Posted on October 1, 2025 at 10:30 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
The publishing experts we follow have plenty of craft advice to offer.
Here are the ones that we thought were can't-miss for our authors:
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Can setup and backstory actually work in chapter one?: Donald Maass says the answer to this is almost always no, with examples, explanations — and exceptions — to support his answer (Writer Unboxed).
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Turn unexpected settings into horrific playgrounds: Author Philip Fracassi shares four ways that you can follow the oft-given advice of "subvert readers' expectations" and make the places where your tale of terror happens surprisingly scary (Writer's Digest).
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How to write intimate scenes without the cringe: Author Natali Simmonds begins by encouraging you to invest the same amount of thought and fear of judgment into sensual scenes as you would if you were writing a battle scene, then describes what those common approaches are (Writer's Digest).
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Keeping track of your story with maps and paper dolls: Author Lisa K Friedman isn't being figurative when she talks about making paper dolls to remind herself of her characters' attributes and posting notes about where they've gone (Writer's Digest).
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