Craft tips for authors: September 22, 2023

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: 

• Fall writing prompts: The season is about to turn over, and Dave Chesson has over thirty-five ideas to get the creative juices (pumpkin spice- and apple cider-flavored, of course) flowing (Kindlepreneur).

• White space: The end of summer and beginning of fall is back-to-school season, which in author Liz Michalski's case means empty-nesting; she reflects on what she can do, creatively, with that emptiness in her schedule and home (Writer Unboxed).

• Finding connections into imaginary worlds: Author Ella Carey talks about how she uses actual places or situations as stepping stones into the fiction she builds (Women Writers, Women's Books).

• Taking an injury from bad to worse: Angela Ackerman knows it can be tempting to keep piling on your character, to add that extra tension, but it can be more realistic for your plot to have a character's injury worsen than to add new ones (Writers Helping Writers).

• For an unputdownable book, try a cliffhanger or two: Author Jen Craven shares four ways to, in the middle of your novel, make the reader keep coming back to see what happens next (Writer's Digest).

• On fairy bargains and female power: Author Ava Reid discusses the long history of women in folklore who might begin as victims or at least subordinate, but who regain their power and can even find actual love in the supernatural creatures they encounter (Writer's Digest).

• How to write a play: Dave Chesson opens by emphasizing the differences in putting together a stage production versus a novel or movie, then shares tips on writing and publishing plays (Kindlepreneur).

• Three ways to use theme to deepen your story: Author, editor, and book coach Sharon Skinner uses the musical Hamilton as the illustrative example of identifying the thematic statement of a work and using it to power your novel (Jane Friedman).