Whether you're writing fantasy, science-fiction, mysteries, or short stories, you have to learn how to create a believable setting for your readers. In fantasy and sci-fi especially, world building is an essential piece to a successful story. Author...

Do you want your story to jump off the page and draw readers in? Using writing techniques such as literary devices can help. Also called narrative devices, these techniques can enhance your prose, add interesting layers to your characters, and improve...

When we picture successful writers, we often imagine them holed up in an office, typing away at a keyboard for hours on end with the door shut and the blinds drawn. Sure, writing a book can be a solitary venture. It requires a lot of time to sit by yourself...

After writing 10 books, Mike Johnson can say that he has not once experienced writer's block. He sees two keys to avoiding that dreaded wall. One means avoiding any temptation to begin writing before doing research and then outlining the book. In this...

What is a Religious, Inspirational, or Spiritual Book? The genre of “religious, inspirational, and spiritual” encompasses a diverse collection of material that includes both fiction and nonfiction books covering a wide range of religions, from Christianity...

One of the most important things to realize about memoir is that it needs to read like fiction. You need to captivate your reader so that they forget they’re reading a true story. True crime works similarly—it’s nonfiction, but the reader needs to be...

There is an abundance of content being created in today’s technical age. Amy Collins, President of New Shelves Books, says there is currently more content being published in a single day than was published in an entire month only five years ago. With...

Gone are the days where authors should try to reach everyone (and hint: that isn’t effective anyway). Instead, we now know to go big, you have to go small, and when it comes to visibility, the macro-media approach just doesn’t compare to the micro options...

When you write faith-based fiction, you must have respect for the readers' expectations. Author and filmmaker Susan Rohrer provides tips for writing characters in a faith-based novel. She explains how to develop faith-based characters that meet the expectations...

Writing a scene for a book and creating a scene in a play are two drastically different experiences. However, the writing has more in common than you might think. Both contain traditional story elements, such as plot, character development, and dialogue...