Learn how to play “yes, and” with your inner critic to overcome writer’s block.
Read moreStaying Sane During Writing Hours
Maybe writing isn’t your full-time job (or maybe it is, in which case, go you), but when you sit down at your desk for hours at a time, working in solitude on this project that is only yours, I bet some of those same feelings—both good and kind of scary—creep up.
Read moreWorld Building: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places
As a kid, I loved poring through the dictionary, revisiting worlds I’d been to and worlds I hadn’t. Today, I like to reference it when I’m helping authors develop their own magical places.
Read moreHow Can You Tell if a Scene Is Working? It’s Child’s Play
As you’re mapping out new scenes or reviewing the ones you’ve already written, see if they pass this test.
Read moreLost Your Train of Thought? Five Ways to Get Your Novel Back on Track
You race through the first forty or fifty or sixty pages like it’s nothing, and you just know you’ll have a finished first draft in no time. Then suddenly, you stop. This story and the characters that were so clear at first have vanished, the words have dried up, and you have no idea where to go next.
Read moreMy Editorial Philosophy
I have high standards, and I’ll shoot you straight, but my goal is to guide and inspire each author I work with to meet those standards and create a manuscript she can be proud of.
Read moreWriters' Rituals
For writers, there’s a fine line between ritual that helps us out and ritual upon which we become dependent.
Read moreRevision Is Not Optional (And That Should Be a Relief)
Yes, the revision process is tedious and painful and frustrating. But isn’t it also liberating?
Read moreStorytellers: Tony Romano
Storyteller Tony Romano is the author of the novels Where My Body Ends and the World Begins (Allium Press) and When the World Was Young (HarperCollins), along with the short story collection If You Eat, You Never Die (HarperCollins).
Read moreIt's All Fun and Games
The trick to getting over your fear of the blank page? Stop taking yourself so seriously.
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