So you're ready to embark on the journey of writing your first novel. How are you feeling? Excited? Nervous? That's perfectly normal! After all, writing a book is no small feat.

As a new writer, there are going to be pitfalls you encounter when writing your first novel. But fear not! In...

As difficult as it may be to write an entire novel, short stories are their own challenge. When writing short stories, you have a limited amount of words to use to draw your readers in, engage them in your story, and make them care about your characters.

So how are short stories different from...

One decision every writer must make is choosing from which point of view to tell a story. The third-person point of view (or POV) is a popular choice and can often be the easiest for new writers to tackle. There are, however, a few different ways in which to write the third-person point of view,...

Whether you’re the kind of writer who outlines their whole story before starting or the type who loves the journey of discovery writing, it’s important in the early stages of your novel to know what's driving your story. What will keep you drafting, and make readers fly through the...

You may be familiar with the advice to "write every day.” You may have even created a writing ritual or routine to help you with that, but are there ever reasons you should take a break from writing? 

Resting can recharge us and refill our creative wells so that we’re more...

It's always fun to embark on a new writing voyage. Driven by an intriguing premise, compelling characters, or thrilling plot twists in the wings, the beginning of the drafting process is often the most exciting part. However, it’s not uncommon to eventually encounter a dip in momentum,...

No matter what genre of novel you’re drafting, finishing a manuscript requires writing tens of thousands of words. As a writer, you most likely have a limited amount of time to write and need to arrive at the computer ready to churn out those words. A great way to facilitate that is by...

If the title of this blog post made your eyes widen or your heart quicken, you’re not alone. The thought of writing an entire novel is daunting enough, but writing one in a month? Is it even possible?

If you’ve been part of the writing community for a while, you know the answer is...

If you give ten writers the same idea, you’ll end up with ten different stories. This holds true even if you tell them who their characters will be, what the setting is, and a couple of major plot points to include. But how could such specific instructions produce such different results?...

Third-person narratives are one of the most commonly used points of view. This may give new writers the impression that it’s a fairly simple viewpoint to write. However, it’s easy to fall into pitfalls and clichés without even realizing it. Knowing the ins and outs of writing...

Maybe you’re writing a first-person narrator for the first time. Or maybe you’ve written a first-person narrative, but the voice isn’t as strong as you’d like. Whichever stage you’re at, knowing how to use first-person effectively will make the difference between a...

Research is vital when it comes to storytelling. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing a historical romance, a contemporary YA thriller, or an epic fantasy set in a world borne solely of your imagination. There’s going to be at least one detail—whether it is a type of food,...