Here’s 5 reasons why you should use writing prompts on a regular basis, no matter where you are at in the writing or publication process.

Whether you’re going the traditional route or self-publishing, you’re probably going to run into book advances either on your book contract or on third party contracts. So here are the bare bones of terms so you can make the best decision for your publishing journey!

When putting the final touches on your story, most people focus on the font for the cover–which is really important! But what about the internal book font?

Listening to all the writing advice out there, so much is focused on making your writing fast-paced, but boring scenes are actually a vital piece of the puzzle to making your story successful. Let’s talk about it.

For those of you writing sci fi and fantasy, one of the key questions you had to ask yourself when creating your world was—what should you do about any alien or foreign language? And this is a huge—and sometimes tricky—topic in the writing community.

A great debate in all storytelling is where should your story start?

There is no right way because every story is different and has different needs.

But one of the most popular solutions is to start your story with an action scene! 

So let’s discuss the different types of action, the pros, and the cons.

Most of your goals are most likely about writing or finishing a book. Which is an amazing goal. And a big goal. But it can be daunting, especially once the newness of the goal or the book idea wears off.

So the biggest thing you want to keep in mind is why you want to do it. What is driving you to write a book? Why that story?

If you are a fan of this channel, you’ll know we talk a lot about identifying your story genre, being familiar with it so you can either follow or bend genre expectations. Making sure you are giving the reader what they want and able to market your story correctly to get your book to those demanding eyes and ears.

But within this, there is a new term on the rise — Microgenres. 

Previously a popular term mostly in the music and movie community, the book world is now adapting it for their purposes as well. So what is a microgenre?

Let’s discuss!

Reading comparable titles is a core piece of advice given to authors at almost any stage in the publishing process – whether it is about writing, querying, marketing, selling, etc. 

Almost always one of the steps is to read and be familiar with your comparable titles.

But rarely do we talk about what that means or actually explain how to read comparable titles – how to read books as an author instead of as a reader.

So this week we’re going to dive into how to evaluate comps and read like an author!

Showing versus telling is a huge discussion topic in the writing craft community.

And rightfully so. It is an integral part of getting your book to connect with your readers, getting them to feel what you want them to feel, and understand what you need them to understand. 

And it is something that authors struggle with no matter where they are at in their career – new or 50 books in.

So let’s talk about what those terms mean, as well as how to show AND how to tell – because both are vital to the balance of a story – and go through some examples to demonstrate the difference, so when you get the inevitable “show don’t tell!” feedback in your edit, you’ll know exactly what to do next. 

We’re quickly coming up on the new year—a fresh start and a time when everyone is excited to plan new goals, new habits, and make next year the best year yet.

But to start 2022 off right, you first want to take a look back at 2021.

So this is going to be a two part post: this week, we’ll talk about how to evaluate your previous year, what to look at, what to consider, and then next week will be all about taking that information and making realistic, achievable goals.

So let’s take a look at your 2021! And as an added bonus, if you are curious, at the end of the video, I’ll go over some of what I found out in the review of my 2021. Including how many books I read, which is always a big question I get asked.

So let’s dive in!

Last week, we talked about questions you should ask yourself to review your 2021, giving yourself a good idea of where you are at now. The good, the bad, and the in between.

So now we get to move on to the fun part – creating goals for 2022!

Writing a book is a long process, but publishing a successful book can be an even longer one.

"You can either be a genius or you can be patient."

This quote from James Clear comes from one of his 3-2-1 emails, and while I’ve yet to read his title Atomic Habits (it is on my TBR!), I thoroughly enjoy his weekly thoughts. His full quote is:

"I rarely have good ideas.​ To overcome this limitation, I think about one topic (like habits) for an unreasonable amount of time. Then, I revise, revise, revise until only the best stuff remains. It’s slow, but it works.​ You can either be a genius or you can be patient."

While James is not specifically talking about writing or publishing, he certainly could have been.

Skipping over the obvious connection to writing and editing in general, let’s talk about publishing.

Dialogue is an ongoing conversation (Ba-dum-dum) between authors and editors because it is one of the trickiest aspects of writing.

These are my top 10 rules for writing great dialogue – the code I live by when I do my editing, when talking with my authors, and even on the odd occasion I find myself needing to write dialogue.

In honor of the recent New Year, let’s talk writing goals. Specifically, creating realistic and achievable writing goals.

How much should you aim to write in one day? How often should you write? What happens when you fall behind? Below I’ve outlined the steps on not only how to create achievable 2021 writing goals, but how to build healthy writing habits for years to come!

When novels are set in a world so like our own, pop culture references can be a key tool – a way to ground the reader, show feelings, situations, or details. But knowing when to add these gems and when to abstain is the trick. To help, I’ve created a quick checklist to assist in deciding whether your pop culture reference should be in your story.

Happy December, ladies and gentlemen! I know many of you may have a #Nanowrimo hangover, but it is a new month and an opportunity to start fresh! Whether you need a break from your current work in progress or you finished you novel last month, check out this week’s Wild News Wednesday to spark a new idea or just to explore the crazy and awesome the world has to offer.

If you can believe it, we are quickly approaching the end of November already! For those of you taking a few days off to relax, eat good food, and enjoy great company, I wish you the happiest of holidays. For anyone that will be working through this crazy weekend — thank you so much for your hard work in keeping the world turning! You’ve got this!

No matter which way your weekend goes, it is always the perfect time to scope out some new story ideas — check out this week’s #wildnewswednesday to see if anything sparks that next great novel.

We’re trolling this week for some amazing new stories to spark ideas for your next book. Check out the wild and wacky below! Also, I found some amazing pun memes this week, so… you’re welcome.

Some of the greatest story ideas spark from the weird, wild, or wonderful around us.

Looking for a new character or story? Check out the below to see if it is the perfect starting point for your next idea!