Category: How To and Tips
Staying True to Yourself after Publication
Erin Bartels There is no denying that for most writers, publication of that first book is the main goal, the thing that keeps you going when discouragement threatens to bury you. You want readers for that book you’ve worked on so hard for so long. All of your energy is channeled into making your work […]
Writing the Sequel, By Melissa W. Hunter
When my first novel was published in October of 2019, it was a dream come true. Ever since I had discovered a love of writing in the 8th-grade, I wanted nothing more than to one day see my name on the cover of a book. After so many years, this desire became a reality. My […]
On Silence, Space, and the Healing Power of Poetry
The value of loss is relative, like the difference between one, a million, and a billion. Do you know the folktale of the hand, full of cookies, in the cookie jar? Unable to free itself or enjoy the plunder until it drops its catch? A cookie or two, ok. Sharable. More becomes a trap. And […]
Quotes That Might Save You—or At Least Comfort You While You Write By Maddie Dawson
Maddie Dawson is the bestselling author of eight novels about love, crazy families, secrets, parenthood, and–yes, they have reasonably happy endings. Kind of like life. Her newest, A Happy Catastrophe, was released on May 25, 2020. We’re delighted to feature her today! Quotes That Might Save You—or At Least Comfort You While You Write By […]
Good Literary Citizenship: Finding My Way Back, by Kristin Bair
In 2015, just a year after my second novel, The Art of Floating, was published, I turned in my good literary citizen card and, for the most part, dropped out of sight. Up to that point, I’d been an exemplary literary citizen. Putting my BA and MFA degrees to good use, I taught writing anywhere […]
How A book Launch Became A Performance Piece
by Joyce Yarrow It’s interesting how we tend to compartmentalize our lives without thinking about it — professional vs. personal, friendships vs. business relationships, hobbies vs. work life— the list goes on. When I began writing novels it seemed natural enough to separate my literary activities from my music career as a singer/songwriter. After all, […]
How To Write A Romcom
How to Write a Romcom Writing a romcom is like baking cupcakes—mix up a bunch of ideas, add heat (sexual tension please!), and cook for as long as it takes you to write a book. When done, collapse in exhaustion and self-doubt. Share with your friends and family (depending on how many sex scenes you […]
It Takes a Writing Village
It Takes a Writing Village Densie Webb “It takes a village to raise a child” is an African proverb that quite literally means it takes an entire community of people to get the job done and to get it done with loving care. In today’s world, I think that’s more aspirational than actionable, but when it […]
My Writing Process Is Like Building a House, I Think
By: Jordyn Taylor New York City was in lockdown, and I needed to write something. It was the spring of 2020, and I suddenly had a lot more time on my hands than usual—not to mention anxiety. I decided that throwing myself into a new project—an idea I’d been kicking around for months— would be […]
Writing The Women and Girls of Sybelia Drive
The Women and Girls of Sybelia Drive by Karin Cecile Davidson There is the beginning, the occasion for writing the first words, the passages in which two young girls awake to “the sound of wreckage, of breaking glass. The sharp, close shattering of glass on a hard surface.” Let’s start with those girls. Florida girls […]
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