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What’s between scenes is like mortar—necessary for your story’s structure, but not significant—and well handled using summary and spacers.

A little preparation—noting environmental details, character moods and motivations—will make a big difference in the way your scenes unfold.

Many successful authors maintain side writing careers, in less glamorous forms such as grant writing, copywriting, and ghostwriting.

“Making a scene” in public often happens spontaneously, but creating emotionally compelling scenes on paper requires considerable planning.

Your novel’s external and internal parts must be intricately woven together to create a work that truly resonates with readers.

Tips for avoiding stereotypes and tokenism, and presenting more interesting, complex, three-dimensional queer characters.

Beta reading for others can be a creative education. Lean into that, and your future books will be all the better for it.

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.

In times of sickness, cultural upheaval, and real existential threats, perhaps stories matter more than ever.

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.

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.

By spending as much (or more) time weaving a dynamic Story as you do creating a flashy Plot, readers will walk away feeling satisfied.

Here are some of the many ways that a journaling practice can serve as a laboratory for your writing, and your life.

Not only can a journaling practice sustain and inspire your writing projects—a commitment to it can inform and improve your entire life.

The more important and perennial a problem that a book addresses, the better the chances it will survive the test of time.

A story intro that shows internal trouble, signaling the beginning of a character arc, makes agents and editors sit up and take notice.

Flashback is a powerful tool for weaving in important backstory—but as with any power tool, using it well requires knowledge and care.

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.

Setting an idea or draft aside for “percolation” allows the brain’s subconscious to arrive at insights while we’re busy with something else.

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.

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 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.

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.