Telling a story through multiple viewpoints can be a great way to create a more expansive (and objective) look at your characters, world, plot, or theme. But, with each additional viewpoint character you add, the more room there is for story-ruining mistakes. However, if you know that writing a ...

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at the blank page or blinking cursor for long periods of time, trying to write but unable to find the right words, you might be suffering from creative anxiety. And if so, you’re not alone!  This is something all writers struggle with—no matter how many book...

Ever wish you could see a peek into someone else’s process? Or download the most impactful writing tips from all around the internet? ME TOO!  Although I can’t give you either of those things *exactly*, I asked a handful of my peers to send in their favorite writing tips for the most recent epis...

One of the most common questions I get asked is, “How can I be a more productive writer? How can I make the most of my limited time so I can finish my book this year?”  And I get why this is such a common question… Thanks to social media, emails, text messages, and the millions of other notifica...

In today’s episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes with me throughout my entire work week, and I’m going to share with you what I’m working on, what big projects I’m focused on right now, and basically, anything that happens during the week, including any fun or interesting insights that come u...

Let’s pretend you’re in a bookstore, and you walk over to the romance section. And let’s say you grab a random book off the shelf full of romance novels. What would you expect from the book in your hands before you even read the first page? Maybe things like—a scene where the couple meets, a bud...

What’s the difference between the All Is Lost beat and the Dark Night Of The Soul Beat? Does it matter if my Catalyst comes earlier than 12%? How do I know which beats are single-scene beats vs. multi-scene beats? If you’ve had any of these questions about the Save The Cat! plotting method, you’r...

In this post, I’m sharing 5 of the most common mistakes I see writers make, as well as how you can avoid them. I want you to be able to identify these pitfalls so you can sidestep them and avoid the stress that comes from making the mistakes in the first place. Sound good? Let’s dive in!   No...

Do you ever wish you could take a peek behind the scenes of other people's writing process? If so, you’re in for a treat!  I reached out to some of my Notes to Novel Season 3 students and asked them to share the number one thing they learned about outlining and writing a first draft, while actua...

Over 80% of the population experiences imposter syndrome at some point in their life.  It not only fills you with dread, but feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and skepticism about your talents, skills, and capabilities, too. And if left unchecked, it may even lead to you sabotaging your ...

In today’s episode, we’re going to do something fun and a little different. Since we’re nearing the end of 2023, I thought it would be fun to continue with last week’s theme of lessons learned over the last twelve months. I hope some of the lessons you’ve learned this year came from this podcast,...

I recently sat down for a conversation with Fern Bernstein about her debut novel, Staunch: The Edies of Grey Gardens.  In our conversation, we talked about her writing, editing, and publishing journey, including things like where the idea to write a fictionalized story about The Edies came from,...