Image: a photo of an open book in which are printed the words: "Wish for it, hope for it, dream of it, but by all means do it."

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.
Image: three hardcover books, stacked together and viewed from their top edges, are sandwiched between a pair of over-the-ear headphones.

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.
Image: a black and white photo of a woman walking down a massive indoor staircase on which a quote from Anish Kapoor is painted in large letters spanning many of the stair risers: "All ideas grow out of other ideas."

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.
Image: a person's hands holding forth a pretty gift box made of foil-stamped paper and bow-tied with iridescent ribbon.

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.
Image: a marching band in colorful costumes walks down an urban street, with blue and white bunting strung above.

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.
Image: a woman in a mermaid costume floats underwater next to sculptural ruins.

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.
Image: a flame burns atop a small, brain-shaped candle.

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.
Image: an abstract painting filled with large brushstrokes of red, orange, yellow, teal, blue, and purple.

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.
Image: The Golden Bridge near Da Nang, Vietnam. Amid heavy fog, an enormous sculpted hand supports the walkway which curves and disappears into the distance.

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.
Image: a bright green balloon rests on a floor, hovering precariously over a red thumbtack with its pointed tip facing up.

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.
Image: Miniature hand-painted figures of a woman and man, both wearing hiking gear, are set on a stark white background.

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.
Image: a small statuette of a "hear no evil" cherub holding its hands over its ears.

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.
Image: a broad scar is visible on the surface of a tree.

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.
Image: a wooden sign is erected amid tall grasses in a wilderness area. On the sign are the words "Future" accompanied by an arrow pointing to the right, and "Past" accompanied by an arrow pointing to the left.

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.
Image: a woman holds her phone in front of her face while speaking into it.

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.
Image: a hand holding a die-cut sticker of the word "Hello!" in handwritten script with a graphic of a smiley face beneath.

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.
Image: a gray-haired woman sits typing at a laptop computer.

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.
Image: in a room lined with bookshelves, a video camera and portable light are trained on a woman who's being interviewed.

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.
Image: an underwater photo of a diver heading into the depths.

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.
Image: A blue door is set into a yellow wall. Through that open door can be seen another blue door in another yellow wall, and on and on, into infinity.

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.
Image: a clenched hand with two googly eyed applied, to resemble a face.

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.
Image: a redheaded woman wearing a green dress stands in front of green curtains. In each upturned hand she holds two books, weighing them against one another in the manner of scales of justice.

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?
Image: a woman sits at a laptop computer with her hands in the air and a look of confused frustration on her face.

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.
Image: a person at a weaving loom loaded with bright yellow thread pulls the threads apart to reveal that underneath is a finished version of the complex, multi-colored piece they're making, used for reference.

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.
Image: an open laptop with a blank white screen sits on a step, flanked by decorative hourglasses.

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.
Image: a reader's hands hold a softcover book open. Some of the pages are flagged with sticky notes, including one on which the word "important" has been handwritten.

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.
Image: sitting at the edge of a diner-style countertop are a phone, a laptop, and a white coffee mug printed with the words "Everyone is entitled to my opinion."

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.
Image: On white paper is a simple drawing in permanent marker of a road forking into two paths. At the end of each path is a stack of coins, but one stack is twice as tall as the other.

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.
Image: two white sheets of paper peek out from a brown mailing envelope which is stamped "TOP SECRET" in red ink.

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.
Image: A book without words in it stands open on a gray background. The page on the right contains a series of irregular creases causing the paper to have a warped profile at its edge. A stark light shining against it from the right side throws a shadow onto the left page of the book, where the creased edge reveals itself to be the profile of a human face.

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.
Screenshot of Fire and Fury, an AI-generated book about the Maui fires by Dr Miles Stones, for sale on Barnes & Noble's website.

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.
Image: a triple-exposed black and white photograph of a woman's face, turned to left, right, and center.

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.
Image: an illustration by K. Woodman-Maynard of herself seated at her desk, painting spreads of her graphic novel, with her cat curled asleep beside her.

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.
Image: a large tree with many thick, gnarled limbs stands deep within lush, green woods.

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.
Image: a man wearing a conical paper party hat sits alone at home and considers eating a piece of cake, to illustrate the silver lining on a self-pity party.

How to Deal With Rejection: Celebrate!

One author believes that celebrating your rejections is part of how you take your power back.
Image: a series of white origami boats are in vertical-facing columns on a tabletop. A single blue origami boat breaks out from the pack, facing horizontally, to illustrate taking a different path.

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.
Image: a person's right arm in a black sleeve is palm-down on an expanse of unmown grass.

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.
Image: flames and smoke erupt from a garbage dumpster.

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.
Image: photos of Ariana Godoy, Claudia Tan, and Beth Reekles

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.
Image: a small piggy bank, painted bright red with white polka dots, sits on a wooden table.

Pay Yourself to Write

Today is the day you start building financial habits to acknowledge the inherent monetary worth of your writing.
Image: The words "To thine own self be true" are emblazoned on a wall above the stage in the auditorium of Conway Hall, London, England.

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.
Image: on a white wall are mounted dozens of minimalist modern circular clocks which have minute and second hands all pointed in different directions, but no numbers.

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.
Image: a gray ball of yarn sits on a white background.

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.
Image: a point-of-view photo of a man's hand pushing its way through tall green grasses, beyond which a body of water is barely visible.

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.
Image: a wooden chair sits alone on a brightly-lit theater stage.

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.
Image: nine colorful wood blocks are stacked atop each other in a 3 by 3 square on a tabletop. Eight of the blocks are painted with a white arrow pointing to the right but one block, which is breaking away from the grid, is painted with a red arrow pointing to the left.

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.
Image: against a blue sky, a woman stands with her head completely engulfed by a small cloud.

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.
Image: a woman is standing in a field of wildflowers. She holds a round mirror in front of her so that, where we would otherwise see her head, we see only the reflection of wildflowers.

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.
Image: a woman wearing blue overalls and a white t-shirt holds a small wooden picture frame to the viewer. The frame contains only empty white space where the picture should be.

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.
Image: brightly-colored graphic illustrating the concept that text on a laptop computer can morph, like a butterfly, into a physical book.

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.