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The author of The Step Back offers strategies for short story writers trying to draft a novel for the first time and shares how a new approach—aiming to pen a thousand pages—led to his first novel.
Ten poets whose first books were published in 2020, including Anthony Cody and torrin a. greathouse, share their inspirations, processes, writer’s block remedies, and paths to publication.
Eight authors—Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Mark Wunderlich, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, Samantha Hunt, Edward Carey, Juan Felipe Herrera, Darcey Steinke, and Terrance Hayes—offer a glimpse into their notebooks and their creative process.
Write a poem considering what you see without focusing on its meaning, a short story based on a mysterious occurrence, or an essay about your New Year’s traditions.
Valuable lessons about characterization, the fundamental core of storytelling, can be found in the panels of superhero comics.
Novelist Eleanor Henderson discusses the beauty and necessity of backstory in fiction, offering a counterpoint to a previously published article in which novelist Benjamin Percy warned writers about the dangers of backstory.
Benjamin Percy cautions beginning writers to avoid overusing backstory in their fiction, offering strategies for moving the story forward by slipping a character’s history into the dramatic present.
The author, who has published a chapbook and a full-length book of poetry, suggests several strategies for ordering a poetry collection, and describes how these approaches can help poets generate new pieces to make a stronger, more cohesive book.
The effects of social media on the creative process—although it can help writers identify and pay attention to the quotidian moments of their lives, does it siphon off their storytelling energy?
How do you handle research? How indebted do you feel to stick to the historical record? Two novelists discuss their experiences researching, imagining, and depicting earlier times.
