How a short story will make you a better storyteller

How a short story will make you a better storyteller

A short story teaches us to turn the world just a little on the side so we can see our regular lives in a new way, and the brevity of the form forces us to pay attention to every detail. The stories you tell offer your readers a message. You’re letting them know what...
How to make the most of themes in your writing

How to make the most of themes in your writing

It’s been said that every literary work can be boiled down to only ten themes. And so we see over time and across cultures, our written work connects and reconnects with certain images, ideas and emotions. This is what we call theme, and these themes appear in short...
How to build a character your readers won’t forget

How to build a character your readers won’t forget

What inspires you to create a new character? Ideas, images, conversations we hear bring new characters of all genres to life Tayari Jones overheard an intimate moment between a man and a woman at Atlanta’s Lenox Square Mall. The woman asked the man if he’d have waited...