Guest Post

Shonda Rhimes’s Netflix series is a master class in amping up stakes and keeping viewers invested in the characters’ outcomes.

Today’s post is excerpted from How to Enjoy Being Edited: A Practical Guide for Nonfiction Authors by editor Hannah de Keijzer.

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.

Too many books and not enough time? One author learns that speed-reading print and audiobook versions simultaneously can enhance retention.

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.

Literary citizenship—freely sharing your knowledge with those in need—can reap substantial rewards for authors and editors.

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.

Make the most of your writing practice by understanding which brain waves are active during the day and best support specific writing tasks.

As with abstract painting, fiction can find worth in technique rather than specific meaning—emphasizing not the What, but the How.

When author and readers have little in common, what makes writing relatable? A teacher examines Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird to find out.

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.

To create unforgettable scenes, purposefully choose settings that trigger character emotions, intensify conflicts, or evoke specific moods.

To be vivid on the page, each character you write should display life-long emotional responses to wounds that occurred in their past.

Flashback can be a potent tool for presenting essential backstory, as long as you apply it without interrupting the story’s forward momentum.

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.

When soliciting blurbs or appearances on podcasts, its important to convey—in just a few lines—what you and your writing are about.

Advice on getting your foot in the door as an on-air expert, from someone who spent two decades booking authors for TV appearances.

Identifying and bolstering your story’s theme can develop a layered narrative that resonates with readers on conscious and subconscious levels.

To make readers care, you generally need to get three things on your novel’s opening pages before the inciting incident arrives.

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.

Many people argue using bad-faith tactics. Much more difficult is to engage the best ideas we disagree with, and explain our opposition clearly.

Whether you’re a plotter, a pantser, or something in between, a little planning can help prepare you for the challenges of writing multiples.

An author who self-published before the current tools existed offers some thoughts on the mindset required to succeed in this business.

Reading like a writer, focusing on the craft and mechanics on the page, will offer insight to how beautiful and meaningful novels are made.

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.