Craft tips for authors: January 19, 2026

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:

• Coping mechanism thesaurus — creative expression: Becca Puglisi gives examples of how creative expression, as a way to process and handle stress and hurt, can both help your character and hold them back (Writers Helping Writers).

• Turning inner struggles into story power: Author Sarah Branson provides a framework for understanding how your character's internal conflict affects and is affected by the novel's plot (Writer's Digest).

• Why writers need a sense of wonder in fiction: K.M. Weiland explains that wonder isn't escape or denial in dark plots (or times), but rather that it's a way to move through the suffering — and that's why she encourages modern storytellers not to sink too deep into nothing but darkness (Helping Writers Become Authors)

• The sum of our longings: Author Julie Christine Johnson has an annual ritual of rereading a Jane Austen novel, as a way to make it through cold, dark December; this year, the process of reading Emma while drafting a novel brought her to some insights about characters' longings and how they affect a story (Writer Unboxed).