The Delve

• Why reading your poem out loud can ruin it
  If someone else reads your poem out loud, they can break your meter and slant your rhymes. Is it worth the risk? Continue reading →
• You can’t judge a book by its title
  Or can you? Continue reading →
• The worst idea for a TV show ever
  A show in which the phrase, "What could possibly go wrong?" is a challenge, not a question. Continue reading →
• The best tool to fight procrastination I’ve ever found
  Journalist Hunter S. Thompson, notorious for being the worst procrastinator of any working reporter, is the last person you’d turn to for procrastination-busting strategies. But this method of his works every time. Continue reading →
• A shortcut to better writing
  Is there such a thing? Continue reading →
• This tattoo means ‘You’ll never work again’
  The incredible story of the tattoo that ruined the career of a promising young writer. Continue reading →
• The dumbest bank robbery ever
  Did it happen in the lawless days of the Old West? Was it a desperate heist pulled off by a John Dillinger wannabe in the 1930s? Surely it was another of Florida Man’s wacky stunts. Not even close. Continue reading →
• How to write a short story in less than one minute
  A professional writer reveals ONE WEIRD TRICK for success! You WON'T BELIEVE what it is! Continue reading →
• H.P. Lovecraft reviews Japanese candy
  I reeled, overcome with ultimate horror of a sort unfelt by man since the pitiless god Pocky dragged his tentacles through the loathsome grime of primordial worlds not our own. Continue reading →
• Ernest Hemingway reviews a candy bar
  From his pocket he took a candy bar covered in a black wrapper. It was black chocolate. He held it and looked at the fire and looked at the moon. The night was big and black and Nick knew that this was the moment to do the terrible thing. Continue reading →

How to Write Like

• How to Write Like Hunter S. Thompson
  You might think that Hunter S. Thompson is just another of Johnny Depp’s offbeat characters, created for his trippy late-90s movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hunter S. Thompson was a real person. And he was even more outrageous than anything Depp could dream up. He’s also, years after his death, a big name […]
• How to write like Margret A. Treiber
  Give us the tl;dr of your life in 50 words or less. I had a crazy youth, and settled down to a career in IT. About a decade ago, I rediscovered my love for writing. I’ll still trying to get some traction professionally. Do you have a day job, other than being a writer? Yes, […]
• How to write like H.P. Lovecraft
  So you wanna write a horror story? Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and “Twilight Zone” creator Rod Serling: What do they have in common? They and countless writers of the horror genre cite 20th-century author H.P. Lovecraft as an influence. Learning to write like Lovecraft can make you frighteningly good at crafting a tale of terror. […]
• How to write like Laura Ingalls Wilder
  Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved Little House series has been a gateway drug to butter churning, sunbonnet wearing, and rag-doll sewing for generations of American children. Her warm, inviting, and simple yet emotionally profound prose style is easier to imitate than you might think. But capturing the nuances of her books’ settings, themes, and narrative style […]
• How to write a story in 20 minutes
  In an ideal world, there would never be a deadline when you set out to write a story. But in the real world, time is of the essence. Maybe you only have a chance to write during your lunch break. Maybe you forgot about that short story assignment that’s due to your English teacher in […]
• How to write like Aaron Rath
  Q&A with indie author Aaron Rath   Give us the tl;dr of your life. I studied physics, but ended up in IT for the day job. I write books, mostly novels, with some nonfiction and more experimental stuff mixed in. I am self-published, and just starting to explore the traditional route for both stories and […]
• How to Write In Medias Res
  Don’t you hate long, boring introductions that drone on and on when all you want to do is find out —   What is in medias res? “In medias res” is Latin for “into the midst of things.” This popular literary technique refers to a way of starting a story, novel, or play without any […]
• How to write like Emily Dickinson
  She wore all white, she hid herself away from the world, and she was an urban legend in her hometown. She also wrote some of the most unusual and enduring poetry of all time — and nobody but Emily Dickinson herself realized it until after her death. Who is Emily Dickinson? Nineteenth-century American lyric poet […]
• How to write like Ernest Hemingway
  This is the big Kahuna. The guy with an app named after him. The generalissimo of sturdy, stark, macho American prose. The one and only author that your dad, your boss, your pothead roommate, your English teacher, and that Guy in Your MFA all agree is a Good Writer™. Can you learn to write like […]