Some of the questions I am asked most frequently are, “How can I find a writing buddy? Where did you find your own critique partners? Help! I need beta readers!” And, yes, as you may have noticed, that last isn’t a question so much as a desperate plea for help. I noticed too! Need a Writing […]


7 Frequently Asked Writing Questions
The amazing thing about being a writer is that you get to be part of a writing community. Especially now, in the Internet age, you have access not just to the writings of the great minds who have gone before, but also to the shared wisdom, common sense, commiseration, and encouragement of all your contemporaries. If […]

How to Spot and Avoid Self-Indulgent Writing
As writers, we have the opportunity to live lives of creativity, in which we get to craft whole worlds that conform to our every whim. Whether you’re writing your first book or your thirtieth, it’s always going to be a heady experience. But this comes with certain inherent pitfalls. Sometimes all this power can go […]

8 Tips for Editing Other Writers’ Work (While Remaining Friends)
Have you ever been asked to edit someone else’s work? Do you need tips for editing without ruining friendships? You’re not alone! If you’re part of a workshop group, or if you have a bunch of writer friends, then you’ll probably find yourself acting as an editor at some point. Perhaps: In a group workshop […]

6 Tips for How to Organize Your Novel’s Edits
Imagine this: you’ve received a ton of great feedback from your beta readers, critique partners, and/or editors. I mean a ton. You’re ready to dive in and start putting their suggestions to use. But… where do you start? How can you organize your novel’s edits so you can actually make sense of them? One of the reasons […]

Top 4 Editing Tricks for Creating a Seamless Narrative
Narrative flow can be difficult to define, which makes it difficult to understand. However, most writers are also readers, so you may be more familiar with narrative flow than you might think! While reading, have you ever: Found yourself turning page after page, unable to put a book down? Been so engrossed you haven’t noticed […]

5 (More) Ways to Trim Your Book’s Word Count, Pt. 2 of 2
For every author desperate to trim your book’s word count, there’s another author who insists every word is precious. After all, a book wouldn’t have turned out long if it didn’t need to be long. Sometimes that true. If Charles Dickens had whacked away at his word count (not that he would, since he was paid by the […]

5 Ways to Trim Your Book’s Word Count, Pt. 1 of 2
This is not a post for the writers who have trouble writing books that aren’t long enough. This is not a post for writers who say they’re going to write a short story and actually end up writing a short story. Nope, this is a post for writers who set out to write a nice little 100,000-word […]

Your NaNo Novel Is a Hot Mess! How to Edit Your Book
Yay, you wrote a book! Now what are you supposed to do with it? Writing a manuscript often feels like a sprint to a finish line–but then you reach that finish line, only to realize it’s really just the beginning! In many ways, completing a first draft is the easy part of the writing (what? no! […]