Storyville: Stop Pulling on Threads
Advice on how to stop destroying your work-in-progress by pulling on threads.
So You've Won NaNoWriMo — What Next?
After winning your first NaNo, you may be wondering what to do. Here's some advice.
Writing Advice for Non-Writers
By Peter Derk
So you have to write something. Maybe it's the first thing you've written since high school. Don't worry, it's not that hard. We'll get through it together.
Revisiting a Work You’ve Already Published: Things to Keep in Mind
Nick Kolakowski's revised trio of novellas, now titled "Love & Bullets", is out from Shotgun Honey this month. He has some advice...
Storyville: Evaluating Your Work in Progress—As Author, Editor, and Reader
It's crucial that you can read your writing as the audience, an author, AND an editor.
10 Things Wrong with All My First Drafts
By Jay Wilburn
No first draft is perfect. We all have bad habits and bad habits show up a lot. Here are 10 things Jay Wilburn seems to find in all his first drafts.
How To Read Between The Lines of Your Rejections
By Lisa Bubert
What are those pesky rejection letters actually telling you?
How to Approach the Second Draft of Your Novel-in-Making
As C.J. Cherryh wrote, “It is perfectly okay to write garbage — as long as you edit brilliantly.” Here are five tips on how to approach the second draft of your novel-in-making.
Revisiting Old Works-in-Progress: 5 Ways to Make the Most Out of It
Just because a story is old doesn’t automatically mean that it’s terrible. Here are five tips on how to make the most of an ancient manuscript that you might have once forgotten in a drawer somewhere.
Improve Your Stories By Eliminating Agendas
By Joshua Isard
The agendas with which you approach your story might be holding the narrative back.
Tackling the Dreaded Rewrite
By Repo Kempt
Here's five hard questions you need to ask yourself before tackling the dreaded rewrite.
Narrative Detour: Rediscover Your Novel
By BH Shepherd
A fun exercise to help you push forward when writing your novel becomes a slog.
Bearskin: A Fast Read 20 Years in the Making
The story of a fifty-four year old’s debut novel. Twenty-plus years of writing, revising, letting it sit, then rewriting and re-revising some more.
Don't Go Back: Avoid Spinning Your Wheels on Old Stories
While it's tempting to revisit old stories that never quite got off the ground, it can be harmful to your progress as a writer.
The Three Times Your Novel is Finished
Ask an author how long it took them to write a book, and the answer is always different. Here are three times a novel is finished, and how they each relate to author mindset.
The Second-Draft Slump: How to Get Through Edits
The first draft always feels like the hardest part to finish...until you start the second draft. Get through the second-draft slump with these tips.
The 12 Steps for Struggling Writers
If these steps can help alcoholics stay sober, maybe they can also help struggling writers.
10 Easy Ways to Improve Your First Chapter Right Now
By Repo Kempt
Learn how to identify and fix common problems in your opening chapter.
10 Easy Edits to Improve Your Manuscript Right Now
By Repo Kempt
A list of ten simple edits that can immediately improve whatever writing you're working on.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the Shitty First Draft
Sometimes it will be good, sometimes it will be bad, and sometimes it will be down right ugly, but writing a shitty first draft will give you a finished book.
How to Take Edits 101
I explain what editing is (it's not just proofreading!) and how to take edits.
The Five Be's to Being a Better Beta Buddy
By Leah Rhyne
Want to give a friend a beta read? Want to actually be GOOD at it? Read on for some tips!
Open to Inspiration: How Your Own Family History Can Feed Your Fiction
By Alex Segura
Acclaimed crime/mystery novelist Alex Segura talks about finding inspiration for his next book in his own family's Cuban history.
Storyville: How to Survive a Creative Writing Workshop
A guide to surviving your creative writing workshop.
