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What’s The Difference Between A Synopsis, A Pitch And A Blurb?


There are many tools a writer can use to describe or sell their story. Chief among them are three things: a synopsis, a pitch, and a blurb. In all likelihood, authors will end up writing at least one of each throughout their publishing journey for a book.

For many writers, knowing which to write for any given scenario can be tricky. Writers aren’t given a guidebook on the perfect publishing journey, so writing promotional content like synopses, pitches, and blurbs can be hard.

What is a pitch, really? What does ‘blurb’ mean? How do I write a synopsis? These are all questions plenty of authors face, so let’s answer them below.

What is a synopsis?

A synopsis is a complete outline of the entire story of a book, from beginning to end. This means a synopsis will contain spoilers. Every key point of the story needs to be covered in a synopsis. 

How long is a book synopsis?

Typically, a book synopsis will be at least 500 words. That might sound like a lot at first, but it will quickly feel too short when you realise you have to fit the whole plot of your 50,000+ word book into just 500 words.

Fortunately, the exact length for a synopsis can vary, depending on who is requesting it. Publishers, editors, award committees, and events managers will have their own length requirements for synopses.

Always check the length of the synopsis your recipient wants before sending anything through to them.

What is a synopsis for?

A synopsis is an extremely efficient way to convey the entire story of a book. It includes all the beats of the plot as well as mention of the themes featured in the story.

Genre should also be clear to anyone after reading a synopsis (unless the story itself contains a genre twist).

Most often, writers will put together a synopsis when trying to convince a publisher or editor to take on their book.

Within the ideal synopsis, an editor, publisher, or agent can find the book’s plot, character arcs, and other important points. Synopses help them decide if they want to invest time and energy into reading (and potentially taking on) the full manuscript.

Synopses showcase more than just a story’s plot – they also showcase the writer’s own skills. A synopsis shows that the writer fully understands their story. That they know their book so well they can pare its core down to just 500 words. 

A good writer can craft a synopsis that demonstrates their own skill with words, their understanding of their story, and the beats of the story itself.

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What are some synopsis examples?

A synopsis for an entire book will be 500 words or more, but for our examples here, let’s look a bit smaller.

Consider classic children’s stories that you might have grown up with. What would a synopsis for Goldilocks and the Three Bears look like? Perhaps something like…

A young girl, Goldilocks, is walking through a forest, when she comes across a house. She enters and finds no one inside. She finds trios of items (including bowls of porridge and chairs) and samples each, concluding that the third is her favourite every time. 

The final three items are beds and Goldilocks promptly falls asleep in the third. She is awoken by three angry bears – it’s their house. The youngest bear is particularly upset that his food has been eaten and his belongings disturbed. Frightened, Goldilocks flees the house and never returns.

Notice that a synopsis has no intricate details; it’s all tell and no show. This is deliberate. The purpose is to share the beats of the story. If the reader is still interested, they’ll go on to experience the story in full.

Let’s consider another short story synopsis, this time for Beauty and the Beast.

In provincial France, a young woman, Belle, desires adventure and wants to leave her small town. When her father goes missing, she finds him at the castle of a former young lord, who became a beast after being cursed for his superficiality. The curse can only be broken by true love. The Beast, full of rage, keeps Belle captive in exchange for her father’s freedom.

The two spend time together and form a bond. When locals try to drive them apart, they must fight to save each other, after which they confess their love. With this, the curse is broken and the couple live happily ever after.

How a writer writes their synopsis can differ for each story. It can even differ from writer to writer. What matters is that the overall story is clear to the reader.

What is a pitch?

A pitch, sometimes called an elevator pitch, is a big-picture summary of a book. A pitch should cover themes as well as plot, without going into details.

The pitch for a book should hook the reader and make them want to read more.

How long is a pitch?

A pitch should be brief – ideally under 100 words. Or, if you’re saying it out loud, only a minute or two. Keep in mind the term ‘elevator pitch’ – the idea comes from being able to pitch an idea in the span of an elevator ride.

If your pitch takes you longer than an elevator ride to say, it might be too long. Try cutting down; leave them wanting more.

A pitch should showcase the key details of the story a reader is likely to appreciate. Unique selling points, unexpected elements, and ideas that get caught in your brain are great inclusions in a pitch.

What is a pitch for?

A pitch is designed to capture the interest of an agent, editor, or publisher.

A pitch is not a summary of the story; it is not a synopsis. Instead, it is the central idea of the story – the question the story addresses or explores.

A pitch also includes why the specific audience should care about the story.

Perhaps the publisher is known for high fantasy stories. The genre of the story should be at the heart of a pitch to that publisher.

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What are some pitch examples?

There are many ways to pitch a story. Some people prefer an X meets Y pitch. The hosts of the Hey YA podcast from Book Riot mentioned some of their favourite ‘meets’ pitches, including:

Star Wars meets Fast and the Furious (Tracked by Jenny Martin)

The Hunger Games meets The Night Circus (Caraval by Stephanie Garber)

This type of pitch can also work with just one text and a theme or element your book adds:

Vampire Diaries meets a boarding school setting (The Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead)

This style of pitching can be very effective, because it very quickly communicates the ideas of your book. Your audience should know what your reference texts are, and they can get an idea of your book from that.

The ‘meets’ method does have the potential downside of an audience not liking your reference text and being turned off. Some authors prefer a more straightforward pitch – a few sentences outlining the ideas of the novel to hook a reader.

Recent #PitMad success stories use this formula a lot, since pitching on Twitter limits your character count. For example, Diana Pinguicha pitched her book A Curse of Roses in 2019 by tweeting:

Or there’s a combination pitch, as seen from Racquel Marie for her upcoming novel, Ophelia After All:

Note that specific details are rarely important here. Themes and characters are what drives the story, and what gets your audience engaged. Those are what you should feature in your pitch – and what you should send in a query.

Bonus: What is a query?

A query and a pitch often get confused, but they aren’t quite the same.

A query (or a query letter) is what you send to an agent or publisher when trying to sell your book. This will often contain a pitch.

The pitch in a query letter has a bit more room to breathe than an elevator pitch or a pitch on Twitter. You have an email and no specific word count (though don’t let yourself ramble)!

A query letter should contain a pitch of a couple hundred words, the word count of the complete manuscript, the genre of the manuscript, comparable titles, and your author bio.

The blog Query Shark, run by NYC literary agent Janet Reid, is a must-visit website for anyone trying to write a query. Authors send in query letters before sending them out to agents, and Query Shark posts queries (anonymised) alongside constrictive criticism and feedback.

What is a blurb?

A book blurb is the promotional copy that usually sits on the back of the book and is designed to draw in readers.

A blurb might be written by the author themselves, the publisher, another author who enjoyed the book, or reviewers. 

A blurb needs to indicate the genre and theme of the story. Tell readers if your story is fantasy; that way fantasy lovers know to keep reading and readers who prefer other genres can move on to find the right book for them.

A blurb needs to give an idea of the main plot, without giving anything away. A good blurb generates intrigue and interest.

Ideally, you want readers to wonder things like ‘And then what?’ or ‘How will the protagonist survive that?’

A blurb is not a synopsis, which is important to remember. It can be tempting to lay out finer details of the plot as a way to interest readers, but it rarely works. You want to create intrigue, not exposition.

How long is a blurb?

Typically, a blurb will be 150–200 words.

The length of a blurb is more flexible than other promotional materials, so blurb writers can make the form their own somewhat, depending on what the publisher allows and the availability of the blurb writer.

Established authors who have their own books to write may not have the time to write extensive blurbs for other books, no matter how much they love them. For these authors, a blurb may only be one sentence, or in some cases, just a few words. 

These kinds of blurbs or promotional quotes are rarer than the typical 150–200 word blurbs, and are often used in addition to a full-length blurb.

Self-publishing authors often write their own blurbs, so nailing those couple of hundred words is vital.

What is a blurb for?

A blurb needs to capture the attention of readers and draw them into the book. It will be one of the first things any reader sees when they come across a book, so it can do a lot of heavy lifting to interest audiences. 

A blurb needs to tell the reader what kind of story to expect within the pages. It also needs to feature a hook that makes a reader want to buy the book – a story element that captures attention and sticks in readers’ minds.

A good blurb leaves the reader with just enough information to be wondering and asking questions about the story. The only way to know more is to read the book itself!

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What are some blurb examples?

With all the responsibilities that fall on a blurb’s shoulders, plenty of writers find writing a good blurb stressful. Fortunately, there have been plenty of writers before us that have done the job well.

Take a look at the back of your favourite book. Was it the blurb on the back cover (or inside the jacket cover) that made you pick it up? 

Your personal library doesn’t have to be your sole source of inspiration. The blurb from Nina Verala’s Crier’s War is just one example of blurb that achieves all its goals.

Impossible love between two girls—one human, one Made. A love that could birth a revolution.
After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will.
Now Ayla, a human servant rising in the ranks of the sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family… by killing the sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father.
Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.
Set in a richly imagined fantasy world, Nina Verela’s debut novel is a sweepingly romantic tale of love, loss, and revenge that grapples with what it means to be human.

This blurb starts with a one-sentence hook and finishes with a quick summary of the themes of the book, with plenty of juicy content in the middle. 

From this blurb, a reader will know that the story features some kind of robots who have overthrown humans, and the story of two girls on opposing sides somehow falling in love.

With that, we have the genres (sci-fi, romance) and multiple hooks to leave the audience wanting to know more (How will this love story end? How will these two girls affect their world with their actions?).

Because both Crier and Ayla have been described thoroughly, we can assume they are both protagonists, probably with alternating chapters from their perspectives. We also know to expect some court drama and political intrigue, thanks to the Sovereign being mentioned.

In under 200 words, the blurb for Crier’s War has given us plenty of information about what to expect within without giving away plot details.

Your homework: visit your local library or bookstore, an online bookstore, or a database like Goodreads and start browsing various blurbs. Take note of any that interest you or catch your attention.

How to write a synopsis, pitch or blurb

Whichever promotional content you need to write, the most important thing to keep in mind is the audience.

Are you pitching to a publisher who needs the summary of your story stat? Or can you take your time as you pull in your next reader with a great blurb?

You may need to write several different synopses, pitches, and blurbs for the same book as throughout your publishing journey. Everything should be catered to your specific audience. The same pitch or synopsis won’t work for every publisher.

The best way to write the best synopsis, pitch, or blurb is to know your story inside out. The best promotional content is written by authors who know their books so well, they could give you a pitch for it right now, off the cuff.

Know your story, and you’re in the best position you can be.

10 Simple Ways To Hone Your Craft & Sharpen Your Writing Skills Today


Whether you’re writing fiction, non-fiction or something in between, approaching your writing as a professional requires a bit of strategy and a lot of tenacity.

Being a good writer isn’t something you ‘arrive at’ and tick off the To-Do list at the end of the week. Whether you’re an award-winning novelist or a just-starting-out dabbler, you should always seek ways to improve your writing skills

The good news is that this doesn’t have to be at the expense of pricey degrees or writing retreats (although there’s nothing wrong with either of those, if you have the time and the means).

Honing your craft and sharpening your writing skills can be approached through many simple but highly effective ways. Read on to discover 10 methods you can implement right away.

1. Start with (or brush up on) the basics.

Whether you’re just getting started with writing, or you’re a seasoned veteran, there’s no harm in revisiting some of the basics of genre, style, grammar and syntax.

Focus on the genre or format of writing you’re aspiring to or currently working on, and seek out resources to help you build a solid foundation of knowledge you can take forward into your writing practice.

This might be reviewing how long a short story versus a novella should be, understanding how character arcs work, or refreshing your grammar knowledge.

Every writer needs to know the basics of grammar – and sometimes just beyond the basics if they want to get playful and experimental with their writing.

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White is heralded as a complete essential for writers everywhere. Although the book itself is short, it’s a comprehensive resource on the effective use of grammar and other helpful topics many writers will benefit from.

Having resources like this to hand that you can study and review regularly is an inexpensive way to be continually working on your writing skills.

2. Learn the difference between active and passive voice like a pro.

Active voice means a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb. Passive voice means a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action.

Simple, right? Not necessarily!

Many writers still get tied up about which is which and when they need to use one or the other.

Honing your craft means taking core concepts like active versus passive voice and mastering them to a point where you can artfully play with them to create nuance in your writing.

Spending some time reading, researching and practising applying both voices in your work is a great way to develop your core skills.

3. Master the art of tenses.

Similar to learning the difference between active and passive voice, mastering the art of tenses is another great writing skill to hone.

There are three main tenses you’ll use as a writer: past, present and future. 

Each of these tenses contains four aspects: simple, perfect, progressive and perfect progressive. The perfect aspect uses the verb to have, while the progressive aspect uses the verb to be.

If none of that made any sense, you’ve just found your next writing lesson to spend some time with. Try getting started with this basic guide from MasterClass.

Image via Unsplash

4. Treat writing like a job.

In most industries, professional development and skills development for your role are actively encouraged. This is a great concept to take into your work as a writer.

Professional development could involve things like setting dedicated time aside each week not only for writing but for researching, reading and in-depth skills analysis

It could also involve joining professional associations (which are fantastic sources of knowledge and support) and getting along to a writing conference or two when you can, either in person or digitally.

All of these activities help you learn more about your craft and figure out the individual areas where you might need to develop or explore your skills further.

5. Analyse the writing you admire the most.

We all have favourite writers we enjoy reading. We might read certain works and find ourselves thinking, ‘I wish I could write like this.’ These are the books to turn to and analyse.

Turn a critical eye to the writing you love. What is it that you aspire to? Is it the character development, the use of metaphor, the ability to create a sense of place?

Pick the work apart, make a list of its best aspects, and use this as a starting point from which to focus on improving your own writing.

Ask yourself: what do I need to do next to develop my skills to this standard?

6. Join a writing group.

As John Donne ascertains, ‘no man is an island’. Sometimes the best way to become better at our skills is to hear from other people about them.

Writing groups are a brilliant way to meet other writers, get feedback on your work, and learn more about how you can develop your skills.

Sharing your work is an opportunity to see how other people react to it – and to see if your writing is delivering what you set out for it to do.

Do your readers laugh at the right moments? How do they react to or interpret your characters? What’s not working? What do you need more or less of? 

You’ll never know until you get feedback.

You can join a writing group in person within your local community or online via social media groups. A quick search should help you discover a treasure trove of potential.

7. Find a writing partner or mentor.

If a writing group doesn’t feel like your sort of thing, finding a critique partner or writing mentor could be the next best step.

A writing partner or mentor is someone who can get to know you and your work on a personal level and offer feedback and guidance on areas for improvement. 

This kind of input is invaluable for identifying any skills gaps and giving you a clear focus on how to proactively move forward with honing your craft.

Image via Unsplash

8. Attend an online workshop or short course.

Workshops or short courses are a great way to learn about a specific component of writing in more depth. 

Many online platforms offer classes and workshops for free or at minimal cost. There are also more in-depth programs that you can treat as an investment in your writing career.

Classes are generally run through writing centres in the local community, dedicated sites for writers, or at local TAFEs/community colleges, libraries and community groups.

A quick Google search should bring up opportunities in your local area. Aussies can also check out the Australian Writer’s Centre, which has courses on topics ranging from writing children’s books to editing your novel.

And don’t forget that Writer’s Edit has its very own suite of courses on novel writing, self-publishing, freelance writing and social media for authors!

9. Accept that there is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ first draft.

The fear of the blank page or of not ‘telling the story right’ often prevents writers from getting started with their craft.

But the truth is: you can’t improve your writing if you never write to begin with.

Accept that there is no such thing as the ‘perfect’ first draft and start writing anyway. Once you get words down on paper, you can begin the process of cleaning it up. 

Writing is an iterative process. You will learn as you go, and starting is the first step.

10. Take a break.

This one might sound a bit odd, but taking a break from your writing can be a vital step to honing it.

Allow your brain some breathing space to think about other things. Sometimes we are too close to our work and cannot see its flaws; we become precious about certain passages or characters.

Taking a break gives you the chance to gain some perspective about your work so you can come back to it at a later date – maybe a few days, maybe a few months – and rework it in new ways that improve it.

Image via Unsplash

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the many different aspects of writing, and to find yourself feeling lost as to how to become a better writer.

But some aspects of the craft will develop naturally as you keep writing: dialogue, character development, plot structure.

As you revise and edit, your writing will improve, and you’ll take those skills forward into your next piece of work. Over time, these skills will begin to feel more natural.

Honing your craft does require you to show up regularly for your writing practice, but it does not always require you to be writing. 

There are so many ways to sharpen your writing skills: from reading more to dissecting the work of writers you love, from observing others to seeking direct feedback.

As you make space for all these smaller developments, they will cumulatively lead to the steady improvement of your writing.

7 Hacks To Improve Your Creative Thinking


It can sometimes be a struggle to keep up the flow of your creative juices.

The reality is that this has become a struggle for almost everyone out there.

When it comes to creative thinking, regardless of the industry, niche, or position of our work, we all experience those moments when we feel stuck, demotivated and our minds have just hit a blank.

And no matter how hard you try, those ideas don’t seem to come out.

Not to worry, as in this article, we will be discussing simple hacks that can help you spike up your creative flows.

These hacks can help you change the way you behave and think. Your brain would enter a more creative mode.

It never ceases to wonder how just a slight change to your lifestyle can make a whole world of difference.

Here are seven hacks that can help you improve your creative thinking skills:

Hack #1. Move out of your ‘comfort box’

According to recent studies, people who sit outside the box often tend to come up with ‘out of the box ideas’.

Sometimes odd or new locations stimulate a person’s creativity. Even if you don’t work in a box, try to move your work to somewhere different.

Try out new working places like the park, the coffee shop, your porch, or you could even try sitting on the floor. Doing this could somehow spark up your creative juices.

Hack #2. Take breaks in between work

Take Breaks To Improve Your Creative Thinking

Whenever you feel stuck with an idea and feel like you have nowhere to go, what you need is a breath of fresh air.

Because if you try to force yourself to come up with new ideas, that would only lead to more exhaustion and frustration.

Stand up from your workstation, grab a coffee, take a walk to the vending machine, talk to your colleagues who are free, or look at the beautiful scenery of your office’s garden or the driveway.

Just do anything that would take your mind away from work for the moment. Take a break.

You might strike some inspirations at the most unexpected places, and you’d be surprised when you receive them when you’re not working.

You might even find most of your inspiration when cycling in the woods or chatting with an old friend.

Hack #3. Listen To Music

Listening to music has proven to help millions of people rekindle their creativity.

And this is because music helps stir up the right side of the brain even as you use the brain’s left side to work.

Thus, a whole-brain approach would improve your creative thinking. Most people would prefer heavy beat music, while others would want a piece of soft music.

The truth is, whatever works for you is fine. For instance, it has been proven that Mozart can tap into your creativity and ability and well as your ability to focus.

Hack #4. Try to change your working position

It is typical for most people to work while sitting at a desk in front of a computer.

To improve your creativity, you should change your position. For example, you can try working while reclining or while lying in bed.

According to research, people who lie in bed tend to solve problems quicker than those who sit.

If that doesn’t still work, you should try to stand.

Working on your feet is good for the health, and being upright while working helps the mind to generate fresh, new ideas, speaks up creative energy, and sustains your focus.

Hack #5. Get your ideas to list organised

Organise Your To-Do List To Improve Creative Thinking

Sometimes the stumbling block of your creative thinking could be too many ideas.

While having an array of ideas is a good move, it can also be a significant source of confusion.

You can make a list of all your thoughts because it helps. List any idea that immediately springs to mind and decide which one you think is the best.

It would be best if you ever held a pen and a little journal everywhere you go, so don’t miss the thoughts that come to you when you ride a bus, have lunch, read books or see videos online.

Hack #6. Make the most of your peak hours

You need to understand that some people are more productive at certain hours of the day.

Some people are more creative at the height of their emotions. Work your heart out at these unique moments and let your creative energies spill effortlessly.

Creativity can also be enhanced if you place yourself in a room or surround yourself with some songs.

This release of inspiration varies from person to person. It’s quick and easy to determine what time of day, emotion, or environment you should be creative. Just do what is working for you.

Hack #7. Have Fun with friends or colleagues

One proven way of generating ideas quickly is by having fun with your friends or colleagues.

It’s a beautiful time to open yourself to others’ thoughts, so you can make your ideas more cohesive.

The easiest way to do this is to listen to suggestions without prejudice.

Judgement even without hearing the whole explanation can inevitably lead to modesty and hatred within the group.

Besides, this kind of team-building aims to stimulate as many new ideas and solutions to each person’s input counts.

Conclusion

So there you have it – 7 hacks to improve your creative thinking skills.

It is expected that these hacks and techniques would help you come up with some of the most innovative ideas you would need in your life.

If you’d notice, these aren’t things you aren’t already familiar with. As simple as they seem, they are very effective and powerful.

One of the reasons many people rarely see results is the lack of consistency and perseverance in what they do.

You might not implement the seven, go over the list one more time and select whatever works for you and put it to good use.

How to Harness Your Perfectionism For Better Writing


Being labelled a perfectionist was once universally considered a badge of honour.

Countless highly successful people have proudly proclaimed their perfectionist tendencies, and it was long the classic “weakness-that’s-not-really-a-weakness” provided in job interviews.

But recent years have reassessed perfectionism as a strength.

More and more people have spoken about the damaging effect that pursuing perfection has had on their happiness, mental health, and productivity.

And writers, it seems, are particularly prone.

Fear of producing less-than-perfect work is cited by many as the main cause of their writer’s block, leading sufferers to quit — sometimes before they’ve even begun.

This might suggest that perfectionism is incompatible with creative productivity, but it doesn’t have to be this way!

There’s already plenty of advice out there for overcoming perfectionism, but I want to take a slightly different approach.

Instead of ways to battle against your perfectionism, I’m here to suggest some ways you can harness that perfectionism and use it to improve your writing, both in terms of quality and quantity.

1. Let being goal-oriented drive you — in a healthier way

Perfectionists are usually highly goal-oriented and will work hard to reach targets.

This might sound like a good thing, but it can be a real hindrance when you’re only looking at the big picture.

If you set yourself a seemingly insurmountable goal from the outset, not hitting it “fast enough” can quickly zap your motivation.

So instead of setting yourself the goal of, say, writing an entire novel, try breaking that goal down into manageable chunks: first planning your novel, then writing the first chapter, then editing it (because let’s be real, what perfectionist is going to write a whole draft without doing any editing?) and so on.

This way, you can tick off smaller-scale accomplishments to motivate you day by day.

By treating each step of the journey as an accomplishment in itself, you’ll begin to enjoy the process more, making it easier both to get started and keep going — and to produce good work overall.

2. Use your high standards to discern among ideas

Throwing mud at the wall and seeing what sticks might sound like a perfectionist’s worst nightmare.

However, sometimes mud is the only way to get the ball rolling on ideas.

By putting your perfectionism on pause, you can get the best of both worlds. Here’s how it works.

Tell yourself that you must come up with five ideas before you’re allowed to start developing a single one — even if you’re struggling to get one idea off the ground.

Sounds impossible, right? Most of us are going to be scraping the bottom of the barrel by the fourth or fifth idea. But this is precisely the point.

By setting yourself the arbitrary limit of five, you know that these ideas aren’t going to be organic, and that most of them are going to be throwaway filler.

By creating a controlled (and private) environment for “failure” — that is, not getting something 100% perfect right away — and embracing that “failure” as part of the writing process, you can foster a space for yourself to experiment and take risks with incredibly low stakes.

So where does your “perfectionist self” come in?

Well, it gets to choose among all those ideas, and select which one you’re going to continue with.

So if you genuinely come up with five great ideas, hooray! You’re spoiled for choice.

But if you don’t, the fact that you’ve already set that expectation for yourself will prevent it from feeling like a disappointment.

By giving “perfectionist you” the choice among several options, you can use that exacting critical eye in a constructive way, rather than a destructive one.

Scrapping the burner ideas will allow you to scratch that “this is awful, I’m throwing it away” itch — minus the part where you’re left at square one again.

At the end of the day, you’ll be left with a solid idea, and that’s always the biggest hurdle as you’re starting to write.

3. Channel that energy into a different activity

Perfectionists tend to be pretty driven and hardworking as a species.

However, that drive can quickly turn to burnout if you don’t set parameters for it.

Instead of working days and days trying to perfect a single piece, or agonising over the same sentence for hours, try and channel your frenetic writing energy into different avenues.

One excellent way to do this is through writing sprints. Set a timer for 20 minutes and push yourself to write as much as possible within that time.

A productive sprint will give you the rush of a job well done, while still being a manageable and self-contained task.

Writing faster may also help dull that part of your brain that insists on editing yourself as you go, easing you out of the mindset that everything needs to be perfect in the first draft.

After all, to quote Jodi Picoult, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.”

4. Embrace your inner critic when it’s time to edit

There is one time when being a perfectionist is a natural advantage, and that’s when it comes to critiquing.

A perfectionist’s meticulous attention to detail is very handy when you’re editing — especially for proofing and the finer points of spelling and grammar.

Read up on how to edit before you get started to make sure you’re focusing your efforts in the right direction.

But after that, let your perfection-seeking self run free!

A word of warning: you don’t want to over-edit (a classic mistake authors make).

There is such a thing as too much editing, not to mention that endless drafts can make your prose sound clunky and unnatural.

To sidestep this pitfall, consider setting yourself a time limit for the amount of self-editing you’re going to do before passing your work off to a beta reader or editor.

That way, you can make the most of your critical eye without going overboard.

5. Allow your desire to get better to improve your next project

At some point, every writer ought to (and should!) put their writing out into the world.

This can be especially stressful for a perfectionist, who may never be fully satisfied with their work.

But instead of letting that anxiety prevent you from ever putting yourself out there, try and embrace it as part of a growth mindset.

Even if you’re not 100% satisfied with your finished product, once you’re fairly confident you’ve done your best, just publish it.

You can use any dissatisfaction that you do have as a learning experience to fuel your next project.

That way, instead of experiencing the classic second book syndrome, you’ll be raring to produce even better work than before, equipped with the confidence that only a published piece of work under your belt (even if you weren’t completely happy with it) can give you.

Rather than holding you back, let perfectionism drive you in new ways!

So long as you’re kind to yourself and embrace the process, you can healthily channel your perfection-seeking tendencies — and reap the writing rewards.

How Is World-Building For A Short Story Different From A Novel?


World-building is essential for believable, relatable, well-rounded storytelling. It can help to create mood and atmosphere, build character, and evoke a powerful sense of place and setting.

Whether you’re creating sprawling imaginary lands in fantasy works, alternate realities in science fiction and dystopia, or the textured real worlds of historical fiction or literary narratives – it all involve world-building.

But is it possible to fit all of this in when you’re writing a short story, rather than a novel?

The short answer is yes. You just need to craft your world a little differently.

World-building in short stories vs. novels

In a short story, think of world-building like a taste test. In a novel, it’s more like picking an ice cream, then going back to ask how and where it was made, what its origins and history are, and whether you can have another one.

Does this mean the world of a short story should be less developed than in a novel? Or is there just a faster way to reveal the intricacies of the world to your readers?

SFF writer Ian McHugh wrote a neat little blog post on the topic, in response to Guardian article suggesting world-building for fantasy can’t be done in an independent short story. As McHugh asserts:

The world building needs of the [short] story are less, because you’re opening a smaller window than a novel, holding the reader and suspending their disbelief for a shorter time. And secondly, all you need to do is give the reader’s imagination something to work with, and that doesn’t actually need to take very many words.

McHugh also quotes Andrew Stanton, a screenwriter famed for such Pixar classics as Toy Story and Wall-E, who says storytelling is the well-organised absence of information – which is precisely how world-building works.

Your reader will do a lot of the work themselves in imagining a world from just a few hints. What’s more, they’ll find a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction in that process, as opposed to being spoon-fed the information.

So, we now know the main difference between world-building in a short story and a novel is that the short story world is glimpsed through a smaller window; a peephole, even.

For more insight on how this peephole can give readers the clearest, most intriguing and exciting glimpse into your world while also supporting your story goals, read on.

What counts as world-building?

A fully realised world is one that appears to extend beyond the pages of the story.

In Crafting Novels and Short Stories, Donald Maass explains that the world of narrative does not just mean locations in which the action is set, but also ‘milieu, period, fashion, ideas, human outlook, historical moment, spiritual mood, and more.’

In Maass’ words, world-building encompasses the following:

It is capturing not only place, but people in an environment; not only history, but people changing as the story unfolds. Description is the least of it. Bringing people alive in a place and time is the essence of it.

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While he is talking about novel-writing predominantly, these rules don’t change for shorter fiction.

In a short story, you just need to drop the readers straight into an established world, without needing to explain everything about it.

This means your world-building can’t be too complex, otherwise it will take away from the strength of the characters.

This doesn’t mean that your research can’t be thorough; it’s common to do much more work world-building behind the scenes than appears in the finished story.

Just make sure you don’t get distracted by building the world, and forget about writing your story!

If you enjoy the process of getting to know your fictional world in depth, World Anvil Worldbuilding is a fun, interesting resource for creating your own worlds. Otherwise, a pen and paper can be just as handy.

How much research you put into world-building depends on how complex and far from your present experience your world is, and on whether you’re a plotter or a pantser.

Perhaps you want to just see where the story takes you, and add in or fine-tune relevant and specific details to flesh out your world afterwards.

Choose the most relevant world-building details

Below is a basic list of things to consider when building your short story world.

Try to focus on those that are most relevant for your story, and remember, most of this information isn’t going to make it into the final edit. It’s just to help you extend the world beyond the pages of the story.

  • Geography
    • Describe the natural world.
    • Are there any locations of particular significance to your main character?
    • What’s the weather like? What season is it in your story?
  • People
    • Are their different races/species of people (or beings) in your world? How does this impact your main character?
    • What languages are spoken? Are there different dialects?
    • Think about social frameworks: class systems, familial structure, healthcare, schooling, etc.
  • Civilisation
    • What’s the history of your world? What historical elements are most pertinent to your character’s plight?
    • Explore the culture(s) present in your world and the practices (food and drink, ritual, behaviour) that come along with them.
    • Is religion a factor in your character’s life?
    • What do people do for fun in your world?
    • How educated is your character and why?
  • Technology
  • Economy
    • How does trade and commerce work in your world? Does this impact your character’s profession?
    • What kinds of transportation are common (or uncommon)?
    • What kinds of businesses would your character pass when walking down the street? (Are there even streets in your world?!)
  • Politics
    • Think about who makes up the government, or what kind of government is in power, if any.
    • Are there particular laws that have a notable impact on your main character?

Remember that just looking at one of these aspects alone might create the basis of your entire world.

If (as an entirely random, hypothetical example) a virus broke out in a small market stall in a busy pocket of your world, you can imagine how it would affect medical research, the economy, world politics, the way people interact (or don’t) on the street, the relevance of a particularly bitter winter, and so on.

Image via Unsplash

Just as you would for a novel, think about the aspects of world-building that are most crucial to your narrative and your protagonist.

Perhaps you’re focussing on a fantastical class system categorised predominantly by which planet a being comes from, or maybe you want to develop an inter-tribal trade system of goods and services inspired by real-world Native American trade routes.

If your story is focussed around a five-year-old and their desire to tag along on their older sibling’s adventures, perhaps these systems aren’t really all that relevant on first glance, and you’d do better to focus on geographical features or nuances of language.

But if the five-year-old makes friends with a stowaway Martian, or your world is one built around a child slave trade, suddenly these elements become extremely significant.

Focus on the perspective of your main character

Whether your story is written in first, third or even second person, you need to show readers your world from the point of view of your protagonist/s.

Rendering specific details as described and lived by your characters will truly make your world come to life.

To begin with, make sure you have a strong grasp of basic short story structure. Your short story should be built around one or two main characters, with only a handful of characters in total.

It can also end at the climax or have a very minimal (one sentence, even) resolution.

The protagonist needs to have a goal, face obstacles along the way, and ultimately experience change in the process of getting what they want (or not, or something in between).

If this structure is solid, world-building simply makes the protagonist and their quest more interesting and believable.

If the protagonist is in a world significantly different to our own, their plight should nevertheless be recognisable, garnering empathy from the reader as they’re given insight into the character’s inner journey.

In essence, a character’s wants and needs likely won’t be so different from our own. Someone living in the middle of the Amazon is not, at their core, completely different from someone living in a Swedish palace.

Don’t get distracted

Make sure that the world-building in your story serves a purpose beyond telling your reader that there’s a really cool and intricate backstory for your character and their entire ancestry, which you spent five weeks creating.

Lots of your best world-building will never make it into a short story, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t served its purpose in making the world appear richer and more believable to readers.

If you know the world you’re writing about inside and out, your characters’ actions and encounters will be more authentic and resonant.

As we outlined above, readers want to see and comprehend the world through the eyes of the character, not through the godlike eyes of the author.

Treat your reader with respect – don’t mansplain to them! They’ll have more fun that way, and stay engaged even after the story is over.

Image via Unsplash

Every word matters

A short story is, obviously and by definition, short. Much, much shorter than a novel.

This means you won’t be able to describe every aspect of your world in a short story – though, arguably, you wouldn’t even be able to do that in a full-length novel, and if you did, the world would be very boring.

A short story world can’t be quite as epic and sprawling as, say, the most famous example of world-building: The Lord of the Rings.

Unlike Tolkien, you won’t be able to include songs in your own made-up languages, explain the history and society of several races of characters, or spend entire chapters describing forests or swamps.

You might have snippets of this, though: a few words of a nursery rhyme hummed by a young character, slang thrown in when they’re speaking to their best friend, and two specific, vivid sentences about just how murky the river-water in the forest is this year compared to last year.

An effective strategy to minimise the need for exposition can be to set the story in a world not too dissimilar from our own, but different in significant ways, if that suits your story’s purpose.

Changing one tiny aspect of a world can effectively indicate to the reader just what kind of world they’re in.

Does your world have all the normal, recognisable accoutrements of outback Australia – red desert; scorching sun; hard, cracked ground – but also drones flying overhead?

Is it set on the Champs-Élysées, but when you get to the end there’s a huge crater where the Arc de Triomphe should be?

In a short story, even more than in a novel, every word counts. Just be careful not to interpret this as removing everything that’s not directly relevant to the plot.

Too much or too little world-building will equally result in a very boring story.

Rather than entire pages of description, or none at all, make your words doubly effective by including world-building that serves more than one purpose.

For example, you might have a character who watched his mother being poorly treated by the rich family for whom she was the housekeeper.

While this isn’t necessarily delved into in-depth in your story, you could show him reacting aggressively to being asked a question by an upper-class character, then feeling guilty for it.

This hints at lower-class roots, family history and societal norms, all without overwhelming the reader with information or backstory.

Creating mood and atmosphere, building character, evoking powerful imagery of place and setting – all of these are part of world-building as a whole, rather than being separate tasks.

Image via Unsplash

World-building: just a fancy word for ‘setting’?

As John Singleton explains: ‘Setting and locational descriptions establish the reality of a fictional world, give the reader a sense of authenticity, but they also carry some of the thematic weight of a story.’

This can be applied to world-building more broadly to support our argument that world-building does more than one thing at a time to help create a textured story.

If we only think of world-building as setting, we forget it isn’t just important to describe the location in which a scene takes place, but also the way characters interact with each other within that setting, and the way events unfold because of it.

In saying that, setting is as good a place to start as any, particularly if you find the idea of world-building overwhelming.

In scene-setting, you’ll likely cover things like cultural and social norms, and possibly even touch on the economy or systems of government, without even realising it. Use it as a springboard, if you like, towards wider world-building.

By adequately answering the following setting-related questions, you can be sure you’ve effectively given your readers a glimpse into a fully realised and believable world.

  • Place: Is there a strong sense of place? Does the setting feel like a mini-character in the story? Is there a notable atmosphere and mood to the story, evoked in part by setting?
  • Time: Does the reader get a sense that the story is set in a historical period, contemporary setting, some version of the future, or a fantastical world?
  • Characterisation: Are the characters’ actions and speech patterns in keeping with the place and time, even if fantastical? (As the author, you should be able to justify why characters are behaving and speaking in a particular way for authenticity, but you don’t need to explain it within the story.)

Remember, you’re creating a contract with your reader: your world-building needs to lead them to expect particular things from your story, and you need to answer some of their most important questions.

However, it’s okay to leave them to imagine and interpret other things as they like.

Once you’ve got a stronger grasp of setting, put yourself in the minds of your readers and ask yourself what questions are still left to be answered. This is where you can feed in more world-building detail.

Examples of world-building for short stories

Next time you’re reading a short story, see if you can identify and analyse the world-building within in it.

For some interesting examples of how world-building looks in practice, here’s an inexhaustive list of short stories and collections (with some novellas, novels and even flash fiction thrown in, because I just couldn’t resist), which tackle world-building in various ways.

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Black Juice by Margo Lanagan

Hands down, every story in this book is a stellar example of just how much world-building you can fit in a short story.

As a collection of fantasy writing for young adults, it’s proof that you don’t need to set a short story in a familiar setting to evoke emotion and sympathy.

The first (and most widely anthologised) story in the collection, ‘Singing My Sister Down’, is told from the perspective of a sibling whose sister has been sentenced to murder by tar-pits, a terrifying but obviously quite common ritual in a world with strict cultural norms that are only ever hinted at.

The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling

In case you thought world-building was a new concept, here’s an example from 1888, set in the real world.

An old-fashioned kind of satire, this story follows two con-men who set off into a remote area in Afghanistan, intent on tricking their way into becoming kings. It considers colonialism and the intersection of two worlds.

Down and Out by Ken Wharton

Using the five senses particularly well, this story revolves around members of an alien water-dwelling species.

It’s a great example of how just one aspect of world-building, where the world is different from ours in a singular, specific way, can shape the lives of the characters within it.

The World and Other Places: Stories by Jeanette Winterson

In this brilliant anthology, Winterson explores myth, legend and folklore, all of which lend themselves well to world-building.

With a more poetic and ambiguous writing style, ‘Turn of the World’, about four islands that loosely represent the elements, is probably the best example of getting away with world-building without too much specific, character-driven plot.

In this story, the islands of Fyr, Hydor, Aeros and Erde become characters in and of themselves, allowing us to reflect on our own, often flawed human values.

In Blue Lily’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

This Vietnamese-inspired space opera is set in the wake of an interstellar plague.

Aliette de Bodard is an example of a writer who immerses herself in research to make the world of her story come alive, as if sentient spaceships had always been the norm.

Sixth of the Dusk by Brandon Sanderson

We can’t talk about world-building without mentioning Brandon Sanderson.

‘Sixth of the Dusk’ is sometimes described as a novella (though it’s a short one), set in the same universe as many of Sanderson’s books, notably the Mistborn series.

It takes place on a fictional planet, on a dangerous island full of creatures with telepathic abilities.

By showing and not telling, Sanderson explores a culture on the brink of collapse due to technological advancement, showcasing the ways world-building can enhance the key themes of your story.

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Clade by James Bradley

This one is a bit of a cheat, as it isn’t strictly a short story.

However, the section titled ‘A Journal of the Plague Year’ (after Daniel Defoe’s 1722 novel) provides a good example of using simple neologisms to hint at a fully developed world, which is technologically slightly further along than our own.

The main character, Li, says of the boy she is babysitting: ‘He just reads and hangs out in Universe or one of the other virches’.

We don’t need to know what virches are; based on our own experience of boys playing computer games, and from the context of the rest of the piece, we can gather it.

We can imagine exactly what kinds of worlds a child might like to hang out in, and why they’re trying to escape from their own reality.

Black Moon by Eugen Bacon

This graphic speculative flash fiction, illustrated by Elena Betti, is a great example of being imaginative in your form and style of writing as a way of building your world.

More poetic than traditional prose, each short piece of fiction offers a glimpse into an unsettling but bizarrely recognisable in-between world, which forces us to reflect on ourselves and the world around us.

The Prussian Officer by D. H. Lawrence

An excellent example of world-building that emphasises the thematic plight of the characters, this story opens with soldiers marching in the oppressive summer heat, but ends with them exhausted, glimpsing distant icy peaks.

The emotional and psychological extremes experienced by humanity at war are reinforced through the oppressive, extreme contrasts in the weather and landscape.

Mongoose by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear

This ‘pest removalists in space’ story amalgamates the pre-established worlds of H.P. Lovecraft and Lewis Carroll.

It proves that fantastical beings with fantastical names help readers use their imagination to bring worlds to life – even if they’re ultimately provided with little information other than an overarching sense of impending doom.

This story is also a good example of rehashing pre-established worlds to build new stories.

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

If you need further proof that fan fiction isn’t a total waste of time, in this story H.P. Lovecraft is pastiched with Sherlock Holmes to reveal a world made most intriguing by its contrast between the distinctly recognisable, and the distinctly alien.

Lots of small, specific details are revealed through dialogue exchanges, with the Holmesian way of speaking an in-character way of getting around info-dumping and passages full of explanation.

The narrator’s first-person descriptions of each scene – including simple yet effective similes like ‘I looked down at the body, opened like a rabbit on a butcher’s slab’ – hint at the early 20th Century England that inspires at least one part of this alternate world.

But as soon as it is revealed that this body is gushing green blood, we suspect that something is awry.

Seventy-Two Letters by Ted Chiang

This steampunk, alternative history story immediately establishes setting, time and place in a way that entices readers to find out more about why this industrialised world has gone so wrong.

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A Soldier of the City by David Moles

Combining space and Babylonian historical fiction, this world is layered in an increasingly complex, very sci-fi-esque way.

It uses perspective in an interesting, mixed manner, setting some scenes through a series of security cameras and later following a soldier in service of a murdered goddess.

Get in Trouble by Kelly Link

Gothic discomfort and surreal scenarios create a perfect balance between supernatural (or at least slightly uncanny) world-building and emotional realism in this collection of stories.

The tales, often following female protagonists on the verge of adulthood, are set in a world not unlike ours, allowing Link to explore anxieties around social media and disconnection in a world meant to be more connected than ever.

Nightfall by Isaac Asimov

Written in 1941, this story creates a world that has never known darkness, because instead of one sun, it is surrounded by six nearby stars.

Sunset hasn’t happened in over two thousand years, and on this simple premise, we see what happens when night finally falls.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

Okay, so this one is a novel, but China Mieville’s ‘new weird’ subgenre of fantasy is extremely interesting to look at when studying world-building.

Perdido Street Station is a secondary world fantasy with Victorian-era technology, and a great example of making a city come alive. New Crobuzon, a gritty kind of police state, is textured, full of flawed characters, and wholly realised on every page.

It’s described as ‘this towering edifice of architecture and history, this complexitude of money and slum, this profane steam-powered god.’

Creating just one or two sentences this rich to describe your setting can help to make your own world as layered as Mieville’s.

An Uncertain Grace by Krissy Kneen

This is a novel in five parts, though each part is a kind of short story in and of itself, exploring a near future where the intersection between sexuality, identity and technology is complicated and provocative.

This is a great example of what happens when you apply a basic sci-fi ‘what if?’ premise and shape it through an intimate, deeply human perspective – even if, at times, that human is actually a robot.

Takeaway points

Ultimately, world-building should serve the story, and not the other way around. With that in mind, here’s a quick summary of what to consider when world-building for a short story:

  1. No info-dumping. This really shouldn’t be happening in novels, either, but sometimes in longer-form writing you can get away with it. Not in short stories, friends! Steer clear.
  2. Show, don’t tell. Try not to explain yourself, or have your characters explain the world around them. Show (through sensory description, action and dialogue) a great example of something, and move on. This will intrigue your readers and keep them thinking about your story long after they’ve finished reading it.
  3. Focus on the main character’s goal and unique perspective. This will make your story personal and memorable.
  4. Be specific. A small but highly specific detail about the world is more effective than broad brushstroke descriptions of its entire history and geography. Specificity will make your story stand out, and can also help you avoid stereotypes when you apply these small details to the ways your characters interact.
  5. Multitask. Use world-building to set the mood, build themes and character, emphasise conflict, describe setting and cultural or social norms, etc. In a short story, every word matters.
  6. Don’t get distracted. World-building makes your short story immersive and believable. It shouldn’t come at the expense of writing the story itself.
Image via Unsplash

The world-building of a short story can be just as rich as that of a novel. It’s simply a tighter, briefer, more controlled glimpse into the world.

It might leave your reader asking questions, or wondering what a longer glimpse through a wider window might give them.

Just remember that good world-building should ultimately still leave readers with a sense of satisfaction once the story finishes.

So, what are you waiting for? Go and create a world, and then tell us the tale of a character within it!

12 Of The Best 21st Century Poems You Should Read This Week


If there’s one thing recent times have taught us, it’s how vital human connection is.

Long bouts of isolation at home and social distancing have left many craving connections to their loved ones, their communities, and pretty much anyone.

Times like these remind us how powerful and nourishing the arts, particularly literature, can be to soothe us and help us find connection in a world of forced disconnection. Poetry is no exception.

Audre Lorde said it well when she advised: ‘Poetry is not a luxury.’

In her book of the same name, published in 1985, she goes on to say that poetry is:

“…a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action. Poetry is the way we help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.”

Poetry has the power to convey just as much in the silences between the lines as it does with the words it uses.

Whether you’re seeking connection, a moment to reflect, some inspiration for your own poems, or simply the joy of reading poetry, here’s a list of 21st century poems you can read this week to help you on your way.

1. ‘Text’ by Carol Ann Duffy

I tend the mobile now
like an injured bird

First published in Rapture (2005), Text eloquently explores one of the most twenty-first-century-esque activities: text messaging.

Presented in short, clipped lines, the poem replicates the impression of a text exchange, exploring how our communication has developed in an increasingly digital world.

Quiet and touching, it’s a reminder never to forget the importance of connecting in real life.

2. ‘When the Beloved Asks, “What Would You Do If You Woke Up and I Was a Shark?”‘ by Natalie Diaz

My lover doesn’t realize that I’ve contemplated this scenario,
fingered it like the smooth inner iridescence of a nautilus shell
in the shadow-long waters of many 2 a.m.s—drunk on the brine

Diaz’s poem is a beautiful ode to facing our fears, especially when building new relationships.

It’s an acknowledgement that we need to make conscious choices to be open and accepting of love when it is presented, despite the sharks that sometimes await us in the murky depths.

The poem is filled to the brim with metaphor and gorgeous, lyrical word pairings.

Image via Pexels

3. ‘On a New Year’s Eve’ by June Jordan

Infinity doesn’t interest me
not altogether
anymore

Published in Directed Desire: The Collected Poems of June Jordan (2005), this piece expertly conveys how small moments and observations can lead to a sense of ‘infinity’.

Children running on the pavement outside, the stretch of a lover’s arm; snatches of moments.

In our current world, all we have are small infinities to see us through, and Jordan’s poem is an intimate portrayal of discarding known infinities for something more.

4. ‘To the Woman Crying Uncontrollably in the Next Stall’ by Kim Addonizio

stayed up
to watch the moon eat the sun entire
ripped out the stitches in your heart
because why not if you think nothing &
no one can / listen I love you joy is coming

Addonizio’s poem is a gorgeous reminder that while there are dark days, there is also joy – and it’s always on its way.

This poem speaks to anyone who may be facing a tough time in their relationships. It’s a call to refocus on the self and those around us who fuel and lift us.

5. ‘Santiago’ by David Whyte

The road seen, then not seen, the hillside hiding
then revealing the way you should take,
the road dropping away from you as if leaving you
to walk on thin air, then catching you, holding you up

Whyte’s poetry encompasses the life and death of our existence, eloquently pulling together themes of humanity and presenting universal connections in his words.

‘Santiago’ is an intimate review of how we follow paths in life, how they’re often unseen until we traverse them, how we wander off track and find our way back with new lessons to grow and learn from.

It’s an ode to uncertainty – something most people (particularly writers) are familiar with.

6.  ‘Untitled [I talk to my inner lover]’ by Kabir

I talk to my inner lover, and I say, why such rush?
We sense that there is some sort of spirit that loves birds and animals and the ants— perhaps the same one who gave a radiance to you in your mother’s womb.

Kabir was an Indian mystic and poet, and although he may not be a 21st-century poet, some of his poems have only been translated in recent years; this is one of them.

Translated in 2o12 by Richard Bly, ‘Untitled’ calls us back to think about our relationship with ourselves and build a deeper connection with our ‘inner lover’.

This one’s for anyone holed up in isolation at home, and a welcome reminder that ultimately the best relationship we should forge is with ourselves.

21st century poems 2
Image via Pexels

7. ‘Holdfast’ by Robin Beth Schaer

We should hold each other more while we are still alive, even if it hurts.
People really die of loneliness, skin hunger the doctors call it.

A poem for our times if ever there was one, Schaer’s piece speaks deeply of connection and the importance of repairing old wounds and fractured relationships.

I love the reference to ‘skin hunger’, a term many people became intensely familiar with as social distancing went on, and our cravings for human contact intensified.

8. ‘Scientific Method’ by Paul Tran

Love, like me, is a beast no master can maim,
no dungeon can discipline. Love is at once master
and dungeon. So don’t underestimate me.
A little strange, this poem is told from a monkey’s perspective – specifically, a monkey who is the subject of Bowlby’s attachment theory experiments.
In these experiments, Bowlby interchanged the monkey’s real mother for a false one, either with a soft cloth or hard wire-framed body, testing whether they would still form an attachment despite the discomfort the ‘mother’ gave them.
It’s an observation of how love and connection are always far more complex than we anticipate.

9. ‘Eating Fried Chicken’ by Linh Dinh

I hate to admit this, brother, but there are times
When I’m eating fried chicken
When I think about nothing else but eating fried chicken,
When I utterly forget about my family, honor and country,
The various blood debts you owe me,

Possibly one of my favourites I’ve read recently, Dinh’s poem speaks to the dissonance that can often exist between our thoughts and actions, and how seemingly mundane things can lead to bigger events.

It’s a reminder of the connections that continue to exist, even when we’re not thinking about them consciously.

10. ‘In-between the Sun and the Moon’ by Pádraig Ó Tuama

In-between the sun and the moon,
I sit and watch
and make some room
for letting light and twilight mingle,
shaping hope

This piece is an ode to hope, seeking and sharing connection, and making sure we keep an open space (in-between the sun and the moon) for everything that might exist.

Ó Tuama is a celebrated Irish poet, known for his spiritually imbued words, and this poem is no exception.

Image via Unsplash

11. ‘Don’t Hesitate’ by Mary Oliver

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be.

The call-to-arms to grab joy when it’s presented with both hands is palpable in Oliver’s words.

She reminds us that no matter what, there is always something existing or occurring in the world that could bring us down – but in equal measure, there are always moments of joy to be found.

These are the moments we should always make time to find and embrace, no matter how small they might be.

12.  ‘Psalm 150’ by Jericho Brown

And shake it like a man who’s lost and lived.
Something keeps trying, but I’m not killed yet.

The final poem on this list is from award-winning Jericho Brown. ‘Psalm 150’ hits you right between the ribcage, going deeper than the elusive optimism of hope and into something far more visceral.

Brown’s poem is about resilience and hope, but they’re traits that have been built of grit and hard decisions. They are born of the ability to keep fighting, even when the challenges seem insurmountable.

Which poems would you add to this list?

This list is by no means definitive, and there is a wonderful breadth of poetry to be found both online, in print and within literary journals.

Our current global climate has influenced my selections here, and I hope they offer some small piece of hope and joy amidst the chaos.

Are there any poems you’ve come across recently that you feel should be on this list? Let us know in the comments!