Posted on December 3, 2025 at 10:00 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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The back in time job: Authors Lee Kelly and Jennifer Thorne explain the comparison of writing historical fiction to pulling off a heist and why it's not just a funny bit for a craft essay (Writer's Digest).
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The case for shrinking your novel: Author and book coach Amy L. Bernstein shares five strategies for reducing your word count, while actually adding to your story, from her own experience with a deep revision that lopped off 8,000 words to start with (Jane Friedman).
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When should you hold the conflict?: Becca Puglisi identifies four types of places in your story where adding conflict will take away from, rather than add to, the story (Writers Helping Writers).
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Keeping score: Donald Maass invites you to consider who in your novel is serving as the "color commentator" of the action and what their observations can add to the storytelling (Writer Unboxed).
Categories: Behind the scenes