Creative Planning for Authors and Poets
Creative planning is the act of mapping out where you are, where you want to go, and how you are going to process today’s challenges.
How to Read (and Retain) Research Material in Less than Half of Your Usual Time
Too many books and not enough time? One author learns that speed-reading print and audiobook versions simultaneously can enhance retention.
How to Turn an Essay into a Book Deal
In marketing, “proof of concept” means testing an idea for sales potential before going all-in. Here’s how to apply that to your book.
Earn Six Figures as a Writer With This One Weird Trick
Literary citizenship—freely sharing your knowledge with those in need—can reap substantial rewards for authors and editors.
What to Expect When You’re Expecting a Parade
All hail the newly published author—or not. When your book’s released but there’s no parade or marching band, here are some other takeaways.
First-Page Critique: How to Elegantly Reveal Character Motivations
Evocative scene-setting can be wonderful, but be careful of letting it get in the way of your story’s action and momentum.
How to Use Brain Waves to Enhance Your Writing Practice
Make the most of your writing practice by understanding which brain waves are active during the day and best support specific writing tasks.
Why I Prefer to Read Fiction without Lessons or Messages
As with abstract painting, fiction can find worth in technique rather than specific meaning—emphasizing not the What, but the How.
What It Means to Make Your Story Relatable
When author and readers have little in common, what makes writing relatable? A teacher examines Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird to find out.
Amazon’s Orange Banner: The Anticlimax of Achievement
The euphoria of hitting the top spot on Amazon can quickly give way to the realization that it hasn’t fundamentally changed much at all.
How Connected Settings Give Your Fiction Emotional Depth
To create unforgettable scenes, purposefully choose settings that trigger character emotions, intensify conflicts, or evoke specific moods.
How Can I Set Aside the Cacophony of Writing Advice and Just Write?
Writing advice is everywhere—newsletters, podcasts, workshops—and it can leave you feeling anxious and unproductive. Here's what to do.
How to Create Character Mannerisms from Backstory Wounds
To be vivid on the page, each character you write should display life-long emotional responses to wounds that occurred in their past.
The Flashback: A Greatly Misunderstood Storytelling Device
Flashback can be a potent tool for presenting essential backstory, as long as you apply it without interrupting the story’s forward momentum.
Get Started With Dictation: Choosing the Best Techniques and Tools for You
One author shares what she’s learned about using voice dictation to write in any setting: on a walk, washing the dishes, even lying in bed.
The Other Pitch Packages Authors Should Prepare
When soliciting blurbs or appearances on podcasts, its important to convey—in just a few lines—what you and your writing are about.
Is It Worthwhile to Write My Memoir, Especially If a Publishing Deal Is Unlikely?
An experienced author of advanced age considers the value of tackling a memoir with resonant themes but a challenging road to publication.
Media Training for Authors: 6 Ways to Become a Go-To Expert
Advice on getting your foot in the door as an on-air expert, from someone who spent two decades booking authors for TV appearances.
3 Ways to Use Theme to Deepen Your Story
Identifying and bolstering your story’s theme can develop a layered narrative that resonates with readers on conscious and subconscious levels.
How Can You Tell If You’re Starting Your Story in the Right Place?
To make readers care, you generally need to get three things on your novel’s opening pages before the inciting incident arrives.
Finding the Funny: 8 Tips on Writing Humor
This author didn’t think of herself as a humor writer until her readers told her otherwise, so she dug into what makes her work funny.
I Received Conflicting Advice on My Query Letter. What Now?
When a query letter receives conflicting feedback from professionals, how does an unpublished writer decide what to believe?
The Hallmarks of a Bad Argument
Many people argue using bad-faith tactics. Much more difficult is to engage the best ideas we disagree with, and explain our opposition clearly.
Does Your Multiple Storyline Novel Work? Questions to Ask Yourself
Whether you’re a plotter, a pantser, or something in between, a little planning can help prepare you for the challenges of writing multiples.
Lessons from 23 Years as a Self-Publishing Novelist
An author who self-published before the current tools existed offers some thoughts on the mindset required to succeed in this business.
How to Read to Elevate Your Writing Practice
Reading like a writer, focusing on the craft and mechanics on the page, will offer insight to how beautiful and meaningful novels are made.
How to Successfully Pitch Op-Eds and Timely Cultural Pieces
Writing an opinion piece about a topic in the news or in the zeitgeist is a way for even inexperienced writers to get the attention of editors.
How Smaller Organisms Adapt to Amazon in the Self-Publishing Ecosystem
An independent author wonders why two publishing services companies sell their clients’ books at different prices than Amazon.
How Can I Convince Editors That My Information Can Be Believed?
A writer claiming to have solved a well-known true crime case faces credibility hurdles when pitching his manuscript.
Explore the Fictional Character That You Present to Readers
Readers of your work create their own idea of you that is, in a sense, a fictional character. Explore voice by leaning into that fiction.
How AI-Generated Books Could Hurt Self-Publishing Authors
Self-publishing authors may end up as collateral damage in the rising tide of AI-generated books appearing at major online retailers.
Mining Your Memories: 3 Forms of Memory Every Memoirist Must Know
Understanding how your memories work, and what to do with the less reliable ones, will help you with the meaning-making process.
How to Land an Agent for a Graphic Novel
While artists don’t necessarily need an agent to get into comics, these tips will help graphic novelists seeking traditional publication.
Book Family Tree: A New Way to Think About Your Book
When choosing comp titles, try envisioning your book as an entry on a family tree to help identify both close and distant relations.
How to Deal With Rejection: Celebrate!
One author believes that celebrating your rejections is part of how you take your power back.
An Unconventional Facebook Ads Strategy for Authors
An expert discovered that the accepted best practices for Facebook ads were driving down results, so he forged a new methodology.
First Page Critique: How to Better Establish the Tone in Your Opening
When a book is being pitched as a murder-mystery with comedic undertones, it’s important to seed those elements in the opening pages.
I Would Rather See My Books Get Pirated Than This (Or: Why Goodreads and Amazon Are Becoming Dumpster Fires)
Amazon and Goodreads must take steps to combat the flood of AI-generated content that will mislead readers and damage author reputations.
Wattpad Authors Who’ve Gone From Page to Screen
Three past winners of Wattpad’s Watty Award discuss their experience of seeing their work adapted for the major streaming services.
Pay Yourself to Write
Today is the day you start building financial habits to acknowledge the inherent monetary worth of your writing.
Building Your Brand on TikTok Isn’t Curation, It’s Authenticity
As authors, how do we make social media work for us? Here’s how one history nerd used the power of TikTok to create a community of readers.
Decide Where You’re Standing in Time as You Write Your Memoir
Memoirists must make conscious decisions about time—the time frame of the story and where in time you are standing while telling your tale.
What Character Arc Isn’t
Character arc isn’t created from a patchwork of different issues. It’s one clear thread that runs the whole length of your novel.
The Peril and Promise of Writing in First-Person POV
Writing a compelling first-person novel requires creative ingenuity, extraordinary empathy, and a boatload of courage.
Why Preparing a TED Talk Makes You a Better Memoirist (Even If You Never Intend to Get on Stage)
If you’re struggling to shape life experiences into a story, consider key points that illustrate a common thread, as if preparing a TED Talk.
Pitch Yourself Before You Pitch Your Book
If your query letter isn’t standing out from the pack, consider leading with what makes you, not your story, compelling.
It Might Be Time for a Reality Check on Your Writing Goals
Goal-setting is much like the Alcoholic’s Prayer: accept what’s beyond our control, assess what we’re able to change, and know the difference.
The Forgotten Element of Story: The Author
Embracing the You in your story can feel frightening, but it’s the best way to craft a novel that is truly unforgettable.
Gray Space: Making Room for the Reader
When we let the reader fill in our intentionally left blanks, or “gray space”, we invite them inside our imaginary worlds.
How My Newsletter Helped Me Land an Agent and a Big Five Book Deal
While a newsletter might not sell your book, writing one can change your work for the better and help build valuable relationships.