Finishing your first manuscript feels exhilarating. You celebrate by quickly sharing it with friends, convinced your novel was “good enough.” But then comes the critiques—glaring gaps, flat characters, unresolved threads. You are crushed. You’d mistaken finishing a...

I spent months telling myself—and everyone who asked—that I was "busy writing." My desk was overflowing with notebooks, post-its, and I was trying to get together notes I wrote to myself in Slack and other docs in my phone. From dawn until dusk, I shuffled papers,...

I once met an aspiring novelist at a writing conference who confessed to me that she was stuck in an endless loop of self-doubt. "What if nobody thinks my book is good?" she asked. It made me pause because, as authors, we often surrender our power, handing over our...

I once spent an entire weekend staring at a blank screen, painfully stuck on a chapter for my novel. The possibilities seemed endless—and that was exactly the problem. It wasn't until I stumbled across a scrap of research on haiku poetry that something clicked. Here...

Even with polished prose and meticulous plotting, authors in popular genres can feel lost amid countless similar titles. Your “unexpected edge”—the unique angle or perspective that only you can bring—lets you rise above the fray. Think of it as sifting through...

Many writers juggle half a dozen half-finished novels, short stories that peter out, and research notes for unwritten blog posts. The momentum fizzles. Yet finishing what you start—truly bringing projects to a polished end—unlocks confidence and consistency. Taking...

People rarely talk about the predictable. Instead, they share stories that spark delight, amazement, or shock. In a saturated market, a writer’s best bet for word-of-mouth promotion is to cultivate genuine surprise in every aspect—from plot twists in your novels to...

Writers often box themselves into a single genre or style, fearing the unknown. Yet small, bold experiments—short detours into unfamiliar territory—can spark enormous growth. Whether it’s testing a new narrative device or diving into an untried theme, these...

For authors aiming to keep their audience invested between releases, newsletters can be a strategic lifeline. Instead of repeating the same book promotions, try delivering fresh content shaped by the “scraps from last night’s dinner” concept: new data or lesser-known...