Category Archives: Guest Post

There’s a good chance that getting these essential elements right are among the biggest challenges you’ll face with your novel.

Like story arcs, individual scenes also have shapes. Understanding yours can help you improve the ones that are falling flat.

The key to an author’s emotional wellbeing and continued productivity is creating a support system, and knowing which part to call on when.

The idea of universal story archetypes is not a new one—but its corroboration by an A.I. brings a new dimension to the debate.

There’s only one thing that any novel must do if it’s going to succeed, and that’s arouse the reader’s curiosity.

Third-person POV dominates the current publishing market, so it’s helpful to learn to navigate its many facets.

New authors are often confused about what level of editing they need. Here’s some insight into the differences.

When facing decisions in your writing, it helps to identify which questions have lower stakes and which ones are preventing real progress.

There’s nothing wrong with using multiple narrators in a first-person story, but it requires some serious background work.

One editor’s technique to add narrative tension, deepen characterization, and force you to think past the original boundaries of a premise.

When you’ve completed a draft but it’s falling a bit flat, it’s time for the Story Draft: creative work done technically.

As an author, it’s good to be a big fish in a small pond—but you’ll benefit even more if your pond is connected to a larger system.

Use of a big word can be beautiful, as long as it meets two criteria: it must be the right word and the best word.

Emotional truth is the lens that allows us to see ourselves in a story, resulting in a heartfelt connection in a fictional narrative.

If your middle’s lost momentum, check to see if your plot, characters, stakes and suspense consistently propel readers along the story arc.

Publication is elusive and in many ways out of your hands, but feeling seen is something that writers can offer each other right now.

Let go of description, extra words, and clever exposition. What’s left is a tightly crafted nugget of concentrated gold—flash fiction.

Authoring a memoir, the gift of hindsight allows you to invest moments with deeper meaning than they may have had at the time.

Like pruning the extra sprouts out of a garden, sharper and tighter prose makes the details you keep stand out.

The field is saturated, so many people wanting to tell their interesting stories. You wonder: Am I a good enough writer to keep doing this?

A daily practice can only succeed if we’re 100% honest about our doubts and weaknesses, because one area of denial can scuttle the ship.

Writing can be a lonely process, and it’s easy to feel stuck. Editors and coaches can help identify the common problems—and their solutions.

Experienced editors look for a story so engrossing the reader forgets that he’s reading—story in which the author’s voice seems not to exist.

To gauge your manuscript’s pitch-readiness, turn a critical eye to the query letter, synopsis, and first fifty pages.

Writing memoir won’t fix what’s wrong. But writing what you know will give you the kind of insight that begets a better sense of control in uncertain times.

Whether grappling with believable world-building or adherence to historical accuracy, these six tips will help you navigate this daunting genre.