Fiction University: Practical Advice for Beginning Fiction Writers
First, don’t do it, if that’s how you plan on making a living. Sure, we all hear about the fabulous successes of the J.K. Rowlings [Read More]
Writing Advice
25 Truths About the Work of Writing
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a writer whose latest post is scheduled to publish on Labor Day must, when considering topics, find herself [Read More]
Use This Pampered Freelancer’s Way to Tap a New Niche Market
The absolute quickest way to earn more opportunities, improve your authority, get to know key players in your industry, move up and earn more is [Read More]
How To Have The Courage To Keep On Writing
From my earliest days, I felt the inexplicable pull to tell a story, craft a scene, leave a reader wanting to know what would happen [Read More]
3 Tips to Help You Be a Super-Productive Writer
In this age of distraction, writers are challenged to find the time and means to be productive. Between juggling commitments and fighting our own attempts [Read More]
Grammar Mistakes: How To Avoid Looking Like A Greenhorn
Whether you’re just setting pen to paper or honing your masterpiece for imminent publication, good grammar is essential. All too often, sneaky mistakes make it [Read More]
How to Make Money as a Writer (Even if You’ve Never Earned a Dime)
Opportunities for writers are plentiful and wide-ranging, if you know where to look. From blogging and copywriting to editing and freelancing, there are jobs to [Read More]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
How to Overcome Writer’s Block Once and For All
Writer’s block is real. And it can destroy your chances for success if you let it. It’s that stuck feeling you get when you don’t [Read More]
Why I’ll Never Tell Anyone They Can’t Write
I was in a writing class once where the teacher decided to do a sentence-by-sentence critique of the first of page a student’s story. The [Read More]
The One Piece of Advice Every Aspiring Author Needs to Know
If you are one of the millions of people who aspire to be a published author, I have some writing advice for you: never listen [Read More]
How to Write a Book Without Losing Your Mind
Expert advice on ending procrastination and finishing that manuscript, dissertation, or other big project A few months ago, I promised some nice people in New [Read More]
Why Writing Helps You Figure Out What You Believe
Thoughts rush through your mental processes in a flash. In fact, many of your thoughts come and go in a hair of a second, never [Read More]