How to write good dialogue? Well, the rule is that your characters’ speech should always sound believable.

Lord Chesterfield called the novel “a kind of abbreviation of a Romance.” Ian McEwan described the more compact novella as “the beautiful daughter of a rambling, bloated, ill-shaven giant.” William…

I put up a little thread on Twitter on this subject last week. A lot of people seemed to want to hear more. So here it is. A long read I’m…

Yesterday, FSG published Susan Sontag’s Debriefing, a new collection of the writer’s short fiction. I’m always excited to read more of Sontag’s work—which is convenient, bec…

How to write a killer opening line. Why Google is not research. When to rip it up and start again. Whatever you do, just write! Lessons from acclaimed novelist and creative writing professor Colum McCann

Although I still consider myself a newbie to the world of being a professional writer, I have a reasonable number of events, signings ...

A list of the top 13 blogs & top 11 podcasts NYT bestseller Gail Carriger finds most useful as a hybrid author. Great tips!

“All suggestions can be ignored when necessary,” says the best-selling author, but ignore them at your own peril. (And put away that thesaurus.)

Is it possible to narrate a story with social media posts that are supposed to be short and sweet? Yes! Here're 20 creative social media storytelling ideas.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Show don’t tell is common advice among writers — but what does it really mean? This thorough guide answers that question with plenty of helpful examples.

Studies of humans and other animals indicate that inventiveness often stems from factors other than need

A great first sentence is very important. In a novel, it’s a “promise,” a “handshake,” an “embrace,” a “key.” Great first sentences are celebrated everywhere literature is cherished and mandated everywhere it’s taught. They’re a pleasure and a duty — the “most important sentence in a book,” everyone agrees. But they haven’t always been important. When Daniel […]

The idea of honouring Muses isn’t new; the Greeks built temples to the Muses (the word ‘Museum’ comes from ‘cult place of the Muses’), and an influential Masonic lodge in pre-Revolutionary France, The Nine Sisters, was named after the Muses. Some artists are keen to share their Muse with the public; others can be fiercely protective of theirs.

Become a better creative writer with The Write Practice. Find the best writing lessons, get timed writing prompts and exercises, and then publish your writing in our community to get feedback.

Fiction University is a site dedicated to helping writers and authors improve their writing craft and their publishing careers.

Recently, I’ve come across a lot of people, both online and off, discussing diversity in books. What it means; who should be writing it; whose voices ought to be heard; which people should be listening. And rightly so; diversity is at the heart of storytelling. We are all different and unique, whatever our race or culture, and we can only benefit from hearing different voices; looking at different points of view; encountering different perspectives.

The following is adapted from the introduction to 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories. A story is a noise in the night. You may be lying there quietly resting in the international house of…

One of my big goals for 2016 will be to move to dictation for first drafts. Monica Leonelle explains why dictation is so brilliant for writers.

1. Read like mad. But try to do it analytically – which can be hard, because the better and more compelling a novel is, the less conscious you will be of its devices. It’s worth…

Consider how your approach to crafting point of view will influence your story and your readers' impression of your character.

JRR Tolkien created Elvish and many other writers have made up new words and phrases. But can you really construct a whole new lexicon? Hephzibah Anderson takes a look.

Keep your text library in order, and become a well-organized writer

By Jody Hedlund, @JodyHedlund A friend came up to me at my son's basketball game last weekend and said she'd read my latest YA, An Unce...

Can you remember what you did when you started on the novel you’re working on? If you’ve finished more than one, do you have a way you like to prepare? Are they always the same or are they differen…

Robert McCrum: I'm agnostic about the benefits of creative-writing classes, but would-be fictioneers could do worse than emulate the greats

We spend hours on the web, but you wouldn't know that from reading contemporary fiction. Novelists have gone to great lengths – setting stories in the past or in remote places – to avoid dealing with the internet. Is this finally changing, asks Laura Miller

It’s been sort of a perfect storm of late in terms of triggers leading me to think very hard about writing advice, writing processes, and progress in writing. Part of it is the discussion I h…

The winner of the Costa best novel award on the surprising similarities between writing and training for an Olympic slalom