiction is fast becoming one of the most popular literary genres. But it's important to find the right publisher(s) for your creative nonfiction (aka narrative nonfiction).

Closing Notes: Improve Your Craft And Your Technique As A Writer

We hope you've found this collection of articles about writing craft and technique to be helpful. Please stop back again soon: We regularly update this Free Writers Tool Kit with great new links!

For more information about how the team here at Writer's Relief can help you submit your creative writing for publication in literary journals (or representation at literary agencies), visit our About Us page. And if you'd like to repost any of our articles, you can! Just contact us for details.

In the meantime, please SHARE this page with other writers you know. They-and we-will appreciate your kindness!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creative Writing Techniques and Craft Tips

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Looking for tips on creative writing craft and techniques? You've come to the right place! We've collected our most informative articles on both the craft of writing and the best creative writing techniques-all here, in one convenient place. You'll find great advice on: characterization, writing description, showing vs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Top tips for creative writing | Oxford Dictionaries

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Creative writing can be very difficult. Our article has nine tips that will remind you how to get the most out of your writing when you need it the most.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Creative writing requires a different approach from other types of writing, and can often intimidate due to the wide gamut of possibilities out there. Drawing from the resources on creative writing available on OxfordDictionaries.com, we have selected a few quick tips to help get you on the right track.

1. Know your audience

An important point to start with: you are writing for your readers, not for yourself. Familiarize yourself with your expected audience. Where do you imagine this piece of writing appearing? The readers of a poetry magazine are different from the readers of a fan fiction site; the readers of mass-market mystery novels are different from the readers of a flash fiction blog.

2. Keep your goals achievable

What are your goals? Figuring out what you want to do with your writing before you begin is a crucial step in the process. Following that - are those goals achievable? Are you planning to submit a poem or short story to a literary magazine or a competition? If you are, then there are probably submission deadlines that you need to meet, which should be reflected in how you plan out your writing process. Do you have a length that you are looking to meet? If you're writing a mystery novel, it might be helpful to know whether the word or page count stacks up against the expectations of the readers (and publishers).

3. Make time to write

You can have everything laid out perfectly in front of you for a great novel, but you also need time to actually write it. Setting aside a daily period specifically for writing might not be necessary, but it will help establish a sense of routine and process, especially if you are working towards a deadline.

4. Don't wait for the inspiration

Inspiration doesn't typically strike if you're not already working for it. So how do you go about welcoming inspiration into your writing life? One way to start is by noticing the things around you: keeping an ear out for interesting words or phrases, engaging in the delicate art of people-watching, and reading broadly - inspiration can be found everywhere, ranging from a subway car to an old newspaper. For a more extensive overview of how to gather ideas, see ' Getting ideas for creative writing '.

5. Keep a journal

One key part of the inspiration process is tracking it down. A writing journal offers a great place to store your observations, thought-provoking quotations, and other interesting tidbits you may encounter. The end result is an accumulation of ideas that can help you in generating character, conversation, and other elements of your writing. A journal also offers a space to experiment with writing exercises, and play around with different writing techniques.

Read more tips for creative writing.

The opinions and other information contained in OxfordWords blog posts and comments do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Oxford University Press.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 creative writing tips - OxfordWords blog

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Creative writing requires a different approach from other types of writing, and can often intimidate due to the wide gamut of possibilities out there. Drawing from the resources on creative writing available on OxfordDictionaries.com, we have selected a few quick tips to help get you on the right track.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You wouldn't have thought that essays have much in common with creative writing.

Creative writing, by definition, involves being 'creative': making things up, letting your imagination run wild. Essays are about being factual and objective, communicating ideas and arguments in the clearest way possible and attempting to enhance the reader's knowledge, rather than their imagination. But while the literary devices and colourful tales we associate with creative writing are indeed out of place in an essay, these two very different kinds of writing actually have a few similarities. Above all, they're both meant to be read by other people, and that means that they need to sustain the reader's interest. So, are there any writing techniques you can borrow from creative writing to help make your essays more interesting and original? Yes there are, and in this article, we're going to show you how.

1. Think about your reader

With creative writing, as with any kind of writing, your reader is your most important consideration. You need to know and understand whom you're writing for if you're to do a good job of keeping them interested. Let's think for a moment about the kind of person you're writing for when you're writing an essay and what you need to do to write specifically for them:

Teachers or university lecturers - they're going to be marking your essay, so it needs to answer the question effectively.

They've set the question and they probably have a pretty good idea of how you're going to answer it - so be original and unpredictable; catch them by surprise with an unusual approach or structure.

They're going to be reading many other responses to the same question - so they may well be bored by the time they get to yours. Keep them interested!

They're probably going to be pressed for time - so they won't have time to reread badly written passages to try to understand what you're getting at. Keep your writing easy to read, succinct and to the point.

What all these points boil down to is the importance of keeping your reader interested in what you have to say. Since creative writing is all about holding the reader's interest, there must be some lessons to be learned from it and techniques that can be applied within the more limited style constraints of the academic essay. We'll now turn to what these are.

2. Three-act structure

The three-act structure is a writing device used extensively in modern writing, including for film and television dramas. These 'acts' aren't as distinct as acts in a play, as one follows seamlessly on from another and the audience wouldn't consciously realise that one act had ended and another began. The structure refers to a plotline that looks something like this:

1. Set-up - establishes the characters, how they relate to each other, and the world they inhabit. Within this first 'act', a dramatic occurrence called an 'inciting incident' takes place (typically around 19 minutes into a film) involving the principal character. They try to deal with it, but this results in another dramatic occurrence called a 'turning point'. This sets the scene for the rest of the story.

2. Confrontation - the turning point in the previous 'act' becomes the central problem, which the main character attempts to resolve - usually with plenty of adversity thrown their way that hampers their efforts. In a murder mystery, for example, this act would involve the detective trying to solve the murder. The central character - with the help of supporting characters - undergoes a journey and develops their knowledge, skills or character to a sufficient degree to be able to overcome the problem.

3. Resolution - the climax of the story, in which the drama reaches a peak, the problem is overcome, and loose ends are tied up.

This structure sounds all very well for made-up stories, but what has it got to do with essay-writing? The key similarities here are:

The central argument of your essay is the equivalent of the main character.

The essay equivalent of the set-up and resolution are the introduction and conclusion.

The inciting incident in an essay encourages you to get to the point early on in the essay.

The equivalent of character development in the second act is developing your argument.

The equivalent of the supporting characters is the evidence you refer to in your essay.

So, applying the three-act structure to an essay gives you something like this:

1. Set-up - the introduction. This establishes what you're talking about, setting the scene. The 'inciting incident' could be the introduction of evidence that contradicts a common theory, or the highlighting of a central disagreement in how something is interpreted.

2. Confrontation - you discuss the different problems surrounding the topic you're writing about. You develop the argument using various bits of evidence, moving towards an overall conclusion.

3. Resolution - the conclusion. You summarise and resolve the argument with your own opinion, by coming down on one side or the other, having weighed up the evidence you've discussed. You could perhaps tie up loose ends by offering an alternative explanation for evidence that doesn't sit with your conclusion.

Using this structure keeps you focused on the central point, and stops you from waffling, because everything you write is working towards resolving your argument. The use of the inciting incident in the first 'act' encourages you to get to the point early on in your essay, thereby keeping the reader interested. The principles of good plot-writing are centred around the connection between different events that show cause and effect, and this central tenet of the three-act structure has obvious parallels with the way in which essays work through presenting evidence in support of arguments.

3. An attention-grabbing opening

An oft-spouted piece of advice in creative writing is to use an attention-grabbing opening. One way of doing this is to start with a 'flashback', which could disrupt the chronology of events by transporting the reader directly back to the midst of the action, so that the story begins with maximum excitement. In a murder mystery, for instance, the writer might skip a slow build-up and instead use the murder itself to form the opening of the novel, with the rest of the story charting the efforts of the detective to uncover the perpetrator and perhaps telling the events prior to the murder in a series of flashbacks. The same principle can be applied to essays, though it's easier to use in some subjects than others.
To take an example, let's say you were writing about how the First World War started. Rather than building up slowly with the various factors, an attention-grabbing opening could (briefly) describe the drama of the Battle of the Somme, perhaps citing some statistics about the number of men involved and killed, and quoting some war poetry about the horrors faced by the soldiers on the Front Line. Then, to introduce the purpose of the essay and launch into your argument about what started the war, a phrase such as, "It seems hard to imagine that all this began with...". Alternatively, a rhetorical question: "But how did these tens of thousands of soldiers end up in the mud and horror of trench warfare? The story begins several years earlier, with..." It may not be the standard way of writing an essay, but you'll certainly score points for originality and perhaps ruffle a few feathers.

4. Extended metaphors

Creative writing often makes use of extended metaphors. For example, when Shakespeare wrote the passage in Romeo and Juliet referring to "It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!" he was using an extended metaphor. With this in mind, it's time to revisit a point we made in a previous article about writing more original essays, in which we argued that, rather than battling on with trying to explain a complex concept in a straightforward way, it might be easier to use an analogy to convey the meaning by drawing comparisons, which people find easier to understand. A metaphor is a kind of analogy, so the similarities with creative writing are strong here. In our previous article we used the example of radioactive decay. An analogy for this is the pressure with which water escapes from a hole in a bucket. It does so exponentially, just as radioactive substances decay exponentially. In both instances, the rate of a consumptive process depends on how much there is left of whatever is being depleted, which results in an exponential rate of decay. This concept is so much easier to explain using the analogy of water flowing from a hole in a bucket, as you give your reader something familiar to visualise in order to explain a concept with which they are unfamiliar.

5. Interesting details about setting and location

Another way of keeping your reader interested is to bring your essay to life with details about setting and location, just as creative writers do. Essays can become quite dry if you focus solely on the academic problems, but you can make them more interesting by peppering them with details. This may not work quite so well for a scientific essay, but it's certainly relevant for some humanities subjects, in particular English literature, history and archaeology. For example, an essay about the Roman emperor Augustus could mention that he lived a famously modest lifestyle, quoting details from Roman writers and archaeological evidence that support this: Suetonius mentions his "low bed" (interesting because of what it says about accepted standards of Roman beds!) and coarse bread and cheese diet, and the relatively small and non-lavish remains of his house on the Palatine Hill in Rome back up the idea of his having lived a modest life.
Incidental details like these can actually prove to be more significant than you initially realise, and you can use them to build your argument; in the case of Augustus, for example, his modest lifestyle is particularly important when seen in the context of Rome's troubled history with kings. As he gradually acquired more power and became Rome's first emperor, he had to avoid coming across as being too 'regal', and the little details we know about his way of life are significant in light of this. So, not only have you brought your essay to life, but you've raised an interesting point, too.

6. Editing

Few writers get it right first time. Once you've written a first draft, read through it and think about whether the order of your points is optimal and whether what you've written actually makes sense. It's easy in the age of computers to chop and change - you can simply copy and paste part of your essay into another part where it might fit better, and then make minor changes to your wording so that it flows. After you've finished editing, have a final read through and check that you're happy with the wording. Don't forget to proofread to ensure that your spelling and grammar is impeccable!

7. And finally... record your ideas

Creative writers swear by having a notebook with them at all times, ready to jot down any ideas that suddenly spring to mind. You can adopt the same principle for your essay-writing, because you never know when the inspiration might strike. Have a think about your essay topic when you're out and about; you'd be surprised what occurs to you when you're away from your normal place of study.
As you can see, there are more similarities between two apparently unrelated kinds of writing than you might have realised. It is, of course, possible to go too far with the creative writing idea when you're essay-writing: literary devices aren't always appropriate, and your essay still needs to retain objectivity and conform to the more formal conventions of academic writing. But there are certainly techniques to be borrowed from creative writing that will help your essays stand out from the crowd and give your teacher or lecturer a welcome break from the monotony of essay-marking.

See also our fabulous guide explaining more about " What is Creative Writing ".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Techniques from Creative Writing You Can Use to Improve Your Essays

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You wouldn't have thought that essays have much in common with creative writing. You should also read... How to Improve Your English Writing Skills How to Write Dazzlingly Brilliant Essays Creative writing, by definition, involves being 'creative': making things up, letting your imagination run wild. Essays are about being factual and objective, communicating ideas and...