Improve Your Writing
Using Weather to Convey Mood in Fiction
Your writing might soar to new heights when you make weather—and the words describing it—an important element in your characters’ lives.
Why It’s Better to Write About Money, Not for Money
Along with sex and death, money is a topic with evergreen appeal. So when you write about money, you put the odds of a breakout on your side.
You Have a Great Idea for a Story. Where Do You Start?
Some writers struggle with ever getting one word of their Great Idea down on the page, for fear of crafting an imperfect beginning.
Motivation Doesn’t Finish Books
Some writers can finish a book all by themselves, but even more of them have support systems, deadlines, teachers, exercises, instructions and help.
Write Small for a Bigger Impact
To write something that connects on a universal level, concentrate on specifics. Small truths are easier for readers to identify with.
Why Plots Fail
An elaborately structured plot, without clearly-defined character goals and motivations, is like mapping a trip and calling it a vacation.
Transforming Coal Into Diamonds: Telling Painful True Stories Through Fiction
Shifting from memoir to fiction allows painful memories to be expressed, while sharing the hard-won wisdom we’ve gained through experience.
The Art and Purpose of Subtext
Subtext, the real conversation hidden by surface talk, can deepen the story with unpredictable outcomes and emotion.
3 Ways That Writerly Grit Leads to Publishing Success
It takes grit to seek and implement qualified feedback, and to keep finding ways to improve a manuscript even after you’ve given it your all.
How to Get Published in Modern Love, McSweeney’s or Anywhere Else You Want
If you’d like to see your work in national publications—and get paid—tailor your essay to smoothly fit their voice and mission.
Persistence Pays the Weary Writer
A half-hour’s writing might yield only 500, 300, even a mere 100 words. But a half-hour’s writing over 7 or 8 months: a book’s worth of words.
Want to Build Tension? Encourage the Reader to Ask Questions
Anticipation—“Will it happen or won’t it?”—keeps readers on edge, and we can make use of their need to know by building scenes that cater to it.
Grow Your Writing Business by Stepping Away From Your Computer
Why one freelancer believes that spending too much time at a computer holds writers back from producing their best work.
Don’t Fall for These 5 Writing Myths That Can Set Back Your Writing
As writers, we often cling to certain myths that suck up emotional energy and reinforce practices that undermine the creative process.
Get in Front of Readers’ Doubts and Objections
When writing a prescriptive nonfiction book, anticipating doubts and objections lets your readers feel seen and keeps them on the page.
How Suspense and Tension Work Together to Increase Story Impact
Skillful authors weave suspense and tension to draw readers through stories on a taut thread of unanswered questions and constant frictions.
7 Questions to Reboot a Nonfiction Book You’ve Been Writing Forever
Focusing on your “just right” reader—instead of trying to convey everything that every reader might need to know—can help combat overwhelm.
Moving Between Scenes with Summary and Spacers
What’s between scenes is like mortar—necessary for your story’s structure, but not significant—and well handled using summary and spacers.
Good Scenes Require Specifics
A little preparation—noting environmental details, character moods and motivations—will make a big difference in the way your scenes unfold.
The Secret Side Careers of Successful Authors
Many successful authors maintain side writing careers, in less glamorous forms such as grant writing, copywriting, and ghostwriting.
The Building Blocks of Scene
“Making a scene” in public often happens spontaneously, but creating emotionally compelling scenes on paper requires considerable planning.
3 Things I’ve Learned About Storytelling (and Life) from Performing Narrative Nonfiction
One author’s tips for performing your stories in front of a live audience.
7 Questions to Design a Better Arc of Change for Your Protagonist
Your novel’s external and internal parts must be intricately woven together to create a work that truly resonates with readers.
Improve Your Own Storytelling by Analyzing Other People’s
One of the best ways an author can learn their own storytelling craft lies in what we already avidly do: take in other creators’ stories.
How (and How Not!) to Write Queer Characters: A Primer
Tips for avoiding stereotypes and tokenism, and presenting more interesting, complex, three-dimensional queer characters.
Why Agents Don’t Give Feedback—And Where to Get It Instead
Providing feedback to every pitch would leave agents no time for their existing clients. Instead, check your own first pages for weak spots.
Looking for a Beta Reader? Flip That Question Around.
Beta reading for others can be a creative education. Lean into that, and your future books will be all the better for it.
The Julie & Julia Formula: How to Turn Writing Envy Into Writing Success
Dedicated and even obsessive engagement with another creator’s work can open unexpected doors for your own writing.
Nonfiction Writers: Find Your External and Internal Why
Does my story matter? Is it good enough? They’re questions every writer asks, and the way to answer them is to connect to your why.
How a Little Psychology Can Improve Your Memoir’s Setup
The early part of your memoir should reveal the short list of narrator flaws and problems you’ll resolve by the end of your book.
Why Write When the World Is on Fire?
In times of sickness, cultural upheaval, and real existential threats, perhaps stories matter more than ever.
Your Journal as Time Machine
The pages of your journal can be a time machine, transporting you from the here and now to snapshots of your internal world, over the years.
To Nail Your Memoir’s Beginning, Stop Looking in the Wrong Direction
Your book’s ending must reveal the story’s resolution. Once you know what you’re resolving, you can establish a clear path for getting there.
The Vital Difference Between Plot and Story—and Why You Need Both
By spending as much (or more) time weaving a dynamic Story as you do creating a flashy Plot, readers will walk away feeling satisfied.
Not a Journal Person? Post-Pandemic Might Be the Perfect Time to Start
Here are some of the many ways that a journaling practice can serve as a laboratory for your writing, and your life.
Is Journaling a Waste of Writing Time?
Not only can a journaling practice sustain and inspire your writing projects—a commitment to it can inform and improve your entire life.
Why Frankenstein Still Sells 40,000 Copies a Year
The more important and perennial a problem that a book addresses, the better the chances it will survive the test of time.
Tell Your Story with 3 Tarot Cards
The imagery and symbolism in a tarot deck can help an author achieve clarity on character and story arcs, internal and external journeys.
How to Gracefully Leave Your Writing Group
Wanting to leave your writing group doesn’t make you a jerk. Departing with grace is an act of kindness that furthers your development and the friendships you cherish.
Why Your Amazing Writing Group Might Be Failing You
The real reason writing groups sometimes fail us has nothing to do with the lovely people in them. The failure is due to a mismatch between what you need and what the group offers.
The Secret Ingredient of Successful Openings
A story intro that shows internal trouble, signaling the beginning of a character arc, makes agents and editors sit up and take notice.
Weaving Flashbacks Seamlessly into Story
Flashback is a powerful tool for weaving in important backstory—but as with any power tool, using it well requires knowledge and care.
Children’s Dialogue: They Don’t Talk Like Adults
Children aren’t miniature grownups. When writing a story with a child character, take time to really listen to how kids of that age talk.
The Value of Percolation
Setting an idea or draft aside for “percolation” allows the brain’s subconscious to arrive at insights while we’re busy with something else.
What Your Writing Is Training You For
To survive and be happy in a creative career, focus on WHAT you’re doing and WHY—and have faith that everything will work out in due time.
13 Ways to Freaking Freak Out Your Horror Readers
For horror writers, here are some ways to frighten a reader so badly that they text someone at midnight saying, “You have to read this!”
What If Your Memoir Is Middle Grade?
What makes a memoir suitable for YA or middle-grade readers isn’t shying away from tough topics but approaching them with a child’s eyes.
If You Can’t Stand the Sight of Your Own Blood, Don’t Step Into the Ring
It’s difficult yet important to develop enough confidence in your work that you’re not sunk every time someone dislikes it and says so.
You Are Not Your Traumas. But Here’s How to Write About Them
Writing sustainably about trauma requires practicing moderation, focusing on meaning, and working in ways that limit your exposure.
How to Write a Thought Leadership Book
Defining your why, who, what, and how is the start of writing a powerful thought leadership book that conveys your vision and impacts lives.