Whether through paintings, novels and books, news and journalism, or music, different types of creative stories can be powerful works of art and have emotional impact on the seer, reader, or listener. Although writers use a pen, pencil, or computer instead of a paintbrush, writing can be similar to painting a portrait for readers to imagine and behold with their eyes when writers create imagery in their short stories and books. One episode from the 1960s western Bonanza cal

Conflict is one of if not the most important story element in a short story or novel because it's what helps keep readers engrossed within stories and books. Similar to plot, conflict is an engine that moves a story forward. After all, if nothing is going on and there's nothing to overcome, there's no story to tell. External conflict is the obstacles and complications outside of characters in their story world, such as an altercation between two opposing attorneys, a fore

External conflict is the impact of outside forces that come against characters in a story. There are a number of different types of conflict, obstacles, and challenges characters could face during the plotline, but specifically there are six forces that characters are more than likely to deal with in some way or another. These include natural disasters or storms , supernatural or evil spirits , governments or institutions , people or villains, animals or creatures, and socia

In previous blog posts, I've discussed the four operations in characters, and the generic and complex emotions characters feel when...

Internal conflict is the inner battle within characters when they collide with external forces. Character emotion is one of the most important aspects of all fictional characters whether they're humanlike characters or animals like in the allegorical novella, "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. Emotions allow writers to impact their readers and cause them to feel something and relate and connect with their characters. There is a wide range of emotions characters can experience; b

Let's say you're a hiker lost in a national park while being on a camping trip. You're troubled and concerned about your safety; but...

Imagine you're a firefighter that rushes to an emergency house fire. The burning flames and suffocating smoke of the house fire is the...

If writers really think about it, story structure can be similar to the functionality and foundation of different systems of the human body. There are four specific components of the anatomy of story structure that together make up the DNA of a cohesive, well-organized story. These four components include goals, characters, plot or story arcs, and scenes.

Foreshadowing is a common literary device that most seasoned writers have heard of before. It's when writers give hints of future events that are to come or will happen later within a story.

As I mentioned in my previous blogpost, there's three main different types of irony: verbal, situational, and dramatic. All three of these types of irony can be used creatively within writing to either add clever wit, create suspense, or add a little humor in stories.

Irony is a literary device that can add wit and intrigue in one's writing, but it isn't commonly used as much as metaphors or similes....

In many ways, books are like people, as each one carries an essence of life, inspiration, and influence of its own. You know what people...

Thematic significance is the moral, statement, or universal truth an author is conveying to their readers through their short stories,...

Theme is many times associated with the message of stories based on the terminology we're familiar with from writing essay and research...

Voice is one of the most distinctive features within fiction and from authors' different writing styles alone. There are certain literary...

Like artists who paint on canvases, writers can also create beautiful images and pictures by the use of their words. Aside from literary devices that add style and add voice, there are particular literary devices that can be beneficial for writers to add color to their writing, create intrigue, and engross their readers in their short stories and novels. Some of these include the following list of literary devices below. Literary devices that add color: Similes Metaphors Pe

Literary devices are writing tools and techniques that can help writers intrigue their readers more into their short stories, books, or...

Interior and exterior are the two different types of settings within story writing. As I mentioned in my previous post of worldbuilding,...

As I mentioned in a previous post, settings help to "set the scene" and create a believable story world or environment within our stories...

Within fiction there are three types of story worlds that writers use in their novels or books.