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Hundreds of Helpful Articles

Hundreds of Helpful Articles

We have created hundreds of articles on topics all authors face in today’s literary landscape. Get help and advice on Writing, Marketing, Publishing, Social Networking, and more. Each article has a Comments section so you can read advice from other authors and leave your own.

Six Ways to Ruin a Sex Scene in Fiction

Oh, baby! The sizzle factor in fiction has hit the mainstream and is currently at its all-time high. Gone are the days when readers were relegated to storage closets to jam in a chapter on their lunch break, and authors have even started to ditch...

Why Questions Are So Important for Middle Grade Novel Writers

Children are full of questions. From the time they speak their first words, children will persistently and constantly ask the annoying questions: why, what if, how come. Younger children ask the basic question of why, but middle graders are full of more in-depth questions, like what...

The Art of the First Line

The first line is a make-or-break moment. Most readers will hang in there for the whole first paragraph, or page, but like any first impression, you will not get a second chance. Over the weekend I binged on a Masterclass called James Patterson Teaches Writing,...

How Much Should You Write in a Day?

How much should you write in a day? Perhaps the question should read more like: how much do you write in a day? Or, does it really matter? For me, it’s more a matter of writing every day, not how much, not when or where,...

How Long Should a Chapter Be?

I think the shortest chapter I ever read was literally a blank page. You can’t get any shorter than that, now can you? I’ve also seen chapters that had only a single word, usually an exclamation, like “Help!” Certainly, the one-word chapter will catch the...

Finding Character Inspiration at Thrift Stores

Writers, artists, and creatives often find inspiration in the most unexpected places. One such treasure trove of imagination lies tucked away in the aisles of second-hand shops. These unassuming stores have loads of unique and often retro pieces with worn edges that give a character...

The Computer Ate My Manuscript: What to Do When Your Writing Disappears

There’s a universal nightmare for writers: the moment you hit a wrong button, or your computer crashes, and suddenly your manuscript is gone. You frantically search through the desktop recycle bin, hoping against hope that it’s been filed away, but it’s not there. Your precious...

Creating Your Own Home Writing Retreat

A writing retreat is an organized time away dedicated to an all-in immersion of productive creativity. If you've seen the movie Lonely Planet, Katherine and Owen are at a writer's retreat in Morocco. For me and probably the other 99% of the writer's community, that...

A Passion to Write and the Perseverance to Make It Happen

I was hooked from the first time I set pencil to paper. Once I learned enough words to construct a sentence, I was writing. Why writing? As the youngest of a large family full of storytellers, it was always difficult to get a word in...

Weaving Real Life Stories Into Fiction

My grandmother never talked about her daughter and her tragic death at the age of 24. My mother never mentioned her sister. I only knew about her because, apparently, I looked like her, and I was often called Jo after Aunt Josephine, instead of my...