25 Amazing Break-In Stories on How to Be a Freelance Writer
How much time have you spent thinking about how to be a freelance writer? If it’s always on your mind, what are you waiting for? [Read More]
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The Difference Between an Author-Author and an Author-Entrepreneur and Why You Need to Know
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]
40 Writers’ “Rules for Writing”
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]
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 451
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]
The Perception Gap: Using Character Perspective to Propel Your Plot
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]
Catching Up With the Next Generation of Sci-Fi Writers
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]
‘A tipping point’: Women Writers Pledge to Boycott Gender Biased Books After Very Male Anthology
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]
The Self-Publishing Path: It’s Often Anything But “Self”
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]
The American Academy of Pediatrics is Telling Doctors to Start Prescribing Play
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, King of Comedy Playwrights, Dies at 91
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]
What Makes a True Thriller?
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]
Ask Polly: ‘Should I Quit My Day Job to Write a Book?’
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]
Wrestling With Imposter Syndrome
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]
Cure for Writer’s Block: Charlie Morley Shares His Techniques
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]
10 Fun Story Starters and Idea-Generating Activities for Writers
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]
Writers Have Always Loved Mobile Devices
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]
Researching Literary Agents: 4 Steps for Finding & Connecting with Agents
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]
How to Make Time for Writing
“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]
10 Things You Should Stop Doing On Social Media
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]
How to Write Attention-Grabbing Promo Copy for Books
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]
Unfolding the Unknown Unknowns in Your Writing
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]