“I feel like God just gave me this poem to write, and I wanted to send it to you right away. It only took me 10 minutes to write and I truly believe it is inspired by God.” When I
The Myth of the Silver Tongue
Don’t Make the Mind Reading Fallacy
Have you ever had a fight with a friend or partner where at one point one of you said, “Well, obviously I meant this when I said that!”? We all long to be understood, but communication goes awry all the
Fear of the Written Word
Does it make sense to talk about fear of the written word in our day? I mean, nine-year-olds are literally texting each other every day. But there is a real sense in which some writers are “afraid” of the written
Bad Writing Rules That Are Killing Your Writing
As an editor, I hear a lot of questions from writers about this or that rule. It turns out a lot of people, even seasoned writers, have a lot of bad writing rules that trip them up unnecessarily. It may
I Started Revising My Book but Now I’m Stuck
Getting stuck on a developmental revision of your manuscript is a very common problem. It doesn’t help to see other authors posting about how much they love editing and revision. When many of my authors sit down to revise, they
ChatGPT Will Be the New Normal Because People Will Settle
When the updated ChatGPT came out at the end of 2022, it was difficult not to join the rush of people writing hot takes on why it was going to “change everything” or why writing jobs were “over” or why
Publishing Myths Debunked: Working with a Literary Agent
What’s it really like to work with a literary agent? At The Muse and the Marketplace 2022, Kaitlyn Johnson of Belcastro Literary Agency presented her top myths about working with a literary agent, and I was there to bring you this report! Myths
Publishing Myths Debunked: The Truth About Agent Query Letters
Writing a query letter to an agent can feel like trying to crack some secret code. If you can only say the right words in the right order, you’ll finally break through and get representation. But publishing isn’t about incanting
How to Outline a Novel: Two Authors Explain Why There are No Rules
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard authors address the question of whether to outline a novel or to let it develop “organically” or by inspiration. It makes sense: Our popular narratives of authors often show them being
4 Nonfiction Chapter Templates to Fix Your Wonky Book
Okay, when I promise “nonfiction chapter templates,” I don’t mean to mislead anyone. These aren’t fill-in-the-blank sorts of things. They’re more like schema, basic patterns that you can use as the skeleton of your chapter. They make sure you have