Eleanor Whitmore, Author at The Contemporary Small Press

Spark Your Story With Dynamic Worldbuilding Prompt Guide

Eleanor WhitmoreMarch 15, 2025

Staring at a blank page trying to sketch a map or invent a fantasy culture can make you feel completely stuck. Spending weeks filling out dry questionnaires that ask for the average rainfall of your fictional continent rarely helps you write a better book. Discovering unique writing prompts for world building that focus on direct […]

20 African American Literary Classics That Still Matter

Eleanor WhitmoreMarch 13, 2025

African American literature has shaped how the United States understands freedom, citizenship, family, faith, race, gender, and identity. When readers ask me which African American literary classics to read, I recommend looking beyond novels. The tradition also includes slave narratives, memoirs, essays, poetry, drama, and speculative fiction. These books combine cultural influence with lasting literary […]

How to Edit a Novel Manuscript: A 9-Step Editing Plan

Eleanor WhitmoreMarch 11, 2025

Finishing a first draft feels like reaching a summit, but I have learned that the real transformation begins during revision. I do not start by fixing commas or polishing favorite paragraphs. I first study the story as a complete experience. This approach to how to edit a novel manuscript helps me protect strong material while […]

Guide on How to Find a Literary Agent for Writers & Authors

Eleanor WhitmoreFebruary 22, 2025

Staring at a gorgeous stack of travel journals and wondering how to turn your wild adventures into a published book can feel like standing in a foreign train station without a map. Navigating the publishing world is its own unique journey, but learning how to find a literary agent doesn’t have to feel like translating […]

Literary Fiction Ideas for Aspiring Authors Who Want to Write Meaningful Stories

Eleanor WhitmoreFebruary 21, 2025

Every aspiring writer has experienced that frustrating moment when every story idea feels either too ordinary or too ambitious. You might wait for a dramatic plot twist to appear out of nowhere, believing that’s what makes a novel memorable. Yet many of the books readers revisit years later aren’t built on explosions, mysteries, or impossible […]

Indigenous literature books by native authors to Read Now

Eleanor WhitmoreFebruary 15, 2025

The strongest Native writing does not treat Indigenous life as a relic of the past. It presents living communities, complex families, political struggles, humor, grief, horror, and imagination. When I look for Indigenous literature books by native authors, I want stories that let Native writers define their own histories, identities, and futures. This US-centered guide […]

How to Improve Creative Writing Skills: Better Stories!

Eleanor WhitmoreFebruary 14, 2025

Creative writing becomes easier when I stop waiting for inspiration and start treating it as a skill I can train. I have found that practice, close reading, feedback, and revision produce better results than talent alone. Learning how to improve creative writing skills is about understanding why a scene feels alive, why a character seems […]

Say Bye Bye to Blank Page! How to Beat Writer’s Block Fast

Eleanor WhitmoreFebruary 10, 2025

Staring at a blinking cursor while your creative energy slowly drains into the floorboards is a unique kind of torture. Facing a blank screen makes us feel completely isolated, as if every other storyteller on earth is effortlessly spinning bestsellers while we stumble over a single introductory sentence. Unlocking your creative flow does not require […]

Pseudotooth Review: A Dark Portal Fantasy That Bites

Eleanor WhitmoreJanuary 11, 2025

This pseudotooth review is for readers wondering whether Verity Holloway’s debut is worth its demanding, dreamlike journey. My verdict is yes, but only if you enjoy fiction that refuses to separate fantasy, trauma, memory, and bodily experience into tidy boxes. What Is Pseudotooth About? Image source: Goodreads Published by Unsung Stories in March 2017, Pseudotooth […]

Border Territory Place Waste Dissent: A Sharp Review

Eleanor WhitmoreJanuary 10, 2025

If you searched border territory for place waste dissent, the book you likely want is Place Waste Dissent by Paul Hawkins. The longer phrase is not its exact title. However, it captures the book’s core questions: who controls land, who gives it meaning, and who disappears when a lived community becomes an obstacle? I approached […]