Writing and Editing Tips

Last week, I got an email from a writer that said, "I really want to make a career out of writing fiction, but to do so, I know I can't spend two years working on the same novel. Do you have any advice for how I can finish a novel faster while still maintaining its quality?"

And I love this...

How do you know if the idea you have is strong enough to support a full-length novel?

Is there a way to know the difference between a good idea and one that's better left in your idea folder? 

If so, can you do this before spending all that time writing the first draft?

The...

In today’s post, we’re going to continue going through the 15 “beats” of Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Story structure template. Specifically, we’re going to focus on the beats that make up the second half of act two, or the second half of the middle section of...

In today’s post, we’re going to continue going through the 15 “beats” of Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Story structure template. Specifically, we’re going to focus on the beats that make up the second half of act two, or the second half of the middle section of...

In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to use Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Beat Sheet to plot the first half of the middle section of your novel.

If you aren’t familiar with Blake Snyder’s work, the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet is a popular...

In today’s post, I’m going to show you how to use Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Beat Sheet to plot the beginning section of your novel.

If you aren’t familiar with Blake Snyder’s work, the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet is a popular story structure...

How do you organize your ideas so that you can write a story that works?

What if you’re just starting out and your idea hasn’t quite taken it’s full shape yet?

There’s a lot of advice out there when it comes to starting a story the “right way.” You can find a...

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...