by Vickie Gould I’m getting that deer-in-the-headlights look as a response again. When people tell me they want to write a book and they need help, [Read More]
Most writers have their own special “rules for writing,” even if they don’t talk about them. I find other writers’ rules fascinating, even when I [Read More]
For today’s prompt, write an other side poem. For some, the first thing that might come to mind is the afterlife. But the other side [Read More]
Your characters’ views of the world can do much more than simply define who they are. Here’s how to use character perspective to propel your [Read More]
Fandom as a familial collective of readers and writers has existed since at least the 1920s, when lurid pulp fiction magazines encouraged Lovecraft’s quirky circle [Read More]
After 2017’s Cambridge Companion to Irish Poets included only four women, 250 writers have agreed to boycott anthologies, conferences and festivals where women are not [Read More]
For the new author, it can be a big (and confusing) decision to decide between traditional publishing and self-publishing. But doubly confusing are the choices [Read More]
For many parents, back-to-school season incites a mad scramble to organize kids’ activities—from music lessons to math club and after-school tutoring. But a new policy report [Read More]
Neil Simon, one of the rare late-20th century playwrights who was a brand name for plays such as “The Odd Couple” and “Barefoot in the [Read More]
In 2011, I had a conversation with Ian Fleming’s nephew about what makes a book a thriller. We were both milling around in the aftermath of [Read More]
Recently, after years of being afraid to confront this reality, I accepted that I want to be a writer. Specifically, a YA novelist. I work [Read More]
I arrived at my very first writers’ conference and workshop, nauseated at the thought that the whole trip might be a huge waste of money [Read More]
Experiencing writer’s block can be both frightening and frustrating for anybody working on a project with a deadline fast approaching. Unfortunately, this inability to produce [Read More]
You wrack your brain, pulling, stretching, trying to extract an idea—one simple germ of a thought to get your writing adrenaline pumping—but nothing comes. Don’t despair [Read More]
Writing boxes, popular from the 17th century, provided the same pleasure as today’s laptops and custom word processors: to make the experience of writing pleasurable, [Read More]
Sending your query blindly is like playing pin-the-tail on the donkey. You might get lucky and get a request or two, but more likely you’re [Read More]
“All writers have this vague hope that the elves will come in the night and finish any stories.” Time for writing doesn’t make itself. This [Read More]
Almost every author has been told at some point, “You gotta get online and promote.” But only a small percentage of authors have actually been [Read More]
The publishing marketplace is flooded with thousands of new titles every single day, and readers are inundated with offers, messages, pictures, and pleas to buy. [Read More]
We all know what we know. The smartest among us also know what they don’t know. These are the classic “known unknowns” and “unknown unknowns” [Read More]
One of the great pleasures of browsing bookstores involves admiring the artwork — the cover designs on display, to be more specific. In the current [Read More]
Copyright © 2025 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes