Lisa Cooper Ellison
Identifying your story’s turning point or “beats”, and the function each one serves, can help shape your material into a ...
The more faith you have in your story’s structure, the more you’ll become the safety net your reader is hoping ...
Playing around with different storytelling forms during manuscript revision can lessen anxiety and reveal new possibilities ...
Make the most of your writing practice by understanding which brain waves are active during the day and best support ...
Understanding how your memories work, and what to do with the less reliable ones, will help you with the meaning-making ...
Working hard isn’t necessarily a virtue if it masks the ways that we might be sabotaging our own paths to ...
Serving as someone’s beta reader doesn’t mean agreeing to read whatever a writer throws at you. It’s okay to set ...
Even lesser-known authors can experience legal issues if they don’t perform their due diligence while writing and revising their books ...
Good editors are expensive, so the best time for a full manuscript review is when you’re pretty sure your book ...
A successful nonfiction book proposal addresses market demand and cements the writer’s authority throughout the entire document ...
The early part of your memoir should reveal the short list of narrator flaws and problems you’ll resolve by the ...
Your book’s ending must reveal the story’s resolution. Once you know what you’re resolving, you can establish a clear path ...
Wanting to leave your writing group doesn’t make you a jerk. Departing with grace is an act of kindness that ...
The real reason writing groups sometimes fail us has nothing to do with the lovely people in them. The failure ...
Writing sustainably about trauma requires practicing moderation, focusing on meaning, and working in ways that limit your exposure ...
Writing about trauma isn’t like ripping off a Band-Aid. Here are some strategies for assessing whether you’re ready and proceeding ...
Will you tell your story in a linear, chronological manner, or use a more complicated structure? Here’s how to decide ...
Your memoir’s structure can reveal itself later, once the primary elements are in place. In the meantime, concentrate on scaffolding ...
True forgiveness can take years to achieve. That’s why memoirs take longer to write than novels. But it’s worth the ...
In writing memoir, internal voices—with competing interests—can emerge to inform the narrative. A rounded story is careful to balance them ...
Misguided feedback, which can damage your manuscript, often arises from a common mistake: asking the right question of the wrong ...
Finding the right editor or critique partner is important, but so is being mentally prepared for the feedback you’ll receive ...
Like story arcs, individual scenes also have shapes. Understanding yours can help you improve the ones that are falling flat ...
In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the top rung is where creativity happens—after our sustenance and security are met. Many of ...
Learn a few simple tricks to schmooze like a pro at your next writing conference—or at least operate like a ...