The advice may be well intentioned, but we tend to take it too far, translating it to mean “write only what you know.”
Read moreThree Reasons Shorter Can Be Better
While many tomes, from War and Peace to the last Harry Potterbook, are definitely valuable literature, it’s not their length that makes them great. And, conversely, well-done short stories and novellas can be incredibly powerful.
Read moreA Peek Behind the Curtain with Hustle Up: ATX Ladies Who Network
Hustle Up: ATX Ladies Who Network founder Jacky Lamenzo interviewed me (on video!) for a series on women who’ve taken the leap from side hustle to full-time hustle.
Read moreHow the #1 Rule of Improv Can Help You Get Along with Your Inner Critic
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.
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