How Do You Hook A Reader?
Posted by David Duhr in 
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Discussion questions: As a reader, how does a writer hook you within the first few lines of a book or story? As a writer, how do you hook a reader with your opening? Share the best opening you’ve ever written, or share one you’re currently struggling with (and tell us what the struggle is). And don’t be afraid to comment on another writer’s opening! Does it make you want to read more?
Must Your Characters Be Likeable?
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Discussion questions: Should fiction writers create only characters that readers will like? If we write unlikeable characters, does it mean we’re writing unlikeable books or stories? As a reader, do you need to like a character in order to enjoy a book? Can you relate to or identify with an unlikeable character and therefore still enjoy the book? Do you even prefer unlikeable characters? Let’s talk about it in the comment.
Author Biographies: Yea or Nay?
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: Do you read biographies of your favorite authors? What do you get out of them as a reader? What do you get out of them as a writer? Do you have a favorite? If you (like me) don’t read author bios, why not? If you had to read one, which writer would you choose? If someone wrote your biography, what would you want its title to be?! In the comments below, let us know all of this and whatever else is on your mind. read more
5 Reasons for Publishing Your Writing
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: What are some of the factors that motivate you toward publishing your writing? read more
Will You Always Be a Writer?
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: Do you think you’ll always be a writer? Will a writer always be a writer, even if he or she stops writing? When (and how) did you decide to be a writer? Share your experiences in the comments. read more
What Do You Sacrifice for Your Writing?
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: What pursuits and activities do you sacrifice for your writing? Who might you be and what might your life look like if you didn’t write? What pursuits do you follow *in addition* to writing, and how are you able to achieve a satisfying balance? Let me know in the comments. read more
The Books That Stick With Us
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, and publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: When you think about the books that have a long-lasting impact on you, what stands out about them? Do those books have anything in common? How do you work to create those same effects in your own writing? Let’s discuss in the comments.
One Writer: One Question
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, and publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: You can choose one writer, dead or alive, and ask only one question. Who do you choose, what do you ask, and why? What kind of reply would you hope for? What does your choice of writer and/or question tell you about yourself as a writer? If your writer is alive, have you ever considered finding a way to ask him/her this question? read more
Confessions of a Lapsed Writer
WriteByNight is a writers’ service dedicated to helping you reach your creative potential. We work with writers of all experience levels working in all genres, nationwide and worldwide. Browse our book coaching, manuscript consultation, and publication assistance services, and sign up for your free writing consultation today.
Discussion questions: Are there days you don’t want to write? If so, is there any pattern to them, or trigger? Do you try to force yourself to write anyway? Do you feel guilty on days you don’t write? Where do you suppose that guilt comes from? read more
Reading & Writing Goals: 2021
Discussion questions: What are your literary goals for this new year? Whether tangible or intangible, let us know what you’re hoping to accomplish and how. And if you don’t have any–which I considered for myself–I want to hear about that, too. Let’s chat about 2021 in the comments below. read more
Prompt: Write About Winter
Discussion questions: Write about winter. If you’d like, use any of the following questions for inspiration: What are you doing to prepare for the coming winter, as a writer and in general? Are you looking forward to it or are you dreading it (or both)? What are your biggest hopes and fears for the coming winter? And how do you feel about winter in general? What are some of your favorite winter memories? What has been your best winter as a writer, and why?
Your Year in Reading: 2020
Discussion questions: Have you hit your 2020 reading goals, if you made any? Did you read anything that moved you? Do you have any titles you want to recommend to me and your fellow WriteByNighters? Let me know below.
- Tonight at the Texas Book Festival Lit Crawl, the winner and finalists of the Texas Observer's short story contest… https://t.co/w4F8GM2XJR
- This week’s Texas Observer contest finalist is “Oblivious” by Rudy Ruiz (@Rudy_Ruiz_7), who does a hell of a job ta… https://t.co/f1h53csUDJ
- RT @TexasObserver: .@thedutchsimmons’ "Solitary," a finalist in the Texas Observer story contest, recounts the thoughts of a character stuc…