If you want to buy a house or a car, it's common practice to create some kind of strategic plan for getting there, right? You save up some money, you do some research, and eventually, you accomplish your goal -- you buy the house, or you buy the car. So, why is it that when it comes to writing, ...

Do you ever wish you could peek inside of another person's writing life? In today's podcast episode and blog post, I thought it would be fun to share some of the key takeaways I learned from coaching writers this year. My hope is that you'll be able to reap some of the benefits from these 'a-h...

What should you do if you get stuck while writing a novel? I've had a lot of writers reach out to me via email or in my private Facebook group asking this exact question. It’s also something that happens to all of us at one time or another -- we all get stuck at some point int he writing process...

Have you ever written a scene that feels lackluster or lifeless? Do you wish there was a quick and easy way to determine whether or not a scene works? Well, you're in luck because, in today's post, I'm going to show you how to use the concept of value shifts at the scene level to help you wri...

Happy #Preptober everyone! 🎃👻 I love this time of year. You get to dress in cozy layers, drink hot tea and coffee all day, decorate for Halloween, and consume all things pumpkin spice and cinnamon!  But besides all that, it's also a month of intense preparation for any writer who's planning to ...

In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to use the Hero’s Journey to map out your novel. If you aren’t familiar with the Hero’s Journey, it’s a popular story structure template that subdivides the beginning, middle, and end of a story into 12 stages. Each of these stages has a specific pu...

Are you writing a young adult novel? Or a story about a character who’s going through a major life change or transition? If so, you’re going to love today’s post on the conventions of the worldview genre! The worldview genre can be found in almost every story. It’s the emotional arc (or ...

Regardless of whether you fall in the “plotter” or “pantser” camp, having a solid understanding of story structure will help you write a story that works and satisfies fans of the genre. In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to write a well-structured thriller novel using the Three Act ...

In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to write a well-structured romance novel using the Three Act Structure. The first thing you’ll want to do when planning any novel is to decide upon a target word count. The average length of a romance novel is 80,000 words, so I’ll be using that for my ...

In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to use Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Beat Sheet to plot your novel. If you aren’t familiar with Blake Snyder’s work, the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet is a popular story structure template that subdivides the beginning, middle, and end of a story into 15 ...

Romance is one of the best-selling genres in mass-market fiction with a large fan base of readers who just can’t get enough. In today’s post, I’m going to go over the key scenes that every romance novel needs to have in order to work and to satisfy fans of the genre. I’m also going to show you ...

How many words are typically in a fantasy novel? What about a steamy romance? Or a nail-biting thriller? When you’re starting a new writing project, how do you know how long your book should be? And why does word count matter anyway? Is this really something you need to pay attention to? These...