Craft and mindset tips for authors: August 5, 2026

The publishing experts we follow have plenty of craft and mindset advice to offer. 

Here are the ones that we thought were can't-miss for our authors:

• Your premise is not your plot: In this excerpt from Hurling Words Into Darkness, Peter Gelfan differentiates premise from plot and explains how the former can become the latter (Jane Friedman). 

• The lie the character believes: K.M. Weiland takes this basic expression referring to the launchpad for a character arc and explores different ways of interpreting what the lie and the truth actually are, with illustrative examples from well-known fiction (Helping Writers Become Authors).

• When sex scenes belong in the narrative, too: Dave King unpacks how a focus on the emotional meaning of an intimate encounter can make an explicit scene feel necessary for the plot and/or character development rather than just prurient (Writer Unboxed).

• Pitfalls and best practices of omniscient POV: Michelle Barker says omniscient POV is the toughest one to write, not as discouragement from it, but as a reminder to choose it mindfully and to check for some common issues that it presents to authors (Writers Helping Writers).

• Writing emotional states (which machines do not have): Donald Maass defines an emotional state, as opposed to an emotion, and gives a primer on how to depict your character's emotional state in such a way that your reader feels it, too (Writer Unboxed).

• How to fact-check your science: Science communicator Marlee Baldridge shares tips on where to find experts, how to approach them for help, and, most importantly, how and why to credit their assistance in your work (Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association).

• Writing was never that hard for me, until ... : Melissa K. Melby describes her experience with writing a book after a series of concussions, in hopes that other authors facing a challenge of any sort will find encouragement and support in it (Women Writers, Women's Books).