Style/Technique
By Ginny Wiehardt, About.com Guide to Fiction Writing
Throughout your writing career, questions of style and technique will remain crucial to your success as a writer, no matter how much experience you accrue. These articles, book reviews, and interviews will help you continue to develop your craft, whether you write short stories, novels, or both.
Elements of Fiction
Even experienced writers benefit from a review of the basic building blocks of fiction. Though the concepts may be old hat, no one manages all of them successfully from the very beginning. These articles provide a basic understanding of what makes up a short story so that you can discern and improve on your weaknesses.
Style
To a large degree, writing style evolves naturally over time, a combination of personality, reading choices, and any number of small encounters and events. But there are style-related aspects of writing that you can consciously work on and consider -- and these things will make you a good writer whether you're writing a cover letter or a magnum opus.
Figurative Language
Used well, figurative language enhances your fiction and can be an economical way of getting an image or a point across. However, used incorrectly, figurative language can be confusing or downright silly. Learn more about figurative language and how to use it effectively.
Dialogue
The skill of writing true-to-life dialogue does not come naturally to everyone. Using these articles, learn to write dialogue that advances the story and fleshes out the characters while providing a break from straight exposition.
Novel Writing
Writing a novel may be the most challenging thing you do in your writing career. Few other activities in our multi-tasked lives force us to stick with one project for so long. So how do you get from bright idea to reading tour? The articles below will help.
Further Advice and Instruction
Whatever your weak point or problem, there's a wide range of resources to help you improve your writing, from books and the Internet to classes and MFA programs.
