abandon draft

You Don’t Have to Finish Every Story You Start

Sometimes that first draft is never going to become a final draft. That doesn't mean it's a waste, though.
Danger of writing groups

The 4 Hidden Dangers of Writing Groups

Writing groups can cause fatal frustration, deep self-doubt, and sometimes years of wasted effort. Learn the most common dangers of writing groups, and find out how to improve your group to give you more of what you need—and less of what you don't.
Image of pen and pencil inside journal by rafaelsoares, via Flickr

To Outline or Not to Outline Your Novel

Blogger Tania Strauss of NY Book Editors discusses whether you should outline your novel before beginning to write.
Delacroix, Faust Trying to Seduce Margarete (detail)

Perfecting Your First Page: 3 Tasks or Exercises

Over the weekend, I was a speaker at the Missouri Writers Guild conference (a terrific group of people and an