Creating a compelling main character is essential to any work of fiction, but creating a character that is perfectly good in every way can be a recipe for a dull story. That’s why it’s important to make your main character flawed. By making your main character flawed, you can create tension, conflict, and depth that […]
Writing is a hard way to make a living, which is why a whole ecosystem exists to help you feel like you’re succeeding at it. Hashtags like #amwriting provide steady pep talks for people wading through the muck of a first draft. Dubious-seeming ads on Facebook peddle frictionless methods for selling thousands of copies of […]
For the past three years, Associate Professor of the Practice in Letters Charles Barber has spearheaded a writing-oriented speaker series through the College of Letters with the goal of giving students the opportunity to learn from and speak with professionals in the field. The series first took off in 2020 with a series of nonfiction […]
I was sitting poolside at a San Juan, Puerto Rico, resort bar, minding my own business, when ChatGPT settled into a barstool next to mine and ordered a pina colada. It was a bold move, considering the sun was not yet over the yardarm, as we like to say in the islands. I took another […]
Gathered in a Zoom workshop, a group of Black women writers had the opportunity to do some “digging into that honesty box,” as presenter Ebony Stewart put it. Part of that exploration of honesty meant looking their imposter syndrome — or feeling of fraudulence and self-doubt — in the eye. “Self-sabotaging your greatness because you […]
Over 30 years ago, I received my bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Tennessee. Despite the passing of time, I still hold dear two items from my five-year educational journey: my framed diploma and a small book entitled “The Word: An Associated Press Guide to Good News Writing” by Rene J. Cappon. This […]
Whether you’re freelancing, blogging, or crafting fiction, writing is often a challenging task. Coping with writer’s block–or even garden-variety procrastination–can slow the progress. Here are several accountability tools for writers to help you stay on track and keep the words flowing. 1. Use Time-Tracking Tools. Commit to writing a certain number of hours each day […]
The literary world is often accused of an obsession with youth, from multiple awards targeted at authors under 40 to publishers who hunt for new voices exclusively among young writers with a thriving – and instantly marketable – social media following. But all that is changing, experts say: older, unpublished writers are now at a […]
NEW YORK CITY: Ma-Yi Theater Company has announced the newest members of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, the largest collective of Asian American and Pacific Islander playwrights in the country. The new members include Nina Ki, Kalina Ko, Claro de los Reyes, ayla xuân chi Sullivan, Gaven D. Trinidad, Seayoung Yim, and Max Yu. The Ma-Yi […]
As a long-time writer and educator, Kathie Giorgio is no stranger to the emotional impact words can have. The importance of a good piece of writing and how a story can uplift, inspire, and change one’s life is not lost on her, as she uses her talent for the best possible task: to share it […]
