The Basics
The craft of writing is the hard work part - these are the techniques and skills that you can learn and improve on, to produce better writing.
About Fiction Vision - Fiction Writing Newsletter 
Sign up for Fiction Vision, a free weekly newsletter to help you improve your writing craft. The future is all in your head. Avoiding exposition pitfalls
There are some areas in a story where you simply have to give an explanation to your reader, but there are some common mistakes and cliches many writers resort to in order to either avoid using direct narrative exposition, or through poor planning and editing. Building Tension
Building tension in your story not only keeps the plot moving but ensures that your readers will continue to read. Here are the basics to make sure that the tension is mounting. Character Creation
Every character starts out with a blank slate, kind of like a baby. What he or she is like is formed through the hardships faced, the ways he thinks, the way he reacts, the way he gets what he wants. Characterising in terms of relationships
The best point of reference you can give your reader regarding your characters is how the characters feel about each other. Choosing a title for your book
Sometimes the right title for a book or short story is easy to think of and it fits perfectly with the storyline through any rewrites. Other times you may struggle to find a title you're happy with, or the one you chose earlier doesn't bear any relation to the story once you change part of the plo Constructing your first chapter
It may seem unfair but you first need to sell your story before it will ever be read. Your opening chapter is your sales pitch, and agents and publishers have specific expectations of this process. Controlling the rhythm of your writing
Rhythm is used to great effect in poetry, but fiction writers sometimes ignore the rhythm they are producing when they write. An unintentional cadence can jar the reader, whereas clever use of rhythm can speed a piece of text up or slow it down. Crafted writing
Some authors prefer to freewrite their first draft, getting the words down as quickly as possible, with no regard for spelling or format. Other writers spend a great deal of time crafting well-polished sentences, producing a first draft that, in some cases, may need very little further work. Dealing with Writer's Block
Dictionary.com defines writer's block as a usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing. Scary thought, huh? For a writer, not being able to write can shatter an ego and become a nightmare. Describing actions and behaviour
Used properly, describing the actions and behaviour of your characters can be a useful tool to break up elements that could otherwise overshadow your scenes. Or it could flatten your writing and have your readers skipping huge chunks of your story. Developing your writing style
Your writing style is unique, a bit like a fingerprint. Combine that with your unique perspective, and you have the ability to produce an original story, even with only 32 basic plots to choose from. Hone your writing style into a powerful tool, rather than relying only on your plot or characters. Exposition in fiction
There are points in almost every story where exposition is necessary. Working out when to explain the plot and when to leave the reader to draw their own conclusions can be tricky for even experienced writers. Freewriting
Writers who choose to freewrite believe that the magic of the story occurs because they don't attempt to control every detail. They like to allow the story to unfold to them as they write. Holly Lisle´s Forward Motion [offsite link]
Author, Holly Lisle offers a vast resource of writing-related articles, workshops, and FAQs on her website. Be sure to download her free e-book, Mugging the Muse - you´ll read this gem dozens of times.
How to Write Dialogue
Here are the basics that every fiction writer should know about dialogue. How your reader experiences your book
People who are very good readers don´t tend to read word by word. Instead they experience or absorb the concepts of your story. You need to take this into account to avoid jarring your best readers out of your story. Ideas
If your muse is anything like mine, she never picks a good time to give you ideas, never when pen and paper or computer are handy. By the time you are ready to write, all your great ideas have disappeared. Or have they? Sometimes you need to force them back out.
Past and present tense
Past tense narrative, with present tense character dialogue, has been common practice for a long time. But writers have been experimenting with tense, especially in shorter works and literary fiction. Selecting the tense for your story is something to consider early on in the process. Planning Your Culture
It is fun to create a culture, one where you decide the rules and the way of life. Just be careful not to get so caught up in creating your culture that you forget about your story, the reason for creating this culture in the first place.
Robin Hobb´s rant on Fan Fiction [offsite link]
Robin Hobb, author of The Farseer Trilogy, believes attempting to learn the craft by writing Fan Fiction can stunt a writer´s creativity. Showing versus telling - some examples
"Show don’t tell" is a very common piece of advice given to writers of all levels, but it can be difficult for beginner writers to grasp this concept when they first start out. Story Length
The length of your story is important when you are trying to submit and market it. Here are the average sizes of written fiction and the typical markets that take them. The Importance of Foreshadowing
A good foreshadow adds depth and texture to fiction. Here are the reasons it works and how to do it well. The Joys of Writing Fiction
A desire to write is burning deep within you. Your muse, or subconscious mind keeps imagining crazy things every time you turn around. When you see someone walking a dog, crazy thoughts go through your head.
The Writer's Journal
A great way to keep track of all the ideas that go running through your head is to keep a writer's journal. Weaving symbolism and imagery into your story
Although you may be surprised by the quality of symbolism that your story seems to have drawn on subconsciously, usually you will add most of the metaphors and symbolism after you have begun your book, or even after several drafts. Writing action sequences
Action can enliven a plot and add challenges for the characters that stretch their skills and character development. If you write action and adventure stories, or even another genre, at some stage you might decide to put your characters into an action sequence. Writing Effective Dialogue
Dialogue is one of the trickiest components of the story due to the balance between authenticity and clarity. Every segment of dialogue should have a purpose - either to advance the story, to give the reader some information, or to highlight something about the characters speaking. Writing Group Style Quiz
Writing can be a lonely profession and so some writers turn to writing groups to help augment their writing. Take this quiz to learn which writing group style would fit you best. Links marked with the [offsite link] designation point to websites not associated with BellaOnline.com. BellaOnline.com is not responsible for the material found there.
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