Writing Tip #11: 5 Writing Lessons from 5 Christmas Carols
My wife and I made a deal—no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving or until after the first snowfall, whichever comes first. Unfortunately for my wife, she failed to specify where…
Writing Tip #10: How to Write a Fractured Fairy Tale
The "7 Ways to Fracture a Fairy Tale" are now presented in a short video that can be used to introduce students to how to fracture a fairy tale. When…
Writing Tip #9: 10 Ways to Make People Hate Your Writing
Need some bad writing advice? Want to know how to boost your writing ineptitude? The latest 3-Minute Writing Teacher video has you covered! WRITING TIP #9: 10 WAYS TO MAKE…
Writing Tip #8: 5 Ways to Write an Effective Ending
How do you write an effective ending to a story? When you're trying to decide how a story should end, you want to make sure there's a payoff for your…
7 Ways to Fracture a Fairy Tale
How do you fracture a fairy tale? How does “Cinderella” become “Cinder…Really?” or how does “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” become “Goldilocks and the Three Aardvarks”? Using examples pulled from…
5 Traits of Tall Tales (& How to Use Them in Your Classroom)
Davy Crockett. Paul Bunyan. Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind. These traditional tall tales are fun to read. But tall tales can be even more fun to write. (Because how can…
Writing Tip #7: How to Create Complex Characters
Character development is a key aspect of an effective story, and one step toward developing memorable characters that readers will want to follow through a story is to create complex…
Writing Tip #6: Writing Story Setting Using Specific Details
The setting is an integral part of any story because every story has to happen SOMEWHERE. But an effective setting is more than just a place for a story to…
Writing Tip #5: Find & Avoid Overused Words
Revision is an important (and not always enjoyable) aspect of the writing process, and one potentially overlooked aspect of revision is the need to avoid overused words and descriptions. In…
Writing Tip #4: How to Write a Page Turner
How do you write a page turner novel or story? In my video about narrative arc, we explored how every story needs a problem to serve as the story's engine,…