“Genre often dictates chapter length. There are lots of ways that writers teach their readers how to approach a work, and chapter length can certainly contribute to that teaching.” -Stephanie Noll Stephanie Noll studied fiction writing at Texas State University, where she earned her MFA. She is a frequent storyteller
“Secondary characters are a chance to get to know your main character and your story better, so they offer pockets of insight in ways that, for me, I don’t always find with the main characters.” -Charlotte Gullick Charlotte Gullick is a novelist, essayist, editor, educator and Chair of the Creative Writing
“Character is intimately tied to place, and we are different people in different places. Setting our fiction in specific places helps us explore and map emotional geographies within ourselves, too.” –Brittani Sonnenberg Brittani Sonnenberg is the managing editor of Tribeza Magazine and the author of the novel Home Leave. She
“All strong novel openings have a few things in common (a clear, attention-grabbing protagonist, a compelling voice, a sense of what’s at stake for the protagonist, etc.) but there’s no single go-to trick (at least not that I know of!) for how to achieve that. Besides, that would take all
“The only universal purpose of a scene is to transport readers toward the end of the story. That doesn’t mean the only concern of scene is plot. Description, memories, thoughts, and background information are all important to engaging the reader and moving them toward the end of your story.” -Chaitali
“To uncover and refine your own writer’s voice, you need to do a lot writing. It won’t come pouring out the first time you tap a keyboard.” -Katherine Catmull Katherine Catmull is the author of Summer and Bird (Dutton Young Readers/Penguin), one of Booklist’s 2012 Top Ten First Novels for Youth
“Writing is, above all, a matter of faith – in yourself, your story, and your characters. If you trust that things will fall into place, they almost always will.” -Jennifer Ziegler Jennifer Ziegler is the author of over 25 books, including everything from stand-alone novels to series work to TV
“For years, I tended to think of pre-writing as not ‘real’ writing. Real writing was drafting new scenes. Now I realize how silly and counterproductive this thinking was. There’s lots of magic and inspiration to be found in pre-writing!” -Stacey Swann Stacey Swann’s fiction has appeared in Epoch, Memorious, Versal,
“In this class, I’m making a case for doing more, for making a readily visualized scene, however well-written, more palpable with the addition of details from some, if not all, the other senses…Providing readers with an array of sensory details places them more solidly in the world you’ve evoked solely
We’re a couple of weeks into our fall schedule of classes, and I’ve been thinking about what writers need to know—particularly what I needed to know when I started taking classes (and what I still need to be reminded of). If I had to tell my younger (even by a day) self anything, I
