When you finish a book or a chapter and pause to linger in the moment, it’s because that author has left an emotional impression on you. Mood is one of the ways you can create that emotional impression in each of your scenes.

Writing CraftCaitlin BerveApril 14, 2019Ignited Ink Writing, LLCmood, tone, setting, emotion, character, description, dialogueComment

What Is Tone and How to Use It in Creative Writing

Whether you realize it or not, your attitude toward what you write about seeps into your piece. When readers say a piece is whimsical, sentimental, critical, or vindictive, they are referring to the author’s and characters’ attitudes. They are talking about the tone of your piece. Just like tone of voice, your writing’s tone impacts your story’s meaning.

Once Upon an Autumn Eve: How to Read Like a Writer

Have you ever read a novel with such a vivid setting, you wanted to visit that place or use it to inspire your own stories? Dennis L. McKiernan’s Faery in Once Upon an Autumn Eve is such a place. From McKiernan’s novel, writers can learn how to create a world readers hate to leave and strong female characters.

Setting as Character: How to Make Your Setting Speak

Places have personalities just like living creatures. Readers want to feel your setting and see how your story affects it. To make your setting come alive, you need to bring out that personality, to think of or transform your setting into a character.

Writing CraftCaitlin BerveMarch 24, 2019Ignited Ink Writing, LLCsetting, character, place, time, emotion, arc, descriptionComment

Setting as Obstacles: How to Make Your Environment Impact Your Plot

Strong settings impact your plot because you are using them as more than a backdrop. If you can pick up your story and move it to a different place and/or time, you are not using your setting effectively. Transform your setting into obstacles your characters must overcome, so your plot advances and your characters have to make decisions.

Writing CraftCaitlin BerveMarch 17, 2019Ignited Ink Writing, LLCsetting, society, environment, time, place, plot, conflict, obstacleComment

Building Your Story’s Stage: Why Strong Setting Matters

If you want your readers to dread reaching the end of your book, to wish they could linger in your story longer, you need to build a strong setting. Create a place your readers day dream about or are haunted by with your setting’s time, place, environment, and society.

Writing CraftCaitlin BerveMarch 10, 2019Ignited Ink Writing, LLCsetting, character, plot, time, place, environment, societyComment

Scythe: How to Read Like a Writer

Not all stories have built in conflict. Neal Shusterman managed to find conflict in utopia. From his novel Scythe, writers can learn to find the conflict in seemingly perfect situations, consistently make things worse to hold reader interest, and effectively use journals.

Perspective in Creative Writing: Who Is Telling Your Story

Perspective is the lens through which you tell your story. Which lens you choose affects your reader’s experience and opinion of your characters. Make sure you’re making the best choice in protagonist, point of view, and your personal preferences for your story’s perspective.

How to Format Transitions: Scenes, Point of View, and Time

When it comes to subtly improving your reader’s experience, nothing is more effective than strong formatting. To avoid confusion and jarring your reader and control your story’s pace, you need to transition between jumps in scene, time, and point of view. You also need to format these breaks consistently.

How to Control Distance in Creative Writing

When a reader feels too distant from your piece, they are unable to connect with your characters, plot, and story. Without a connection, they might not finish your piece or recommend it to someone else. Luckily, distance is something you control through scenes, point of view, and tension.

Elizabeth’s Midnight: How to Read Like a Writer

It’s easy to get lost in complex plots and world building, but not every story needs a web of ideas. Sometimes a story is about one person and their journey. Aaron Michael Ritchey focuses on a single character and plot arc in Elizabeth’s Midnight. His unique, fully developed characters and “what could be worse” plot make his novel linger with readers.

Why Creative Writers Shouldn’t Use Adverbs – Most of the Time

“Never use adverbs” is a common writing advice cliche. It’s also wrong. Many beginning writers rely on adverbs when they should be using a fuller description or more specific words, so they are told to stop using adverbs altogether. In some situations, adverbs are the best choice. Learn when to use adverbs and when to avoid them.

How to Format Written Documents: Letters, Emails, Texts, and More

The words of your story aren’t the only pieces of writing you might have. You might also want to include letters, notes, emails, text messages, IMs, or some other form of written communication. Learn the various formatting options you have to make it clear when your story’s written documents begin and end.

Cinder: How to Read Like a Writer

Beginnings are challenging. If you’re searching for the best place to start your story, read the first chapter of Cinder by Marissa Meyer. You’ll learn how you can start with action without using violence and how to introduce your characters and world in a way that keeps your story moving and uses description, exposition, and dialogue.

Exposition, Description, and Dialogue: How to Find the Balance

The balance between exposition, description, and dialogue is essential to the success of your story. They significantly impact your pace, show interactions between your characters, immerse your reader in your scenes, and reveal time has passed. Learn when to use each of these techniques, so you can find the best balance for your story.

How to Use Exposition in Creative Writing

Usually writers are told to show don’t tell, but if they followed that advice to the letter, stories would be filled with boring scenes to show time passing or backstory. Sometimes a direct line of exposition is the best choice. Learn when to tell don’t show.

Writing CraftCaitlin BerveDecember 23, 2018Ignited Ink Writing, LLCexposition, show don't tell, tell, description, summary, backstory, timeComment

The Purpose of Quality Description in Creative Writing

Description immerses your reader in your story. Quality description focuses on showing the details that impact your story and is key to your readers’ ability to experience and picture your setting, characters, and events. If you want your readers to feel something when they read your writing, you need to use quality description.

Yes, You Need a Professional Book Editor

Every writer becomes too close to their story to see what is actually on the page instead of what they think is there. Even though you might use beta readers and critique groups, you still need a professional editor because they will read your piece in a timely manner like a reader and have the industry knowledge and skills to elevate your book so it will linger with your readers.

Proof A 30th Street Fiction Anthology: How to Read Like a Writer

To understand how a critique group can improve your writing, look at how 30th Street Fiction critique group impacted “The Mortician’s Assistant.” I share before and after lines from my story, so you can see how critique impacted my piece and what it can do for your writing.

How to Find or Build a Strong Writers’ Critique Group

If you’re looking for a critique group or new members, you not only need to know where to find writers, but also how to organize a critique group and what your responsibilities as the leader are.

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