Craft tips for authors: October 13, 2025

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:

• How to write a character readers will root for — and question: Author Trilina Pucci talks about the fun of — and reasons and methods for — writing a duplicitous character (Writer's Digest). 

• Creating magic from the mundane: Not everyone, real or fictional, lives a ripped-from-the-headlines life; author Laura Venita Green provides four ways that your novel can be bigger than the everyday lives of its characters (Writer's Digest).

• Creativity in brevity: Jim Dempsey describes the skills that writing concisely helps you develop and invites his fellow authors to share their tips for and discoveries from doing the same (Writer Unboxed).

• Coping mechanism thesaurus — embracing responsibility: Becca Puglisi unpacks how embracing responsibility, as a way to process and handle stress and hurt, can both help your character grow and hold them back (Writers Helping Writers).

• Keeping your book from confusing your readers: Here's a gentle reminder, along with practical advice, about writing and revising a novel that doesn't leave readers scratching their heads (Elizabeth Spann Craig).