This page has resources to help you with fiction writing.

Fiction Writing Prompts

Resources for Fiction Writing

Characters

49 Personality Archetypes

34 CliftonStrengths Themes reference card PDF

How to Write Captivating Characters by John Claude Bemis Authors Publish lecture (1 hour) - slides

How to Write Captivating Side Characters Authors Publish lecture by Cat Rambo (1 hour)

Plot

Plotting: Conflict, Complication, Curiosity, and Connection from Andrew Wille Writing Studio

100 Timeless Plot Archetypes by Nathan Baugh on Medium

Narrative Structure: What Are the 7 Basic Plots by Bethan McGloin on Knowadays 

7 Basic Plot Archetypes slideshow with examples

The Seven Story Archetypes one page reference PDF

Dialogue

Writing Believable Dialogue from Authors Publish

Dialogue Punctuation 101 from Suzanne McConnell, coauthor of Pity the Reader: On Writing with Style

Tropes

List of Tropes from TV Tropes

The Importance of Trope Awareness by Emily Harstone from Authors Publish

Genre Fiction vs. Literary Fiction

Literary Fiction vs. Genre Fiction by Sean Glatch on Writers.com

Literary vs. Genre Fiction by Diane Callahan on Medium.com

A Better Way to Think About the Genre Debate by Joshua Rothman in The New Yorker - the collapse of genre

Tips from Nathan Bransford, fiction writer and editor:

• Infuse a character’s desires into their observations

• Don't start a chapter without these six essential elements

• How to write clear physical description

• How to write sharp action scenes

• Don’t over-explain default objects and gestures

• Let characters’ emotions spill in unpredictable ways

• How to bridge characters’ thoughts in an omniscient POV

• Deciding between projects? Put your horses in a race

• Narration: The reader needs a good proxy in a novel

• Draw us in with vivid details (page critique)

• All about creating mysteries in a novel

• What happens on and off the page in your novel?

More writing tips & techniques

Turning Off the TV in Your Mind by Lincoln Michel

Strategic Opacity based on Between the Covers Podcast lecture “Tin House Live: Torrey Peters on Strategic Opacity” (1 hr)

Writing Fiction: When to Consider Summary Authors Publish article by Sherry Shahan

Writing Effective Flashbacks: Seamlessly Integrating Backstory Authors Publish article by Sabyasachi Roy

Flash Fiction

Build Your Writing Career and Platform with Snap, Dash and Flash by Lynne Curry in Authors Publish

Mystery Writing

Whodunits, Cozies, and More: A Mystery Sub-Genres Primer on Book Riot

Mystery Subgenres: 60+ Immersive Fiction Subgenres on Self-Publishing School

21 Popular Mystery Tropes for Writers from Writer's Digest

All about creating mysteries in a novel

More Online Resources for Fiction Writers

Writer's Toolbox from Gotham Writers includes:

• Ask the Writer - Pressing and perplexing questions answered by our writing expert.

• Author Q&A - An exclusive collection of Q&As with illustrious authors.

• Character Questionnaire - Questions that will help you get to know your characters better.

• Faculty Articles - Great writing advice from members of the Gotham faculty.

• Resources/Reading Lists - Recommended books, publications, works, and websites.

• Tips from the Masters - Pearls of wisdom from masters of the craft.

Writing a Novel

NaNoWriMo - nonprofit organization that provides tools, structure, community, and encouragement to help people find their voices, achieve creative goals, and build new worlds — on and off the page. November is the official "NaNoWriMo" (National Novel Writing Month)

11 Books on Writing for Your Post-NaNoWriMo Slump from Barnes & Noble blog

What Novelists Should Do After Rejection by Emily Harstone from Authors Publish

From the Blank Page to a Self-Published Novel by Amy Glin from Authors Publish

Is Your Manuscript Reader-Ready? Your Query Can Tell You! by Julie Artz from Authors Publish

Notes on Writing a Novel by Elizabeth Bowen

How to Write a Dynamic Act One from Authors Publish (2023)

Books about fiction writing

• Pity the Reader by Suzanne McConnell and Kurt Vonnegut

• Process: The Writing Lives of Great Authors by Sarah Stodola

• From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction by Robert Olen Butler

• The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr

• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King

• Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell

• The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by John Truby

• Ron Carlson Writes a Story by Ron Carlson

Microplotting

How to Keep Readers Glued to Every Page of Your Book with Microplotting - lecture by John Claude Bemis presented by Authors Publish 

• Each scene in a novel should do one of two things: advance the plot or deepen understanding of the characters

• Example & Tips for Advancing the Plot: 08:50 - 20:05

• Identify what emotions the reader may feel

• Example & Tips for Deepening Understanding of the Characters

  • 5 character questions to keep in mind when structuring a scene: 31:08 - 45:52

    • What does my character want?

    • Why can't they get it?

    • What will they do about it?

    • Why doesn't it work out?

    • How will it end?

Patterns in a Story

notes from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders (119-164) -- using example short story "The Darling" by Anton Chekhov

Specifying character traits can also set up plot: "once a specific person has been made (via facts, characterization), we then know, of all the many things that could happen to her, which would be meaningful... in specificity lies nascent plot... 'good writerly habit' might consist of continually revising toward specificity, so that specificity can appear and then produce plot (or, as we prefer to call it, 'meaningful action')." (142)

Establishing a pattern in a story (with slight variations) is one way to create and use/exploit reader expectations: "the pattern, as patterns tend to do, creates a series of evolving expectations." (148)

Notes on Fiction Writing & Interpretation

Notes from "Why do we read and write?" from Nathan Bransford

definition of story: "it’s about a character trying to navigate the world." 

"And in order to make it engaging, I believe it helps for that character to be active and emerge from the story in a different place than they started. Now, please note that I’m saying active. I’m not saying powerful... Even just trying to figure something out or trying to make peace with circumstances beyond a character’s control is being active."

"I also believe good writing is precise and not vague. Different readers will project different things onto the page and everything does not have to be spelled out, but it helps for the writing to be as sharp as possible, even if this may result in different styles and approaches to get there."

Notes from A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders 

Printable Version

Lenses offered by George Saunders in A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

• TICHN “things I couldn’t help notice” (84)

• 3 questions (14), “curiosity as caring”

  • What do we know so far? (In one or two sentences, summarize what you know so far)

  • What are you curious about? (What questions do you have?)

  • Where do you think the story is headed? (What bowling pins are in the air?)

• writer as juggler - what bowling pins has the author thrown into the air? (14)

• reader’s expectations, anticipating the reader (14, 17)

• structure (19)

  • “We might think of structure as simply: an organizational scheme that allows the story to answer a question it has caused its reader to ask… We might imagine structure as a form of call-and-response. A question arises organically from the story and then the story, very considerately, answers it. If we want to make good structure, we just have to be aware of what question we are causing the reader to ask, then answer that question” (14)

• “ritual banality avoidance” (35)

• escalation (60, 137)

• characterization & character development (16)

• character change, story vs. anecdote, what makes this a story? (51)

  • “What makes a piece of writing a story is that something happens within it that changes the character forever… we tell a certain story, starting at one time and ending at another, in order to frame that moment of change” (51)

• “ruthlessly efficient,” use everything, no waste (41, 48)

• sidecar of motorcycle (58)

• pattern creates expectation (134, 147)

• “in specificity lies nascent plot” (142)

Patterns in a Story

Specifying character traits can also set up plot: "once a specific person has been made (via facts, characterization), we then know, of all the many things that could happen to her, which would be meaningful... in specificity lies nascent plot... 'good writerly habit' might consist of continually revising toward specificity, so that specificity can appear and then produce plot (or, as we prefer to call it, 'meaningful action')." (142)

Establishing a pattern in a story (with slight variations) is one way to create and use/exploit reader expectations: "the pattern, as patterns tend to do, creates a series of evolving expectations." (148)

First Sentences

In short stories, the first sentence is germinal, catalytic, and atomic. It must not only pull the reader into the story, but it must also set the parameters for what the story will be. Within the context of the story, a good first sentence is truthful (within the context of the storytelling), it is efficient, it immediately sets expectations, and it piques curiosity. 

Example: In “A Temporary Matter” by Jhumpa Lahiri, the first sentence sets up a scenario in a way that let’s the reader know that something worth reading will occur:

“The notice informed them that it was a temporary matter: for five days their electricity would be cut off for one hour, beginning at eight pm.” 

From the outset we know that the characters are being thrust into unusual circumstances, and we are wondering who these characters are and how these circumstances will lead to a fundamental change in their lives.

Question: In what ways do the first sentences of other stories fulfill these requirements? Can you write an interesting and engaging first sentence that contains the seeds of a potential story? 

The Power of Literature

“I think that the power of art is the power to wake us up, strike us to our depths, change us. What are we searching for when we read a novel, see a film, listen to a piece of music? We are searching, through a work of art, for something that alters us, that we weren’t aware of before. We want to transform ourselves…” —"Teach Yourself Italian" by Jhumpa Lahiri in The New Yorker

“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.” —Franz Kafka

Question: Does the story move you in any way? Does it make you view life any differently? Does it inspire you in any way?