In this article, author and trained fighter Carla Hoch answers a writer's question about how to handle writing a female serial killer in their work-in-progress.

Award-winning fiction writer Gina Ochsner explains what gives short short fiction its electricity in this article from 2005.

In this article, author Jonelle Patrick shares her expertise on how to create settings that will bring your reader in and make your characters shine.

In this article, award-winning author Nancy Stohlman breaks down the difference between flash fiction, prose poetry, and short stories and explains what keeps readers on the hook.

In this article, author and writing coach Nina Amir lays out her top tips to master your mindset and complete a 30-day writing challenge.

Award-winning crime author Stephanie Kane explains how she builds characters unlike herself and navigates their worlds to create vivid and realistic stories.

In this article from July 2000, true crime novelist and former New York Times correspondent Lisa Beth Pulitzer shares with us some key insights for breaking into the true crime genre.

Evoking emotion on the page begins with the man or woman at the keyboard. Dustin Grinnell serves up seven straightforward tactics for writing tear-jerking stories that make your readers empathize with your characters.

WD editor and fantasy writer Moriah Richard shares five unique ways in which writers can use World of Warcraft to better build their worlds—without playing the game.

Award-winning author Jill G. Hall shares her top tips for how to dive into your latest project head-first.

Romance author Michelle Major explains her three go-to tips for ensuring your characters have believable chemistry.

John Grisham once admitted that this article from 1973 helped him write his thrillers. In it, author Brian Garfield shares his go-to advice for creating great suspense fiction.

In this article, author Dustin Grinnell examines Jon Franklin’s award-winning article Mrs. Kelly’s Monster to help writers master the use of literary techniques in narrative journalism.

Using examples from William Peter Blatty's iconic horror novel The Exorcist, Dustin Grinnell explains how to craft truly frightening horror fiction by blending the believable and the unsettlingly extraordinary.

For fans of the terrifying and macabre, this article from 1989 features horror, Gothic, and science-fiction author Matthew J. Costello's advice on top-notch horror writing that sells.

In this excerpt from his book Writing in the Dark, author Tim Waggoner discusses the three types of pain all horror writers should consider inflicting upon their characters.

Dustin Grinnell explains how to—and how not to—write more scientific fiction by analyzing Carl Sagan's “Contact” and the ways it incorporates believable elements that are understandable to laypeople.

Bestselling author Clare Mackintosh shares the 10 things she learned when writing a family drama and reveals what will be key when writing your own.