Category: revision

line drawing of a stick figure saying 'high five!' against the artist's finger

It’s NaNoWriMo Season! What can we learn from it?

Though NaNoWriMo started out as an activity by novelists, for novelists, there’s plenty all writers can learn from the concept, no matter what genre we ...
Read More →
b&w image of male figure in Anonymous mask and tie, arm around a fierce jack o lantern

Banish the Bogeyman: How to Write a Back Cover You (& Your Readers) Will Love

Literally no writer I have ever worked with has relished writing the back cover. None of them anticipated writing their back cover with glee and ...
Read More →
woman seated at a table with her laptop, frowning in concentration. black and white.

What Writer’s Block Really Is—And How to Beat It

A lot of folks have this idea that writer’s block is something that simply happens to you. There’s also a misconception that writer’s block is ...
Read More →
black and white: a series of fingers making a box 'frame,' receding, Escher-like, into the distance

Tell Me What Your Book Is About: the Key to Writing, Revising…and Selling Your Book

The process of answering "What is your book about?” pays off hugely while you are writing, revising, and getting ready to sell your book.
Read More →

Get Focused, Get Good: Sprint Your way to Writing Success

Writers are subject to all kinds of advice. We like to give it, and others like to give it to us. One of the most ...
Read More →

The Creative Iceberg: What Your Readers See Isn’t Everything

Have you ever been annoyed, while writing, by how much time you spent researching a fact that made it into maybe a sentence or two ...
Read More →
two hummingbirds with blue bodies standing back to back

Know Your audience: Your Readers Are Your Partners

Last time we talked about using judgy readers to our advantage. Now, more about those readers…first in a series of follow-up posts. == In an ...
Read More →
an owl is judging you

Let’s Be Judgy Together: Making Opinionated Readers Your Allies

Who doesn’t love to have an opinion? The most captivating pieces of cultural criticism—including book reviews—are the strongly-worded ones. We immediately get something to respond ...
Read More →
the face of a digital clock spelling out the word TI:ME rather than numbers

A Time to Remember: Good Timeline Management for Any Genre

Certain things take time. Long journeys, a properly-simmering blood feud, forgiveness, getting to the South Pole, growing up, learning to play an instrument...and any true ...
Read More →
a whole lot of puzzle pieces scattered across a table

Writing As Process: What We Can Learn from Puzzles

In the beginning, you may have no idea whether any two pieces are going to fit together, so you need some basic way to create ...
Read More →
feel in colorful toe socks jumping next to a book in the air, with the caption "6 words to love" and "#LeanIntoYourYuck"

Choose Your Words with Care: The Role of Emotion in Writing

We writers can be a judgy lot. And we really enjoy ranting about our pet peeves (words included). Yet "good" words are entirely subjective. Talk ...
Read More →
iPhone lying on a macbook keyboard, showing app icons

Do Writing Apps Like Grammarly Mean You Can Skip Editing?

“But I’ve already put my manuscript through Hemingway [or Grammarly, or some other writing or grammar app]!” I get it. Editing can be expensive. In ...
Read More →
black and white closeup of a ballpoint pen on graph paper

The Pros and Cons of Writing Workshops

To pull from Dickens, it is a truth broadly acknowledged that writing is a skill best learned by doing. In fact, that’s the very meaning ...
Read More →
a tabby cat with front paws on full strettttttch, eyes clsoed

Literary Throat Clearing: How to Recognize & Make It Work For You

And just like all of us would rather everyone keep their phlegm to themselves and ideally as far away from us as possible, your readers ...
Read More →
signs in the foreground of a body of water read Do Not Feed Gators and No Swimming.

Why “follow your heart” isn’t always the best writing advice

Scrolling through Twitter one day this spring (yes, I know), I happened upon writing advice that went something like this: “When someone says [x] about ...
Read More →
two small chicks staring at each other on a field of short grass

In Praise of Flaws: They Not Only Make Us Human, They Make Our Writing Better

In writing, as in other parts of life, we may be tempted to make ourselves look good. But both life and reading continue to convince ...
Read More →
the word FEAR in black graffit letters on an orange lit wall

What Are You Afraid Of? Common Writing Fears

As Dune so famously has it (yes, that Dune), “Fear is the mind-killer.” Fear will get in the way of any and all writing if ...
Read More →