Anthony Burgess once said that the dream seldom survives the first paragraph.
And Edith Wharton, quoting an old French proverb, wrote, "I dream of an eagle, I give birth to a hummingbird."
All writing is about that gap—no, that chasm—between expectation and final product. A veritable Grand Canyon. It is the very thing that induces writer's block.
I say that we writers should just expect that disappointment, not be surprised by it. Expect it, sidestep it, move on.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2021 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today's prompt, write a get blank poem.
Without a solid foundation, our stories flounder. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman shares insights into the three mistakes writers make when creating the first act.
Novelist David Jackson Ambrose discusses the initial themes he wanted to explore in his latest novel, A Blind Eye, what the editing process was like, and how his books always surprise him in the end.
The Writer's Digest team has witnessed many writing mistakes over the years, so we started this series to help identify them for other writers (along with correction strategies). This week's writing mistake is not knowing when to shelve a project.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2021 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today's prompt, write a persona poem (for an inanimate object).
No matter what genre you write, if you're planning to write characters as frenemies, you'll need to know how to do it well. Bestselling romance author Lorraine Heath shares her top tips.
Every good story needs a nice (or not so nice) turn or two to keep it interesting. This week, make a character place blame on someone.
Emmy-nominated writer Luke X. Cunningham explains how he came to write a middle-grade mystery novel and what he hopes for the kids who read his book.
Write a poem every day of April with the 2021 April Poem-A-Day Challenge. For today's prompt, write a metaphor poem.
