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 hit with inspiration, rushing to a desk, and furiously scribbling or typing to keep up […]

Read to Lead Gives You Permission to Read

When I first met Jeff Brown and he told me he had a podcast called “Read to Lead,” I was jealous. You can have a job telling people to read more? I mean, I used to teach college English, so I have literally been paid to tell people what to read. But half the audience […]

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 the right pieces to make your chapter work. I started jotting down notes for this […]

How Much Does Ghostwriting Cost?

I’ll be frank: A lot of potential authors get scared when we talk ghostwriting cost. They can’t quite pull the trigger on the investment, so they put off the decision. Unfortunately, that means a lot of potential authors remain just that: potential authors. If you’re searching for a ghostwriter, you’re probably not super-familiar with the […]

What to Do When Your Editor Asks What’s at Stake

When I ask an author, “What’s at stake for you here?” I usually think I’m asking a straightforward question. It never fails to surprise me when an author can’t quite articulate an answer. I mean, you wrote it, didn’t you? Don’t you know why this is important to you? I guess I figure most people […]

Why a Book Stalls at the Developmental Edit

When a book stalls out at any stage, it’s disappointing, but the developmental edit is where I see authors struggle most. When people hire me as their developmental editor, they’re usually hoping for some quick fixes. They want assurance the chapter organization makes sense and maybe some help tightening up an argument or two. They […]

I Hate the Question “Do You Like My Book?”

As an editor and ghostwriter, I really don’t like the question, “Do you like my book?” That may seem counterintuitive; if I’ve spent a good chunk of my life working on it, I must like it, right? I wouldn’t take on a book I didn’t think was good, would I? You may be surprised to […]

My Line Editor Hates My Book and Now I Hate Myself

I got my line edit back and it’s covered in Tracked Changes, and now I’m worried my line editor hates my book and I’m a bad author and this book is going to bomb and I hate myself. Okay, everybody breathe. Writing a book is an emotional process; there’s just no way around it. When […]

Writing Powerful Fiction: Till We Have Faces

When you’re writing fiction, you want to do more than “tell a story.” You want to tell a good story, a powerful story. You want to write something people can’t put down. C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces provides an example of how you can write such a book even without using all the conventional […]

Hard Advice for Authors: Dig the Words from Your Soul

When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you’ll not talk about joy of words. C.S. Lewis, Till We have faces It’s […]