A doctor-turned-novelist's advice on writing medical thrillers

Posted on 09/28/2022 at 01:10 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

You can probably guess one of the most important tasks for a writer undertaking a medical thriller — to be...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

How and why to add beats to your novel's dialogue

Posted on 09/26/2022 at 01:28 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Most writing advice on dialogue centers, understandably, on what's being said. Author and educator Audrey Wick has some tips that...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

One writer's approach to handling COVID-19 in fiction

Posted on 09/21/2022 at 08:37 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Readers, or at least those who follow us on Facebook, weren't ready to see COVID-19 in books a few years...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: coronavirus / COVID-19, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

The must-have characteristics of a successful YA novel

Posted on 09/19/2022 at 11:03 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Remember being an adolescent? Everything was so ... intense. Especially when you were reading a book you loved. So imagine...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Writer's Digest, Writing advice, Young adult literature

How authors can write truly funny banter

Posted on 09/15/2022 at 12:07 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Witty banter is probably one of those things it's easier to write than to actually do. (At least that's true...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Dialogue, Romance, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

Home is where the horror is

Posted on 09/09/2022 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Ah, the weekend — a time to hang out at home and ... be scared out of your ever-loving mind?...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

3 ways to inspire a fascinating sci-fi novel

Posted on 09/08/2022 at 02:04 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A fascinating character is a benefit to fiction in any genre, for sure. But author A.G. Riddle thinks that when...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Science fiction, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

How your family's stories can become historical fiction

Posted on 09/07/2022 at 09:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

It's easy to focus on the big ways in which your ancestors have interacted with history — like, say, having...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Historical fiction, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

Seven ways to start a short story

Posted on 08/31/2022 at 09:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Award-winning author May-lee Chai finds inspiration for her short stories in a variety of places. And that's how she can...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Short story, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

Myths about language and the writing process to discard

Posted on 08/29/2022 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

If a belief serves you, then we won't discourage you from holding it. For example, a few commenters on Joni...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Language, Motivational, Writer's Digest