Delve deep into the artistry of writing with a focus on refining your craft. From character development to world-building and beyond, enhance your skills with tips, techniques, and advice from fellow authors and industry professionals.
The Fascination with the ‘Final Girl’ in Horror As writers, we often walk a fine line between tropes and clichés. Sure, tropes may echo other books in the genre or feel predictable as you read them—but as Jennifer Hilt, author of the Trope Thesaurus series, writes, “a skillful application...
Going Pro If you decide your draft could benefit from a more specialized review, either in certain passages or for plot or character elements that occur throughout the book, subject matter experts, or SMEs, can often cut down the research you'll need to do and provide more specific...
The Similarities and Differences between US and UK Schools that May Show Up in Your Manuscript School is back in session, and for authors who write YA in academic settings, inspiration may be at the bus stop right outside your door. But if your story has dark academia tropes, light...
Gill Fernley When it comes to the back cover blurb, many authors think they have to summarize their entire ninety-thousand-word novel in just a few lines. But a successful blurb is not meant to be a summary of your novel. It’s a sales pitch to nudge people into buying...
Traditional Publishers Edit According to American English. Should Indies Do the Same? Hey. Howdy. Hello. Yo. Greetings. G’day. These word choices for greeting someone tell a lot. They can reflect class, culture, age, and even nationality. But word choices can also reflect a writer’s country and its English...
Although we spend a lot of time talking about fiction—writing to market, craft books, whether you should plot or pants your novel, and more—there is a whole different genre of writing to be considered that can be just as profitable: nonfiction. Like fiction, nonfiction contains many genres that...
