• 5 Tips for Writing Christmas Letters

    With most of the world still practicing social distancing, Christmas letters, cards, or emails are the way to go this year. Looking for ways to spice up the same-old, typical Christmas greeting? Try these tips for a sparkling holiday letter. 1. Begin on a positive note. Make sure your Christmas letters start with a cheerful bang, not the common statement about how quick the year has gone by. Even a typical “Holiday greetings from the Blank family!” is a better opener than the traditional cry about the passage of time. 2. Keep it short and sweet. Keep your Christmas letter short,…

  • Creative Writing Prompts (Christmas)

    We create so many memories during the Christmas season–from little to big moments, happy to sad memories, and first and last times–it can be very easy for some to end up forgotten. That’s where these creative writing prompts (and hopeful new holiday tradition) will come in handy. Writing is one of those skills that you can always improve and you should always practice. This holiday season, refine your skill and record your memories with these creative writing ideas!  Here are 10 Christmas-themed creative writing prompts: A story of the first memory that comes to mind when you hear the word…

  • Stay On Track During NaNoWriMo 

    National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is an annual event in which participants commit to writing a 50,000-word novel during the month of November. It began in 1999 as a challenge between friends, but it’s since grown into a global writing challenge with hundreds of thousands of participants each year. We’ve compiled some tips on how to keep your head in the game during this year’s NaNoWriMo. Disconnect. You know how people always say you need to unplug to be productive? Well, they’re annoyingly right. Turn off the TV, cellphone, stay away from the internet, all of it. If you need…

  • When to Use a Scene Break

    Did you know the symbol—most commonly three asterisks—inserted between sections of text to break the scene is called a dinkus? Scene breaks serve many purposes, but one reason it’s used is to give readers a breather. Imagine reading an intense scene that holds a lot of significance, but the chapter doesn’t end when the scene ends. You’d need a little breather, right? That’s what the dinkus—or scene break—provides. Here are four other times to use a scene break. 1. When you want to transition from a present-day narrative to a flashback. A scene break is a useful writing tool when…