“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela
There have been many thoughts implying that the more educated the people are, the less violence and assault comes from them. We have decided to check whether there are indeed any correlations between educational attainment and gun crimes. Continue reading
So, your muse has left you. You can be sad about it, sit and look at a clean sheet and feel sorry for yourself. However, the right thing to do is to do at least something.
Many greatest authors suffered from writer’s block for some time. Jack London, Leo Tolstoy, Virginia Woolf and many others ones faced this unfortunate problem. However, they still managed to create timeless masterpieces and become a part of the history. If also experience this problem and don’t know how to overcome writer’s block, maybe the following tips can help you out. Continue reading
Are you a writer? Do you want to be one? Are you into challenges? If any of the answers to these questions are “yes”, there is good news for you. National Novel Writing Month offers everyone to take up a challenge and write a good lengthy novel in one month (November). It is an extraordinary opportunity for everyone who’s been thinking about writing a novel but couldn’t start because the fear, lack of inspiration, no motivation and any other possible reason. Continue reading
Anyone or anything can be a character of your book – starting from a cockroach and finishing with ancient gods. However, readers grow accustomed mainly to those characters who remind them of themselves; those who have such human features as habits, character, virtues and flaws, memories, plans for the future, dreams, etc. If all that your heroine has is velvety skin and great forms, it won’t be interesting for the majority of people to read. In this post, we’ll try to cast some light on how to create a character for your book and will offer you a character sheet template that you can use for every piece you write. Let’s go!
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Romantic novels are something that have always been and will always be popular. Women (and quite a big number of men, actually) all over the world adore reading either happy or sad love stories and imagine themselves as the main characters. It is a great literature genre and among the easiest ones to write. You don’t have to dig into numerous scientific researches to create it (like with a sci-fi story) or to make up difficult multi-level worlds with unusual creatures (like with fantasy). All you need is a good story in your head and decent writing skills. Continue reading
Outlining a novel is an important process for many authors. An outline is kind of an individual thing and can come in practically any shape and form. Basically, outlining means creating a plan for your future book. It can be a short step-by-step plan, or a detailed piece with description of all the major events and characters. Many starting writers wonder, how to outline a novel. There has been some great posts written by experienced authors; some offer their steps for outlining novels and some suggest useful programs for that. We will also try to cast some light on this important process and suggest you some ideas and practical tips. Continue reading
Sooo, today we’re writing fantasy. If you are reading this post, you are probably interested in how to write a fantasy novel. We’ll try to figure it out and make it clear to you. The ultimate advice would be to read as much good fantasy as you can find. If you are a bit confused about the genre specifics, read some theory as well. In our previous post we’ve discussed the difference between fantasy and sci-fi, so, if is not totally clear to you, go ahead and read about it. But now let’s come to the actual fantasy writing tips that can help you with your piece. Continue reading
Everything started thousands of years ago in some dark and sooty cage, where an ancient tale-teller was telling something to his tribe the crackling of burning wood. He was describing fierce monsters, wrathful gods, black magic and dangerous worlds. This was the beginning the horror stories’ history. Now we are civilized people. We know that the mood doesn’t eat the sun and we don’t throw virgins to a volcano to keep it sleeping. Nevertheless, we still love scary stories. For the last twenty years there have been published more horror novels than in the whole time before that. Continue reading
Creating a great mystery novel is a big job. There are so many things to think through, so many details to consider and so many researches to make. If you wonder how to write a mystery novel, get a cup of tea and keep reading, as we have some basic, but very helpful things for you to get into. Some of the tips may seem quite obvious, but without paying attention to all of them, you can barely create a decent mystery story.
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Everyone has probably read at least one good science fiction novel in their life. Many beginning authors wonder how to write science fiction. Firstly, you need to know exactly what it is. Since the beginning of this genre, it has become more complicated and more popular. Writing science fiction can be quite difficult, but if you pay attention to certain matters, you’ll be more than ready to do so. Continue reading