The Uncomfortable Truth about Productivity for Writers

I’m a huge believer in telling you to set word goals. Each day, you should have a writing target. If you’re writing a novel,…

Unexpected Ways to Get Ideas for Novels

One of the questions best selling novelists get the most from readers and potential authors alike is “Where do you get your ideas?” It…

The Number One Reason Your Manuscript Will be Rejected

It’s truly sad. I’m always pained by stories of writers who sent their novels out too soon. Recently, I read about a writer who…

7 Lessons to Learn About Failing NaNoWriMo

One of the most heartbreaking things I experienced in November was reading the tweets of writers who were unable to get their word counts….

The Hardest Lesson to Learn As a Writer

After I’d written novel five (and abandoned number 4, because it had derailed), I was sent a video from a producer I was working…

Why Learning Story Structure Benefits you

Good news – this isn’t an April Fools day joke, because you’re about sick of them. What one thing do you need to learn…

What Surprising Factor made You Fail NaNoWriMo?

I’ve read with some dismay a lot of people writing the same thing over and over again. “My word count total was 12,000 words…

Editing your novel 1

Every writer sets out to write their novel, and thinks once you’ve finished writing it, it’s done. There’s even a famous scene in a…

Writing Several Books at One Time

One of the most difficult things to do is work on several projects at the same time. It’s actually recommended against. I find myself…

Scene Construction 2

What is a scene, at its basic level? this is a big question, really. And the answer to effective writing is in answering this…