The “bad vs. worse” set-up discussed in the article “No More Mr. Nice Guys” in the September 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest—all about unlikable but fascinating protagonists—lies at the heart of a form of moral argument known ...
Jonathan French’s approach to self-publishing played an important role in how editors and agents perceived his book, and persuaded French to reevaluate his perspective on how authors can, and should, break into print. author photo credit:...
For most students, the transition from secondary school to post-secondary studies is a huge adjustment. For international students, it’s a major life change. Not only are you starting the next phase of your educational journey, you’re a...
by Michael Kardos Ever since I was a little kid I’ve loved magic. The first Broadway show I ever saw, at age seven, was The Magic Show starring the great Doug Henning. In eighth grade, I started studying sleight-of-hand with a teacher at...
Flawed characters and antiheroes make for fascinating protagonists—but their behavior can risk alienating readers. Follow this blueprint for flawed-yet-relatable heroes who can still provoke empathy. ILLUSTRATION © GETTY IMAGES: LUCIANO ...
Spend a few minutes using Build a Body and it is easy to understand why it was recognized by the National Science Foundation. In Sponge Lab Biology’s Build a Body students construct a human body system-by-system. To build a body stude...
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. In the novel The Exorcist ...
For the new author, it can be a big (and confusing) decision to decide between traditional publishing and self-publishing. But doubly confusing are the choices faced once you settle on the self-publishing path. There is growing complexity i...
These underhanded character development techniques are designed to relax your “thinky” brain and to draw instead on your curiosity, intuition and slightly devious sense of play in order to help your characters reveal their own inner wor...
By Dustin Grinnell images from Project Gutenberg’s edition of The Lost World (1912) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle The Lost World (1912) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is a fantasy-adventure novel filled with danger, mystery and intrigue. The sto...