Creative Writing Ideas Blog

The Creative Writing Ideas Blog will keep you up-to-date on what's happening here, including:

• Writing contests and competition winners
• Contributions from our visitors
• Creative writing courses, workshops, and forums
• Freebies and opportunities for writers and poets at all levels of experience.

Noise

I know that I'm alone in my room. I know that I am alone in the world. Being alone I am not afraid of. But being alone doesnt mean that I don't know what's

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Online Course: Bringing Characters to Life

In this 8-week e-mail course, you'll learn how to create fictional characters that feel 3-dimensional and real. Make your characters and stories come alive in the reader's imagination.

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Finding Stories in Pictures

Photographer Anja Lietzmann finds stories in London street scenes. What stories do her pictures make you imagine? What stories can you find on the streets of your own town?

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Scary Photo Prompts

To celebrate Halloween this year, we've created a booklet of scary photo prompts. You can use this booklet to get ideas for terrifying or atmospheric stories or poems. Download it for free here.

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Read This BEFORE You Send Your Fiction to an Editor

Our new e-book, Fiction Boot Camp shows you how to improve over 100 aspects of your fiction to give your writing the best chance of success.

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How to Find Writing Time

Bryan Cohen's new book Writer on the Side offers ideas to keep you motivated and help you find writing time throughout the day, even with a busy schedule.

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Advice from a Literary Agent

We asked editor and former literary agent Robin Martin to share her tips for fiction writers.

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Useful Book for Self-Publishers

If you're thinking of self-publishing a nonfiction book, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher will take you step-by-step through the process Peter Bowerman used to achieve spectactular self-publishing success.

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Nancy Ellen Dodd Explains How to Write a Manuscript in 7 Stages

The author of The Writer's Compass talks about becoming a writer and outlines a 7-stage process for writing a manuscript.

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What a Writing Partner Can Do for You

A writing partnership can energize your writing and bring a fresh perspective to your work.

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Free Course: Endless Story Ideas

Take this 3-day online course for free and generate lots of ideas for your fiction writing.

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Kathryn Vercillo on How to Write Blogs

Do you want to learn how to blog effectively? Here's some advice from a pro.

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Tim Lemire on Publishing Nonfiction

Author Tim Lemire describes how he wrote and published seven nonfiction books on a wide range of topics.

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Writing Prompt Contest

To celebrate our new Facebook page, we're running a special competition, with a $100 prize for the best writing prompt. See competition details.

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Friend Us on Facebook

Creative Writing Now has a new Facebook page! Come visit us there and click on the "like" button to friend us.

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Nancy Antle on Writing Children's Literature

Author Nancy Antle talks about writing picture books and middle-grade fiction.

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Julie Schwietert Collazo on Writing Travel Literature

Julie Schwietert Collazo teaches travel writing at MatadorU. We asked her to share some advice for aspiring travel writers.

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Levi Stahl on the Best Fiction Books for Writers

Literary blogger Levi Stahl offers his picks of novels and short stories for fiction writers to study.

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Russell Rowland's Tips for Writing a Novel

Novelist Rowland Russell shares some tips for writing a novel and explains why writing to publishing trends is a mistake.

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Writing Blog: Dear Literary Ladies

This delightful blog matches questions about writing with quotes by famous women writers in an advice-column format.

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Ron Hogan on the Best Novels for Writers

Writer Ron Hogan, who founded the seminal cultural blog Beatrice.com, offers his picks of novels for aspiring novelists to use as models.

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Jenny Davidson on World Building and Writing Alternative Historical Fiction

Author Jenny Davidson talks about the process of writing her recent novels, which are set in an altered historical past.

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Edward Champion on the Best Fiction Books for Writers

Writer and cultural critic Edward Champion recommends some novels to study as examples of character and plot development.

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Jonathan Mayhew on Reading Poetry

Professor Jonathan Mayhew, author of four books about poetry, talks about recommended reading for poets.

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Publishing Short Short Stories and Hybrid Genres

We spoke with the founders of Rose Metal Press, an independent nonprofit publisher specialized in hybrid genres and nontraditional literary forms.

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Scott Rice on Bad Writing

The tongue-in-cheek Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest offers prizes for horrible writing. Read our interview with the competition's founder.

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Mark Athitakis on American Fiction

Writer and critic Mark Athitakis discusses current trends in American fiction and book reviewing.

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Jill Esbaum on Writing Children's Books

Author Jill Esbaum discusses writing and publishing children's books and how to avoid common mistakes.

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