Novel Ideas and Where To Find Them
Do you want to write a novel? You’ve come to the right place. This is part one in a multi-part series that will take you [Read More]
Advice from Writers
10 Ways to Overcome Lonely Writer Syndrome
One of the downsides to becoming a full-time author or writer is that, by its very nature, writing can be a very lonely business. Typically, [Read More]
The Book That I Haven’t Started Writing Yet Will Be the Best Book Ever
The book that I haven’t started writing yet will be so good that reviewers will claim that it’s the book they’ve been waiting for. When [Read More]
10 Reasons to Keep Improving Your Writing Skills
We can’t all be bestselling authors. We don’t all enjoy staring at symbols on thin sheets of trees or pixelated screens for long periods. It’s [Read More]
How to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish
To some extent, the process for writing a story is different each time. In the introduction to American Gods, Neil Gaiman quotes Gene Wolfe, who told him, “You never [Read More]
10 Reasons to Keep Improving Your Writing Skills
We can’t all be bestselling authors. We don’t all enjoy staring at symbols on thin sheets of trees or pixelated screens for long periods. So, [Read More]
» The Sensitive Author’s Guide to Rejection
I was like Robert Peary embarking for the North Pole—that is, if we can pretend for a moment that the publishing world is a vast, [Read More]
Judy Blume’s Advice for Aspiring Writers
Judy Blume needs no introduction. The author of your all-time favorite childhood novels (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Tales of a Fourth Grade [Read More]
Kit de Waal: ‘Make room for working class writers’
When Kit de Waal was growing up in 1970s Birmingham, no one like her – poor, black and Irish – wrote books. Forty years on, [Read More]
Embracing your complicated family and four other lessons on fiction writing from Amy Tan
One of the first things you notice about Amy Tan is the razor-sharp precision with which she talks. The American writer doesn’t use a word [Read More]
4 podcasts all self-publishing writers should listen to
If you’re looking for advice on how to be an indie author, podcasts are an incredible resource. If you’re not already a podcast addict then [Read More]
J.K. Rowling tells us all what her secret to writing is
Knowing full well that I run the risk of sounding like a cliché, J.K. Rowling’s life story is the stuff of magic. Before the first [Read More]
How to Find, Research and Evaluate Literary Agents •
Every author knows the value of an agent. None of the Big 5 publishers will consider a manuscript without a literary agent, for instance (although [Read More]
George Saunders: what writers really do when they write
A series of instincts, thousands of tiny adjustments, hundreds of drafts … What is the mysterious process writers go through to get an idea on [Read More]
5 simple reasons why writing is hard, really hard
Never mind doing it well. You sit there, or lie there, or stand there with a fancy crank-up desk, and punch letters on a keyboard. [Read More]
Improve Your Writing: 6 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer
Over the past couple of years, I’ve released dozens of videos and written dozens of articles on the topic of authorship. Some of those videos [Read More]
Writing the Sex Scene
Recently, I wrote a blog here at WITS about how to put sexual tension in your romance novel. But it felt like only half the [Read More]
16 Practical Tips For Anyone Who Wants To Write A Book
If you want to write, you’ve got to read. “I know it sounds weird, but if you wake up in the middle of the night [Read More]
The Raised Eyebrow Is the Lazy Writer’s Favorite Cliche
I have developed a severe allergy to hyperactive eyebrows in fiction. They have become writers’ go-to lazy shorthand for pretty much any emotion. In novels, [Read More]
Writing Rules from John J. Miller
As a professional writer, I’m always trying to improve. I’ve studied the work of the top writers. I’ve debated great opening sentences with colleagues. I’ve [Read More]
Talent, Shmalent! 8 Qualities More Important than Writing Talent
I understand why new writers want to be reassured they have writing talent. They don’t want to embark on the long road to a writing [Read More]