Passive Character
It's hard for readers to engage with a passive character, especially in the protagonist role. Here's why.
Middle Grade vs Young Adult
What's the difference between MG vs YA? Let's look at the key differences, including character age, word count, theme, and style.
Literary Agent Pitch Session
How do you catch an agent's attention during a pitch session? Here are some tips and tricks for crafting a successful pitch and making a good impression.
Kill Your Darlings
As writers, we all have perceived strengths we fall back on time and time again. But can over-reliance on your strengths actually weaken your manuscript?
What Type of Online Presence Do You Need?
What’s the right way to have an online presence? Both before getting a book deal and after, this is a common question for writers. After all, we often hear that it is essential to get your name, your face, your everything out there in order to make potential readers aware of you.
Writing for an Audience
If you want to pursue traditional publication, you need to think about writing for an audience. Here are some thoughts on work that's billed as "completely unprecedented"; following writing trends; and writing for "everyone from 0 to 99."
Getting a Book Published
There are so many paths to publishing--what's the best fit for your project and career goals?
Realistic Fiction in Today’s Market
Scanning the NYT bestseller list, you’ll see a multitude of realistic fiction books. Realistic fiction deals with life as it is now and modern problems that its protagonists may face. But what happens when reality, the very thing that gives realistic fiction its name, has inevitably changed?
Low Writing Confidence and Ways to Shift Your Mindset
Struggling with writing confidence? You’re not alone. Lots of writers, including myself, experience self-doubt. Let’s look at some factors that may impact your writing confidence, and some suggested mindset shifts to help you work around the self-doubt.
How to Blend Story Feedback Into Your Manuscript
How do you blend story feedback into your manuscript? This can seem like an impossible task—maybe you’ve received feedback that requires major surgery on your story. Maybe you’ve received conflicting feedback from different sources. How do you even begin?
Character Description in First Person
Character description in first person narration is tricky. We usually don't talk about ourselves in terms of our physical attributes. But readers appreciate having something to imagine when they're reading your story--so how do you make it sound natural?
Need Writing Inspiration? Try Adding Top Gun
We’re all in need of a little writing inspiration right now. With all of the tumult in our lives, putting effort into creative projects seems both more important and more impossible. How can we mentally move beyond the walls that confine us to create new and interesting work? How can we find writing inspiration, talking to the same people every day in the same spaces?
Character Reaction
I've taught extensively on the concept of interiority, which is fleshing out your character's inner life--thoughts, feelings, reactions, and inner struggle. We are talking about reactions today. Why are character reactions so important?
How to Use a Critique Group
To level up your writing, find a critique group. If you’re struggling to get past the first chapter, or you run out of interest midway through a project, a critique group could be essential. Getting feedback is invaluable, of course, but the benefits of joining a critique group don’t stop there.
Hiring an Editor
Should you consider hiring an editor? What are the benefits, and how do you choose the right one? Former literary agent and publishing insider Mary Kole answers all your questions.
Writing During Quarantine: Focus, and Create Bravely
How do we focus on writing during quarantine? Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your writing life during these challenging times.
Turning Anxiety Into Creativity
As the COVID-19 news around the world becomes steadily more serious, we wanted to share some tips and tricks to help you turn anxiety into creativity, and chaos into opportunity.
The Problem With Boy Books and Girl Books
What’s a writer to do? When you feel like you should write a “girl book” because it’s all you’ve written before? When girls are your audience, do you dare branch out and try to reach boy readers? What if that affects your sales? Your school visits? Your future?
ANNOUNCING THE GOOD STORY GRANT WINNER for 2020
The Good Story Grant aims to help two writers reach the next step in their creative journeys. This grant is open to writers of all skill levels, and working in all genres and categories. The award is $1,500 US, used however you’d like … as long as it has to do with writing and helps you tell your story.
Literary Agent Revision Request
If you're wondering about how to handle a literary agent revision request, how that informs your submission round, and what to expect when working more closely with an agent before an offer of representation, check out this video.