Updates from the Simon & Schuster-PRH trial and more

Posted on August 10, 2022 at 10:38 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The Alliance of Independent Authors has a lot of news that will likely make your eyes roll in its weekly...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors), Apple, Contests, Lawsuit, Publishing

Tips on writing that believable, yet unexpected, plot twist

Posted on August 9, 2022 at 11:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Believable, yet unexpected, is the gold standard for plot twists. But that, like many features of good writing, is easier...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: C.S. Lakin / Live Write Thrive, Plot / narrative, Writing advice

How authors can crowdfund for longer periods of time

Posted on August 8, 2022 at 4:46 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Author Brandon Sanderson got all the crowdfunding attention earlier this year with his record-smashing Kickstarter. But that's not the only...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors), The business of writing

The Kindlepreneur's guide to 11 important story structures

Posted on August 8, 2022 at 12:39 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A few weeks ago, the Kindlepreneur blog shared a handful of tried-and-true story structures in separate posts. We shared those...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Dave Chesson (the Kindlepreneur), Plot / narrative, Writing advice

Ask yourself these questions to help wrap up your nonfiction book

Posted on August 7, 2022 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Writing a book can feel like a never-ending task.  (Not to mention the revising — but that's a whole 'nother...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Final lines and chapters, Jane Friedman, Nonfiction

How to make middle-grade fiction feel realistic

Posted on August 6, 2022 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

"Write what you know," if taken at face value, would deprive us of so much beautiful fiction. But making a...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Middle-grade fiction, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

The ancient storytelling technique that's even more valid today

Posted on August 5, 2022 at 4:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

You may not know what to call it or how to spell it, but you're familiar with the storytelling concept...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Dave Chesson (the Kindlepreneur), Plot / narrative, Writing advice

6 writing "rules" that come with some caveats

Posted on August 5, 2022 at 12:45 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We all know that writing "rules" aren't for everyone. Some are simply not one-size-fits-all, while others are outdated or too...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Writer Unboxed, Writing advice

Tell us what your character feels, even if they can't identify it

Posted on August 4, 2022 at 1:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A commenter on Donald Maass's new post for Writer Unboxed wrote a better introduction to it than we could, to...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writer Unboxed, Writing advice

How to bring a place to life in your fiction

Posted on August 3, 2022 at 9:44 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

If you’ve ever experienced nostalgia for a restaurant, a vacation spot, a loved one’s home, or any other physical setting,...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: C.S. Lakin / Live Write Thrive, Setting, Writing advice