If you’re afraid your story won’t keep readers hooked, that’s good! It means you care about your reader, which is a good first step. I’m reading a novel right now. It started out okay, but somewhere around chapter five, I noticed something. I was skimming, just moving my eyes acrossContinue Reading
When you’re not sure your story will work, it’s easy to assume that uncertainty means something is wrong with the story. There’s a moment in almost every book where the writer gets scared for a very good reason. They’re not sure it’s going to work. And that’s a moment whenContinue Reading
If you quit books too soon, or feel tempted to abandon them somewhere around chapter two or three, it usually doesn’t mean the idea has failed. Instead, it means the writing process has changed, and your brain needs something different now than it did at the start. A lot ofContinue Reading
Why do writers quit? Years ago, I attended a writing workshop. The writers in that room were all good. I read their work. About a year later, I followed up with them, and here’s what got me. Almost all of them had stopped writing. I found that really heartbreaking becauseContinue Reading
If you’re making writing career mistakes, I want to spare you some of the years I lost. Picture this: Years of your life wasted, stuck in your first book, completely invisible to readers. And why? Because you ignored four simple pieces of advice. I know because I ignored them, andContinue Reading
Novel writing is an emotional rollercoaster. It begins with feeling overwhelmed. There is nothing as intimidating as a blank page. Then there is the feeling of excitement when ideas begin to flow. Then you feel the satisfaction of creating a world from scratch. Then there’s frustration when you’re hit withContinue Reading