Category Archives: Creative Writing

Need inspiration or a cure for writer’s block? You’ll find it here. This category focuses on the creative process from organizing your writing time to developing your ideas and finding your author’s voice.

Browse through the list or use the search box at the top of the page to find just what you are looking for, and may the Muse be with you!

Have You Lost Your Tale (and become one of the “Drudge People”)?

Posted on December 13, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Drudge people.  You see them every day.  On the news.  In your town.  Outside your window.  Perhaps, even in your own home. You can easily recognize them as they have lost their tales.  With no tale, they are directionless, shuffling … Continue reading →

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Do You Write Like An Actor Or A Director?

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

There are two ways to approach the craft of writing. The first is to step into the role of each character and write it very personally, as if you were an actor portraying a part. The second is to consider … Continue reading →

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Use a Log Line to Clarify Your Story Before You Write

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Having a core concept for your story before you write will provide you with a creative beacon – a lighthouse by which to guide your creative efforts so they stay on course to your ultimate purpose: a completed novel. While … Continue reading →

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Get Into Your Characters’ Heads

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

One of the most powerful opportunities of the novel format is the ability to describe what a character is thinking. In movies or stage plays (with exceptions) you must show what the character is thinking through action and/or dialog. But … Continue reading →

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Letting Go of Characters

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Over the course of the story, your reader/audience has come to know your characters and to feel for them. The story doesn’t end when your characters and their relationships reach a climax. Rather, the reader/audience will want to know the … Continue reading →

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Characters: The Attributes of Age

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Some writers tend to create characters that are more or less the same age as themselves. Other writers populate their stories with characters of all ages but have them all act as if they are the same age as the … Continue reading →

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Avoiding the Genre Trap

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

A common misconception sees genre as a fixed list of dramatic requirements or a rigid structural template from which there can be no deviation. Writers laboring under these restrictions often find themselves boxed-in creatively. They become snared in the Genre … Continue reading →

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Let Your Plot Make Sense And Your Characters Ring True

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

The whole thing to keep in mind is that the passion and the structure of stories work in tandem, but not as partners. Like our own reason and emotion, sometimes they agree, sometimes they are at war, but mostly they … Continue reading →

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The First Step In Writing ANY Novel…

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Before you write your first chapter, ponder your opening sentence, or jot down a single word, there’s one step you should always do first, no matter your genre or style. First, the problem, then the solution: When you first come … Continue reading →

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Basic Tips for Beginning Writers

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Melanie Anne Phillips

Here’s a short list of our best tips and articles for novice writers to help you find inspiration, get you started, and carry you to completion of your novel or screenplay. Ten Essential Tips for Beginning Writers Character Development Tricks! … Continue reading →

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