C.S. Lewis on Writing: Is His Advice Still Relevant?
C.S. Lewis wrote over 30 books in a variety of genres. If we cornered C.S. Lewis on writing, what advice would he give? And would it still be relevant for us today?
C.S. Lewis wrote over 30 books in a variety of genres. If we cornered C.S. Lewis on writing, what advice would he give? And would it still be relevant for us today?
You might have heard the writing advice, “Don’t write purple prose.” Or perhaps you’ve even been told your prose is purple, but you’re not quite sure what that means and if it’s really a bad thing.
What is purple prose? Is it really bad? And how can you fix it in your writing?
Margaret Atwood is perhaps best-known for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale. In her MasterClass, she’ll teach you how she wrote it. Will the class help you become a better writer? We took it to find out.
You craft your story, scene by scene and sentence by sentence, stringing one word to the next with loving care. But what if, when your reader picks it up, the whole thing falls apart?
You don’t want that happening. Continuity is the thread that stitches your story into a coherent package, holding it together and making it a pleasure to read. So how do you make your writing flow?
“Stream-of-Consciousness” is a literary technique that focuses on sensory details, what we see and hear and feel and think in the moment. It’s usually written in incomplete sentences that jump around as they please. It’s the type of writing that tells you to completely forget everything else you’ve learned about writing and give in to the flow of ideas.
Most great stories, whether they are a Pixar film or a novel by your favorite author, follow a certain dramatic structure.
When you’re getting started with writing, understanding how the structure works is difficult. Even if you go back and analyze your favorite books and films, it can still be hard to structure your own stories. That’s where Freytag’s Pyramid can help.