Forget pantsing or plotting — focus on planning the whole publishing process

Posted on 09/25/2020 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Writers are often asked, either by fellow authors or fans, whether they’re pantsers or plotters. But when it comes to...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Motivational, Writing advice

Writing historical true crime? Check out these research resources

Posted on 09/22/2020 at 11:18 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Research is, of course, key to any type of historical fiction. But those of you writing about historical true crime...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Historical fiction, Writing advice

How to develop your writing style

Posted on 09/21/2020 at 09:00 AM by Guest Author

View post titled How to develop your writing style

Adopting a unique writing style can give you confidence, help you stand out, and more. Here’s some insight into how...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Language, Writing advice

Check these three areas for weaknesses in your novel's draft

Posted on 09/16/2020 at 03:05 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Being as close as you are to your novel, it can be tough to identify what exactly needs to be...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Jane Friedman, Writing advice

Tips for writing compelling and realistic dialogue

Posted on 09/08/2020 at 11:18 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We’ve all been at a loss for words (some of us more often than others). How about your characters? Do...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writing advice, Zara Altair

Editor: Authors should stay out of their stories

Posted on 09/03/2020 at 12:09 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A recent post in our RSS feed offered advice on how to avoid rejection, as an author. Often, we don’t...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Writing advice

The average word count for novels in the top fifteen fiction genres

Posted on 08/22/2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We’re guessing that the average reader thinks in terms of page count and not word count. But we’re also guessing...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

C.S. Lakin: Why and how to choose powerful settings for your scenes

Posted on 08/13/2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The town in which we attended college was, objectively, not an interesting place: 18,000 residents (counting generously), few of the...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

Writers' advice to other writers, in a nutshell

Posted on 08/07/2020 at 09:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Journalist and writer Amitava Kumar, years ago, began asking authors he met at events to sign copies of their books...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: The New York Times, Writing advice

A primer on middle-grade versus young-adult books

Posted on 08/05/2020 at 11:34 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Pinning down your genre isn’t always straightforward when you’re writing for adults. But when it comes to writing for a...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Writing advice, Young adult literature