How to Write Your First Paragraph
You can mine the first paragraphs of well-written novels for four critical components that keep readers hooked.
The Secret Sauce to Being a Good Writer
What makes a good writer? Relentless internal drive, a thick skin for editorial feedback, and reading voraciously across many genres.
20 Reasons Why Everybody Should Write Short Stories
From appealing to short attention spans to offering no-fuss ways to play in another sandbox, short story writing has many benefits.
What You Should Know About Writing a Co-Authored Book
Writing a book with multiple authors requires trust, vulnerability and patience. But done right, group writing has some surprising benefits.
Writing Through the Impossible
When we’re dealt life-altering circumstances, how do we stay true to creative ambitions while finding a whole new way of existing?
How to Avoid Taking Edits Too Personally
When editorial feedback entails rebuilding a manuscript, one writer struggles with not taking it too personally.
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.
The Key Elements of Eye-Catching Book Cover Design
In an excerpt from her new book on cover design, Jessica Bell offers tips regarding how to utilize space and color for maximum effect.
When Should Writers Stand Their Ground Versus Defer to an Editor?
Is it best for unpublished authors to trust the editorial guidance of their agents and editors, especially when it comes to sensitive issues?
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.
When Is It Smart to Submit Your Work to a University Press? (You’d Be Surprised!)
When a Vermont author’s book was accepted by a New Mexico university press, she decided to ask its editors about the acquisitions process.
5 Ways to Use Community Marketing for Your Book
It’s possible to create connections with readers by utilizing some fun and interesting ways for them to interact with your book.
Why Plots Fail
An elaborately structured plot, without clearly-defined character goals and motivations, is like mapping a trip and calling it a vacation.
To Nail Your Book Proposal: Think in Synergies, Not Sections
A successful nonfiction book proposal addresses market demand and cements the writer’s authority throughout the entire document.
Why the DOJ v PRH Antitrust Trial Doesn’t Change the Game for Authors, Regardless of Outcome
The big dogs will remain the big dogs. Mega advances will still be paid, and it will remain challenging to make a living if you’re the average author (as it has been throughout history if you depend on book sales alone).
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.
Business and Creativity Go Hand in Hand: Q&A with Kern Carter
The Toronto-based novelist discusses his journey from self- to traditional publishing, marketing, the art and business of writing, and more.
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 Are Books Adapted for the Screen? Two Agents Demystify the Process
Two agents discuss the importance of retaining film rights, option types, author involvement in adaptations, and much more.
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.
If You Don’t Feel “Literary” Enough: Q&A with Nikki Nelson-Hicks
The author of “weird fiction” discusses why writers should never wait for permission, and the value of reading and writing for entertainment.
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.
3 Common Pitfalls in Memoir Queries
Memoirists have a lot of leeway in choosing a pitching strategy. But with freedom comes great responsibility, and it's easier to get into trouble when there isn't a tried-and-true formula to follow.
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.
Amazon Ads: Step-by-Step Walk Through for Beginning Authors
Amazon ads are a valued (and sometimes expensive) tool for authors and publishers to drive book visibility and sales. Here's a guide to getting started.
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.
Is Hybrid Publishing Ethical?
As in any industry, business ethics are about a commitment to transparency and integrity. Here’s how writers can select a trustworthy partner.
Getting Book Endorsements (Blurbs): What to Remember, Do, Avoid, and Expect
Seeking blurbs—quotes and endorsements—is a task that most writers absolutely hate. Here are some tips that can get you closer to a yes.
The Hybrid Publisher Debate: Do You Have the Right Mindset?
Not all hybrid and paid-for publishers are the same, and picking the right option depends on every author’s own thorough self-assessment.
Promote Your Book with Your Values
Thinking creatively about book events might allow you to align the things you care about with the time you spend on promotion.
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.