5 tips on forming friendships ... in middle-grade fiction

Posted on November 3, 2021 at 12:44 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Middle-grade books — or at least the books we read at that age — have a tendency to stick with...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Children's literature, Middle-grade fiction, Writer's Digest

Book coach: Is your plot really the problem?

Posted on November 3, 2021 at 9:10 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

In our personal lives, it sometimes becomes apparent that what we think is the problem isn’t actually the real issue...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Jane Friedman, Writing advice

How to time your novel's cliff-hangers

Posted on November 2, 2021 at 1:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

As a writer, you want readers to struggle to put your book down, no matter the genre. Enter the cliff-hanger...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Plot / narrative, Writer Unboxed, Writing advice

What authors should know about Scribd's current contract offer

Posted on November 2, 2021 at 9:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Writer Beware isn’t issuing a full-on warning about Scribd’s current push to acquire backlist books. Victoria Strauss is, however, cautioning...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Audiobook, Licenses, copyrights, and other legalese, Writer Beware / scams

Trust Ian McEwan when it comes to suspense and unease

Posted on November 1, 2021 at 1:41 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

For Writer’s Digest editor Amy Jones, the concept of trust — accurate and misplaced — is central to a good...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Thriller, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

C.S. Lakin: Here's one way your novel can show instead of telling

Posted on November 1, 2021 at 8:53 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

“Show, don’t tell” or “show, not tell” is one of the most common and basic pieces of writing advice out...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

Scared straight: A Halloween language tip

Posted on October 31, 2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Both of these words might strike fear into your heart and elicit more than a few gasps. However, “exercise” and “exorcise”...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Language, Writer's Digest

Memoirist explains how podcasting and writing helped her handle grief

Posted on October 30, 2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The specific details of Kory Shrum’s memoir, which began as a podcast, are hopefully not something you can explicitly empathize...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Joanna Penn, Memoir, Podcast

More writing lessons from Disney

Posted on October 29, 2021 at 1:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Kristine Kathryn Rusch (and many other self-publishing gurus) found important lessons for all writers in the #DisneyMustPay saga. And writer...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Motivational, Writer Unboxed

Kris Rusch: New-to-me is more important than new for authors

Posted on October 29, 2021 at 9:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

For decades, the focus of those promoting creative works — movies, TV shows, books, music — has been on pushing...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Marketing / promotion