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Most of us have heard the phrase physician, heal thyself. When it comes to editing and writing, people will say, “Work on your own book, get good at your own work, then worry about other people.” I disagree. Editing other people’s books, short stories, poems—anything—is incredibly useful for any aspiring writer. It gives us so much in return. When we read other people’s work, we feel like masters of the craft. Our confidence might soar because we know exactly why this works,

“You’re one in a million.” We all know the phrase. Technically speaking, we are all one in a million. No one else has ever walked your...

My story is under attack. My story is being broken. They hate it. They hate me. Nobody understands what I am trying to create. Why don’t...

After the last post, a question was posed: why should we consider doing it this way? Today, I want to spend some time answering that...

You finished a draft of your novel. Congratulations are in order! Let’s talk about the next steps. Whenever you choose to edit, remember...

When should you edit your work? Much like how you should write your book, there is no right answer. There are many options, and you need...

It has taken me two years of concerted effort, reading several books, listening to many podcasts, and writing multiple novels and short...

How much negativity in your feedback can you stand? 10%... 20%? 90%? Every writer needs negative criticism. We need to be told no. We...

Who you link to for a Point of View (POV) is extremely important in storytelling. I am going to give an example of a very short piece...

We have talked before about good and bad dialogue. In summary, bad dialogue is dialogue that is long-winded, generic, tells us nothing,...

Crafting dialogue that sounds like real speech while still being purposeful and engaging can be difficult. Real conversations often...

We have talked about dialogue tags, action tags, and the setting dialogue inside of a larger context of the tale. For the moment I want...

In novels, song and verse are, or can be, a kind of dialogue that elevates the piece. In real life throughout human history we have sung....

I will never review a bad book on my site, because there is enough negativity in the world, and to be frank, I know how hard it is to...

Dialogue must have a point and a purpose. It must teach us something about the world, about the characters, about their emotions, the...

We've talked about dialogue before on this channel, but it turns out I have more to say! For the previous section of dialogue review...

The trope of dystopia is a fascinating and often chilling exploration of imagined societies characterized by oppression, suffering, and...

(Get it? Stuck in a loop?...) Time travel is a staple of many science fiction stories and rears its head though less frequently in...

(The title's reference if you've never heard it: REM Music Video.) Until now we have mostly discussed the tropes using fantasy examples,...