Fiction How-to

The Rules for Magic, Powers, and Awesome Skills

  by Angela Eschler and Lindsay Flanagan Super-spies and superheroes. Ninjas and mysterious nomads. Magicians and monsters. Spaceships and species. (The story glands are salivating!) But there are some "rules" to consider before you dive in and go crazy with the...

I Wrote 25K Words in Less Than Three Days

And You Can Do It Too! by Rachelle J. Christensen I just returned from a fabulous writing retreat where I killed my writing goals, and I can’t wait to tell you about the simple methods I used to write 25,000 words, or roughly 120 double-spaced pages, in two and a half...

Writing Software—Which is Best?

by Annette Lyon Q. What is the best software to write with? A. USA-Today best-selling author says Scrivener for writing and Microsoft Word for editing.   Writing Time-Saver and Organization Heaven Annette Lyon: I use Scrivener mostly for drafting and revision....
Setting the Scene, Part 1

Setting the Scene, Part 1

Part 1: Seven Tips by Emilee Newman Bowles Your plot and characters are vital parts of your story, but they need a place to inhabit: the setting. Even fast-paced action novels need setting details so readers can imagine where the characters are. Here a few tips to...

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Outlining versus “Pantsing”

Outlining versus “Pantsing”

by Lindsay Flanagan To outline or not to outline…that is the (much-debated) question. As a writer you may feel like you’re on team outliner (or plotter) or on team “pantser.” Maybe you haven’t decided which side to join. Or maybe you’ve joined one or the other but...

read more
Setting the Scene, Part 1

Setting the Scene, Part 1

Part 1: Seven Tips by Emilee Newman Bowles Your plot and characters are vital parts of your story, but they need a place to inhabit: the setting. Even fast-paced action novels need setting details so readers can imagine where the characters are. Here a few tips to...

read more
Outlining versus “Pantsing”

Outlining versus “Pantsing”

by Lindsay Flanagan To outline or not to outline…that is the (much-debated) question. As a writer you may feel like you’re on team outliner (or plotter) or on team “pantser.” Maybe you haven’t decided which side to join. Or maybe you’ve joined one or the other but...

read more
Feeling overwhelmed or unsure about your book project?
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Boost your confidence with our free author tools.
Feeling overwhelmed or unsure about your book project?
PHEW!