Writing tips are useful only if you can use them. I know, that’s not very helpful, but neither is a lot of writing advice on the web. However, this post is going to offer you a few writing tips that will change your writing routine. I know this is true because each tip is actually tangible, practical advice that you can put to use each time you sit down to write.
Continue reading Writing Tips to Transform Your Writing RoutineMonthly Archives: January 2025
My Literacy Journey and the Books that Made Me
I have many memories of reading and writing when I was a kid. So, it’s actually kind of hard to put those thoughts into perspective, especially when I think about the most important books of my life. Without a doubt, the stories that come to mind have impacted me as a reader, writer, and a teacher. They are numerous. I know I could try to explain them, but there are just so many stories that changed me. In this post, I would like to discuss my literacy journey. It started when I was very young. But, by reflecting on it, I hope it inspires you to think about your experiences as well.
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How to Write a Ghost Story: Eerie Essentials
In the realm of literature, few genres speak to the same sense of excitement as a horror story. The mystery, suspense, and eerie stories will always fascinate readers. Thus, exploring different types of ghost stories (and ghosts in general) helps writers understand their own approach to this genre. In this post, we will look at how to write a ghost story to weave our own spooky tales.
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The Surprising Inspiration Behind “Dead Man’s Chest” by Robert Louis Stevenson
There are many famous poems with lines that transcend the very work in which they appear. In this poem, by Stevenson, the utterance of “Fifteen Men on the Dead Man’s Chest” has now permeated culture, from Muppet’s Treasure Island (1996) to The Pirates of the Caribbean (2003). Such longevity might make one wonder: what is the staying power of this verse?
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“what love isn’t” by Yrsa Daley-Ward Analysis
In this post, we are going to analyze by my own estimation, maybe the most important poem about love ever written. Yrsa Daley-Ward’s “what love isn’t.” It perfectly encapsulates the dichotomy and contrast of what love really is and not what the poets often say. Which, as it stands, is something akin to Heavenly purgatory. Humans have no choice but to think of their relationships, as they are beset by their communal needs in life. One such communal need is love, which is as ephemeral and transient as any abstract noun.
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Temptation and Vice: Writing Fictional Characters
“Knowing was a temptation. What you don’t know won’t tempt you.“ Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid’s Tale
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“Knowing was a temptation. What you don’t know won’t tempt you.“ Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid’s Tale
Continue reading Temptation and Vice: Writing Fictional Characters
Imagery and Figurative Language: Definitions, Examples & Types
Blink, and you’ll miss it. The images flash in your mind, and you can see the stars, a forest, or a sunset on a beautiful evening. The sounds come alive too. You can hear the crickets or the droplets of water falling onto a steel bucket near the shed after a recent storm. The smells of fresh rain and leaves waft through your nose, and you can feel the autumn chill on your skin. It’s time to put on a warm, wool sweater.
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An Analysis of “The Moon” by Robert Louis Stevenson
On nights when we have clear skies, no matter where you are, we happy faces look to the stars–and the moon. Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island (1883) and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), wrote “The Moon” to speak to the foreboding nature of the moon, and the calmness that it can bring. Poetry lives in contrast, and the moon conveys this notion expertly.
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True Detective Season 1: Weird Fiction, The Yellow King, and Cosmic Dread
Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow, which had a profound impact on True Detective season 1, was a strange book even for its time. While ostensibly a collection of short stories, it is in fact a hidden narrative of psychosis and madness. There (somewhere) in the text is the story of The King in Yellow and a play that drives anybody who reads it mad.
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Book Review: Mark Twain’s ‘Letters from the Earth’
It goes without saying that Mark Twain has a myriad of books that are worth reviewing. In fact, I’ve reviewed A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court in excessive detail on The Writing Post. Yet, Twain has a great many short-form pieces that are worth discussing, including his essay collections. In Mark Twain’s Letters from the Earth, published “posthumously” in 1962, the author expresses his feelings about Earth and governance–and a few other life-adjacent topics.
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