As Absolute Blank moves to hiatus status, here’s a list of all of our articles, up to June 2016, organized by category. If you have suggestions for corrections to this list, please comment.
Basics: Mechanics and Practical Advice
Character creation
- Crafting Memorable Characters
- Nobody’s Perfect: Shortcuts for Creating Imperfect Characters
- Interview with a Dark Lord: Creating Villainous Characters
- The Importance of Being
ErnestErnieErnestoJack (naming)
Critique
- Dance Naked (getting critique)
- The Critique Zone (giving critique)
Editing
- Editing and Abandoning
- Stepping Back
- “You Shortlisted My Submission… Why Didn’t it Make the Final Cut?”
- Tales From the Inbox: Baker & Beaver Discuss First Reading
Grammar, syntax, dialogue
- Know the Rules, Then Break Them
- Something to Talk About
- The Musical Magic of Words
- Pique-a-Boo-Boo: Commonly Confused Words
Story elements
- Setting Yourself Up
- Plot + Emotional Journey = Good Story Structure
- Point of View: Who’s Telling Your Story?
- See Through a Glass, Darkly: View Your Story Through Your Character’s Filters
- Point of View: The Director’s Cut
- Variations on a Theme
- What Dr. John H. Watson Can Teach About Writing
- Bells and Whistles: Adding Layers to Your Story
- Timing is Everything (pace)
- Textured Descriptions: Or, How To Describe Details Without Describing Details
Techniques
- Show and Tell 101
- Slow Writing
- Making Smiles: Writing sex scenes outside the erotica and romance genres
- It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine: Endings in Fiction
- Best Advice, Worst Advice: Why Good Writing Advice is Sometimes Bad
- You Gotta Know Your Audience
- Stage and Scene: Finding Writing Tips in Acting Techniques
Tools
- Finding the Perfect Pencil: Tools for the Modern Writer
- Books for the Writer’s Toolbox: A Guide to Grammar and Style Manuals
- The Writer’s Notebook
- Organize Your Story Online
- Twitter, Tweet, Twits: How the Hottest Social Media Platform Helps Writers
- Beyond NaNoWriMo: Writing Challenges for Everyone
Voice
- Mirror, Mirror: Finding Your Writing Style
- Recognizing Your Voice
- What Sets You Apart: On Valuing Your Own Experience
Business
- Automatically Yours: Introduction to Copyright
- Publishing and Print-on-Demand: What POD is, what it isn’t, and when it might be right for you
- Writing: Career or Hobby?
- Please and Thank You: The Purpose of a Cover Letter
- Finding Your Fairy Godmother: A Guide to Acquiring a Literary Agent
- Writer with a capital “W”: Treating Yourself Like a Professional
- What Brand of Writer Are You? Part II: Building a Strong, Successful Brand
Circumstances
- Enter At Your Own Risk: The Strange, Twilight World of Writing Competitions
- Shining at Book Readings: Speaking with Confidence
- Your First Writers Conference: A Guided Tour
- Summer Camp: The West Virginia Writers’ Workshop
- Writing as a Not-So-Solitary Pursuit: Ye Olde Guide to Wryting Groupes
- Home Team or Away? The Low-Residency vs. Traditional M.F.A.
Emerging Writers
- Absolute Beginners
- Fresh air and verbs are good for you: Writing and Summer Vacation for Teen Writers
- “For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her” (for tween writers)
- A Guide to Designing Assignments that Require Students to Submit their Work for Publication
- Back to School: Reflections on Taking a Continuing-Ed Writing Class
Genre writing
Academia and journalism
- So you wanna be a reporter, huh?
- Slap! Assigned Writing
- Tips for Writing a Term Paper
- How to NOT Write an Article
- So You Want to Write an Article…
Long-form writing
- So You’ve Finished Your Novel. Now What?
- The short, sweet guide to writing query letters
- The First Novel Marathon
- Quantity, Not Quality: National Novel Writing Month
- A Novel in a Month? Am I Crazy?
- Surviving NaNoWriMo
- Rewriting a Novel: or What’s This About Writing Workshops?
- Everyone Else Is Doing It (So Why Aren’t You?) | NaNoWriMo alternatives
Nonfiction writing
- Approaching Nonfiction Creatively
- More than Just the Facts, Ma’am
- The Risks and Rewards of Writing True Stories
- Sell First, Write Later? Non-Fiction Book Writing Seems Like Fun!
- Non-Fiction Book Writing Seems Fun! Part II: Trying to Find a Fiancé
Other genres
- The Virgin Page: A Peek at Writing Erotica
- If at First You Don’t Succeed, Write Smut
- Imaginable Horror
- Writing Frontiers: Podcast Writing
- Writing Frontiers: Steampunk
- How to Write a Book Review (and How to Request One)
Personal writing
- Journaling
- Begin the Blogging
- Write Through This: Strategies for Writing About Real-Life Conflict and Tragedy
- Writing as Therapy
- Atmospheric Control (your writing space)
Poetry
- Poetry 101: Getting Started
- Poetry 202: Sight & Sound
- Poetry Essentials: Sound, Rhythm, Image (Interview with Sandy Longhorn)
- Love is a Many Clichéd Thing: How to Write an Original Love Poem
SFF
- Alien Worlds
- Creating A Fantasy World
- Talking the Talk: Creating Language
- Fan Fiction: Working With A Net
Interviews
- All in a Day’s Work: Should Writing be a Job? Interviews with John Scalzi, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Seanan McGuire
- Negotiating Social Media for Writers: A Conversation With Jim C. Hines, Mary Robinette Kowal & Kameron Hurley
- Emotional Terrain: Interview with Vanessa Blakeslee
- Interview With Kevin Brockmeier
- Combining Your Passions: Interview with DeAnna Cameron
- Storming the Castle: Interview with Richard Castle
- Fish and Ships: An Interview with Traci Chee
- Writing Flash Fiction: Grabbing a Bite with MaryJanice Davidson
- 20 Questions: An Interview with Margarita Engle
- Don’t Underestimate Yourself: Interview with James A. Gordon
- Agents to Zombies: Author Mira Grant from A-Z
- Interview With Edie Hanes: Silhouette Intimate Moments Author (Lauren Nichols)
- The 52/25 Challenge: Interview with Lizanne Herd
- Tell the Stories You Have to Tell: Interview with Tanya Huff
- Collecting Oral History: Interview with Elizabeth Jacoway
- Interview with Brian Koscienski and Chris Pisano, The Drunken Comic Book Monkeys
- Fiction is a Series of Choices: Interview with Seanan McGuire
- Interview With Brevity Editor Dinty Moore
- Toasted Cheese Success Stories: Interview with Janet Mullany
- We’re NOT Bored: Interview with Debbie Ridpath Ohi
- Toasted Cheese Success Stories: Ryan Potter
- Kissing Zombies and Blowing Up the World: An Interview with Adam Selzer
- Delicious Morsels: Interview with Bizarro Fiction Author Jeremy C. Shipp
- A Surreal Life: Interview with Stephen W. Simpson
- Au Paris: From Blog to Book (Rachel Spencer)
- On the Art and Business of Writing: An interview with Wendy Corsi Staub
- Interview with Trenton Lee Stewart, Author of The Mysterious Benedict Society
- Creating a Monster: Interview with Shock Totem Editor/Creator K. Allen Wood
- Horror and Sorrow and Beauty: Interview with Mercedes M. Yardley
Listicles
- 10 Quick Fixes That’ll Make You Look Really Smart
- 12 More Quick Fixes That’ll Make You Look Even Smarter
- Five Quick Tips for Entering Contests
- Five Quick Tips for Getting Your Story Published
- Five Tips for Perfecting Your Writing Contest Entry
- Just Call Me Trickster: Six Ways To Write What You Don’t Know
- Seven Writer Resolutions
- 10 Secrets Of A Synopsis That Sells
- Fifteen Ways to Get Your Submission Into My “No” Folder
- Emergency! 21 Tips for Writing an Article Fast
- Submit to Me! A quick guide to help you avoid annoying editors
Meta
- Toasted Cheese Writer Survey
- Putting It All Together: An Absolute Blank Retrospective (4th anniversary)
- Fifth Anniversary Party: Q & A With the Editors
- What Do We Look For In Submissions? Q&A with the TC Editors
- Mentor March: Writers Who Inspire Us
- Running a Literary Journal: Choices
- The Toasted Cheese Wish Book: Books by TC Authors
- What We Were Reading in 2014: Recommended by the Editors
- What We Were Reading in 2015: Recommended by the Editors
- The Summer Writing Bucket List
- 9 Years, 9 Percent: A Look at Toasted Cheese’s Submission, Rejection & Acceptance Rates
Motivation
Doing
- Starting Will Always Be Hard: What Running Taught Me About Writing
- Facing Your Writing Fears
- Procrastinating With Purpose
- The “P” Word (perfectionism)
- Remembering to Read
- Resolve to Evolve as a Writer
- Dash Your Dreams: A Guide to Finding Happiness as a Writer
- Developing the Habit: Simple Tricks to Start Writing Every Day
Inspiration
- Everyday Inspiration
- Learning from the Pros
- ‘Tis better to have written…
- A New Day, A New Page
- Keep Your Creative Fire Burning
- Write What You Dig
- Write What You Learn
- Fictional Fête: 15 Fantasy Guests
- What’s Your Creative Process?
- Excerpts From My Commonplace Book: On Not Writing
- Excerpts from My Commonplace Book: On Doubt, Fear, and Failure
- What Writing Is Really Like
Writer’s Block
- Unblock Thyself
- Not Your Average Writer’s Block
- Excuses, Excuses (Writer’s Excuse Bingo)
- Struggling With Plots
Projects
- Keeping a Commonplace Book
- Creating An Online Portfolio
- Been There, Zine That
- Gifts For Writers
- So, You Wanna Start a Writing Group?
- Finding Forrester: A Film Review and Quandary About the Writing Craft
- Recycled: Books
Writer’s Glossary
- Writer’s Glossary, Part I: Elements of Fiction Construction
- Writer’s Glossary, Part II: Genres, Subgenres and Supergenres
- Writer’s Glossary, Part III: The Business of Writing
