Sitemap - 2019 - Your Weekly Writing Exercise

Getting Away from Your Life to "Entrain" at a New Level: Benefits of a Writing Retreat or Class Away from Home

Interiority? How Much Should You Show or Tell about Your Characters' Inner Lives?

Can You Use Real Place Names in Your Books? Can You Fictionalize Details?

Finding a Writing Group or Writing Partner--From Afar (Online and On Demand)

Wisdom from the Irreverent Anne Lamott--on Writing and the Writer's Life

Should You Pursue Your Manuscript--Or Set It Aside--After Multiple Rejections (AKA Who Are You Writing This For?)

The Confusing World of Copyrights and Permissions--A Brief Overview for the New Author

On Hooks and Other Excellent Ways to Start Your Story

Four Favorite Tools to Organize Your Book Material--Before It Gets Overwhelming

Writing with Authenticity--Why It's Important to Foster a Unique Voice in Your Art

Organizing Your Book: How I Learned to Love Scrivener

Layers of Time in Fiction and Memoir: How Does a Writer Weave Past, Present, and Future into Scenes without Creating Too Much Exposition?

Dialogue Engages--But What If Your Memoir Characters Just Don't Talk Much?

Are Your Characters Too Nice, Controlled, Predictable? Here's How to Bring Out the Tension and Make Them Vivid (But Still Not Serial Killers)

Lessons from Margaret Renkl: How One Memoir-Writer Circled Round Family, Nature, and Loss

When a Writer Describes an Emotion You've Had (Without Quite Realizing It)--Power of a Book's Effect on Its Readers

Breakdowns and Breakthroughs--The Sine Wave of Book Writing

When Your Book Wants to Be Something More: The Persistence Required as Your Book Reveals Its Real Story

Great Resources for Studying Up: On How to Submit Your Manuscript to Agent or Publishers

How Do You Create Section Breaks--the White Space Pause--in Your Chapters or the Whole Book?

Is It Too Late? Successful Publishing After Forty, Fifty, Sixty?

Behind the Scenes: How One Well-Published Writer Structured Her Memoir

Bridging the Gap between Taste and Skill--Ira Glass Wisdom Revisited

Getting Great Blurbs for Your Book--Three Published Authors and an Agent Weigh In on How, When, and Why

The Importance of Comps (Competitive Titles) for Your Book and How to Find Them

What Is Narrative Voice and Why Does It Matter?

Beyond Good Writing--Two Agents Talk about What Else Matters If You Want to Get Published

Setting as Character--How to Create Emotion from the Setting in Your Book

How Your Character's False Belief Weaves through a Storyboard--Creating the Narrative Arc

The Task of Writers to Awaken the Fresh View of Life--Like Traveling to a New Place

Building Your Book Structure around Key Questions

Why We Procrastinate as Writers--A New Perspective

Root-Cause Analysis--the "Why" Question for Your Characters

Reading as a Writer--Why Reading Other Authors' Books Helps You Learn Your Craft

Creating Believable Characters on the Page--Tips for Fiction and Memoir Book Writers

How Does Your Book End? Here Are Some Great Ideas

Finding Your Writing Community-Soothing the Solitude of the Writing Life

Interior Monologue Pros and Cons--How Do You Integrate Thoughts, Feelings, and Talking to Yourself?

Warning: Writer's Message Ahead! The Dangers of Platforms in Fiction and Memoir

How to End Your Book--What Not to Wrap Up

Avoiding the Midbook Slump: Three Techniques to Keep Readers Reading

Establishing Yourself before Your Book Is Published: Submitting, Platform, and More

Location in Your Story: The Importance of the Inner and Outer "Container"

Revision Checklist: When You're Ready to Revise, What to Focus on First

Fantasies of the Writing Lifestyle: How to Get Real about What to Expect