top of page
Read the Writing Posts Below.
Or Click on the Magnifying Glass Above to Search for a Writing Topic
Share This Page with Friends
WRITING TIPS FOR ADVANCED WRITERS
I liken all of the parts of a novel to baking a cake. Yes, we may have all the ingredients—the flour, the sugar, the vanilla, the milk, the butter, but now it’s time to learn how to put them all together so the cake is not only a cake, but it’s a cake that you want to eat until you can’t eat anymore. Until you must unbutton those jeans of yours and you’re on the brink of diabetes. Until writing great fiction becomes an addiction you can only satisfy by getting more of it
-
May 530 min read
WHAT THE MIDDLE OF YOUR NOVEL MUST DO TO SUCCEED
First, read widely. Pick a few books that, as I like to say, are “hard to kick holes through). There’s a reason some books are “unputdownable.” Sure, authors can hook you. A lot do. But books (and authors) that are successful keep you guessing. They provide insights and aphorisms that make you see the world in different ways. They continue building upon the hook they put into your lip and give you more hooks to make you stay. Which books do that for you?
Cully Perlman
Apr 299 min read
Reading Like a Writer: Educating Yourself on Craft
The great William Faulkner compares reading to a carpenter’s apprenticeship, encouraging writers to analyze both good and bad work. Stephen King emphasizes that reading is a mandatory tool for writing. A.L. Kennedy, who has written a lot of fiction and nonfiction (including one of my favorite books, On Bullfighting, advises reading broadly and deeply to absorb good writing. And Francine Prose, who I met in grad school at the University of Tampa, says, “If we want to write, it
Cully Perlman
Apr 229 min read
YOUR NOVEL’S FIRST CHAPTER CHECKLIST
Don’t try to be clever. It’s fine to have an unreliable narrator, but if you’re trying to trick your readers into believing one thing when something else is true, unless you’re an incredible writer, all you’re going to do is frustrate your readers. They’ve come for a story, not a confusing piece of literature written by an author who thinks she’s so smart she can skip the work that goes into writing something worth reading. Red herrings work, but not always. They must be done
Cully Perlman
Apr 166 min read
RELIGION IN FICTION
There’s something extraordinary of how Lehane leverages Catholicism. Lehane “describes himself as a ‘literary Catholic,’ using the faith's atmospheric impact on storytelling rather than adhering to strict dogma.” – Google AI Overview. If you’ve lived around Catholic churches and attended Catholic ceremonies like I have, having grown up for a time in Brooklyn, New York, and then basically everywhere else I’ve lived, primarily in Miami, you understand what’s happening, or feel
Cully Perlman
Apr 19 min read
READING LITERATURE FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO HELP IMPROVE YOUR OWN WRITING
Murakami writes minimalist prose that is surreal, and often deals with themes of memory, existential longing, alienation, and lonely men living mundane lives but who face metaphysical, magical-realist, and fantastic or strange, surreal journeys. Early in his career Murakami wrote by translating his thoughts from English to Japanese. This process morphs into something slightly different in his later works, but the American influence is there in his pop culture references.
Cully Perlman
Mar 2510 min read
WRITING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Edit. A lot. I know, I know. I’m using “A lot” a lot. Good. It’s called repetition, and I’m doing it on purpose. Repetition is something that emphasizes. Repetition creates a rhythm. A mood. It makes you, the reader, remember what I, the writer, wants you to remember. It helps with clarity and other things we writers do in terms of the tools at our disposal.
Cully Perlman
Feb 1711 min read
3 Great Examples of Dialogue in Fiction
, Ernest Hemingway changed the way writers wrote during the Twentieth Century. His “iceberg theory” revolutionized dialogue because unlike the writing that came before him, Hemingway’s writing created tension in what was not said rather than what was said. Characters in Hemingway’s fiction are evasive when it comes to what they say (he uses a lot of subtext), his characters are short on words, the language is not elevated or highbrow, he uses repetition to show obsession and
Cully Perlman
Feb 1013 min read
BOOK REVIEW: STONE ANGELS by Helena Rho explores the sexual exploitation of Korean women and girls during the Asia-Pacific War
We’re reminded of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, when Macbeth stares at his hands out of a sense of guilt: “Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood / Clean from my hand?” Macbeth asks. If you know anything about Korean culture, you know how prominent the concept of avoiding shame is, as well as how important traditional displays of respect are, especially concerning the halmeonis and hal-abeojis, the grandmothers and grandfathers, who rule over Korean families
Cully Perlman
Feb 98 min read
YOUR EVOLUTION AS A WRITER FROM BEGINNING TO FOREVER
Beginning writers are easy to spot. Often, it’ll only take a line or two for someone with experience to realize what stage of writing you’re at, and what they’ll expect to encounter as they read your short story (most writers begin writing short stories, as they are, well, short, and thus less intimidating to attack when learning how to write). I was a beginning writer many years ago, and I recently found a few of my short stories. They were better than I expected, but they w
Cully Perlman
Feb 312 min read
TOP 10 CREATIVE WRITING VIDEOS
While we lament what the world is and has been becoming for some time, not just in politics and interests, in literature and the world’s collective move away from “serious fiction,” many of us still know that no matter how much we know, we’ll never know enough. We continue learning. We continue writing. And we continue seeking out the resources that maintain our growth when it comes to the craft we love.
Cully Perlman
Jan 277 min read
The Best-selling Novels of 2025
2025's Bestselling Novels According to the New York Times I recently spoke with a long-time creative writing professor friend of mine about the writing he’s seen over the last couple of years, both in undergraduate and MFA Creative Writing classes. Things have changed from when I was growing up and studying literature. The books and drama and authors that we were taught back then were books pulled from “the literary canon.” The Epic of Gilgamesh. Oedipus the King by Sophocle
Cully Perlman
Dec 12, 20256 min read
How to Write First Drafts of Novels in Weeks or Months
The shortest time it took me to write a first draft of a novel is three weeks. That’s writing all day every day, including weekends. I get that way sometimes, where I have a lot to say about some topic or other, and the stars align, writing-wise. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it’s pretty special. It’s a magical feeling I get where I sit down, I start writing, and the writing does not stop. For anything. Not to watch a TV show or movie. Not to read. Not to do any
Cully Perlman
Dec 9, 202510 min read
5 Great Examples of Scenes in Novels
When we read fiction, we love a lot of it (if the book is well-written), but it’s always the scenes that we remember. The scenes are what’s visual for us, even above description, though the term “description,” when you’re first starting out as a writer, might trick us into believing that’s what we’ll remember, i.e., the things “described” by an author because they’re visual. Now, I’m not saying that that is always the case, but it pretty much is, at least in my view.
Cully Perlman
Nov 18, 202512 min read
From Poetry to Prose: One Writer’s Journey into Middle Grades Fiction
Before I was a teacher, I’d been a newspaper reporter, and before that, I’d been a neighborhood snoop. Some of my adolescent interests involved using police scanners and CB radios. I knew things about our town and neighbors that few teenagers would have cared about: who’d been arrested, where the latest car crashes occurred, whose house burned down. This acquisition of semi-dark knowledge eventually motivated me toward journalism, where I could use writing and investigation s
John Davis Jr.
Nov 11, 20254 min read
WRITING THE BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END OF a NOVEL
Two days ago, I completed another full edit of a novel I’ve been working on for 23 years (yes, 23—that’s not a typo). I have a beginning I sort of like. I’ve worked on it again and again for over two decades. The beginning of my novel, which deals with the mental trauma experienced by a young boy in a small town, trauma that naturally follows him through the rest of his life, including during WWII and upon his return home, starts out with a lot of violence. Things change.
Cully Perlman
Nov 4, 20257 min read
5 Motivational Writing Tips to Get You Back to Work
So, on this beautiful Friday (it’s beautiful where I’m at and looks to be pretty nice all over the U.S., though Tropical Storm Melissa looks like it’s becoming a hurricane), I want to share 5 motivational writing tips to get you back to work.
Don’t Edit While You Write. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard this one before, and you know what it means. But it doesn’t have to be a full-on, abandon that adverb that sticks out like a sore thumb sort of “don’t edit.” Take that thing out!
Cully Perlman
Oct 24, 20255 min read
Comparing the Narrative Structure of Nathan Hill’s The Nix and Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections
Another novel I’m reminded of is City on Fire, by Garth Risk Hallberg, as all three novels, in terms of scope and length (As a writer, I love me a good long book that’s captivating and just interesting all around; it’s a feat few writers are capable of), but also because, for me, it highlights the skill of the author, meaning they know how to write a long novel that keeps readers reading and not abandoning the book mid-read.
Cully Perlman
Oct 11, 20255 min read
Mastering Dystopian Fiction: How to Write a Dystopian Novel That Stands Out
The best dystopian novels do more than entertain—they provoke thought. Choose themes that matter to you and weave them throughout your narrative.
Freedom vs. Security: How much freedom are people willing to surrender for the promise of safety?
Individualism vs. Conformity: Why do some people rebel while others comply?
Technology’s Role: Does technology liberate or enslave?
Environmental Concerns: What happens when nature is irreparably damaged?
Cully Perlman
Oct 2, 20256 min read
Mastering the Craft: How to Write Crime Fiction*
Flat or stereotypical characters undermine the emotional impact of crime fiction. Develop multidimensional personalities with believable motivations, relationships, and flaws. Avoid clichés—such as the “alcoholic detective” or “evil genius”—unless you can bring fresh insight or depth. If you won’t want to go to the alcoholic detective, maybe she is a heroin addict or has a mental illness.
Cully Perlman
Sep 26, 202510 min read
Writing is a job. It's fun. It's trying. It's hard. But if you're committed to getting published, you have to put the work in. Come to Novelmasterclass.blog to get tips, read and watch interviews and book reviews, and learn how to write.
THE LOSSES
A novel
"I've just read Cully Perlman's hefty, ambitious, and radiant debut novel, The Losses, and I was flat knocked out. This is much more than a promising first novel by an inordinately gifted writer; it is a dazzling literary achievement. Perlman is an enchanter, casting his spell with lyrical prose, evocative details, and spellbinding characters. He explores familial chaos, reckless behavior, and tragic love with poise, savvy, and tenderness. What talent, what nerve, what a wondrous and spellbinding novel."
--John Dufresne
A RESOURCE FOR WRITERS
The best part about starting a novel is that you're in complete control. You decide who your hero is, what they're up against, and how they go about overcoming the obstacles you throw at them. Sign up now to receive weekly posts where you'll learn about Characters, Scene, Setting & Place, Dialogue, Conflict, Structure, Tension, and everything else you'll need to know to get you on your way towards completing that novel that's been in your head all these years!
Get Posts to my email
Join our email list and get access and updates on writing Tips & Tricks as soon as we post them.
bottom of page