The Writing Process

Most popular posts

A question hangs from the ceiling with origami birds next to it as a pretty denotation of the dramatic question

The Dramatic Question

Simply put, the dramatic question is your story’s theme framed as a question. “Can the truth set you free?” “Can...

A kindle being held up in a frame for the kindlepreneur to be invited into this blog

The Kindlepreneur Mindset: Combining Creativity and Business Acumen

The term “kindlepreneur” is a combination of “Kindle” and “entrepreneur,” describing a self-published author who approaches their writing and book...

A chalk painted outline on the ground to suggest reverse outlining

Reverse Outlining: Gaining a New Perspective

What is reverse outlining?  While many writers outline before they write a single scene, others follow a “pantser” method where...

A few different pens with multiple colors and tips exposed as a form of creative writing tips

5 Essential Creative Writing Tips 

Whether you’re brainstorming your first story or publishing your ninth book, there comes a point when all writers wonder the...

A man at the edge of a cliff looking out over ostensibly a big drop below

How to Write a Cliffhanger

A cliffhanger is not a trick, but a promise. As a storyteller, you want to grab your reader’s attention and...

An apple core being dismantled by a machine crank to suggest that theme ideas can be gotten to mechanistically with our blog

Theme Ideas: Finding the Core Your Story

Theme ideas aren’t something tacked on to the end of a story. They are central to the narrative, and woven...

Writers in a scholarly environment working one on one to suggest critical feedback in a serious tone
Blog
Alan Watt

Critical Feedback

You’ve finally sent your manuscript to a beta reader, critique partner, or editor. You’re very eager to hear what they have to

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A pair of glasses sit on a dictionary to suggest that words have power and we must take a closer look
Blog
Alan Watt

Words Have Power

You might see the philosophical, inspirational phrase “words have power” written on coffee mugs or in cards handed out at graduations. People

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An image of footballers all watching in amazement as a soccer ball flies into the goal, to invoke the theme: "equipped with these tools, any author can achieve their writing goals and stun those around them."
Blog
Alan Watt

Writing Goals

What are your writing goals? Do you have dreams of winning the Pulitzer prize? Writing a bestseller or an Academy Award winning

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A woman whose style of singing sets her apart from the crowd is a simple and effective metaphor for how to visualize the ways to describe a voice for characters to be distinguished from one another easily
Blog
Alan Watt

Ways to Describe a Voice

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called the human voice “the organ of the soul.” Writers must become skilled organists to differentiate and describe the

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Tips for writing a novel depicted by the messiness of a workspace — food, coffee, and a place to keep all of those things.
Blog
Alan Watt

Tips for Writing a Novel

Master these tips for writing a novel by embracing messy first drafts and creative warmups. Learn how to silence your inner critic and finish.

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Recent posts

A woman with a pen in her mouth seems to be pensive and thinking to suggest that writers spend time thinking about writing rules

Writing Rules — Are There Any?

When you’re a new writer, it’s natural to ask, “What are the rules?” Interestingly enough, if you search the internet...

Writers in a scholarly environment working one on one to suggest critical feedback in a serious tone

Critical Feedback

You’ve finally sent your manuscript to a beta reader, critique partner, or editor. You’re very eager to hear what they...

Empty pages of books in motion on a pink background suggest the question: how many words per page?

How Many Words Per Page in a Book?

Have you ever found yourself comparing the length of your manuscript to other books, and wondering if you’ve written too...

A woman looks out in the foreground with a map in her hand pointing into the distance of lush trees to suggest that avoiding plagiarism has a natural vibe filled with light and leisure

The No-Excuses Guide to Avoiding Plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism seems like a simple task: Just don’t steal someone else’s work. But when you’re immersed in research with...

A daily calendar that has a bunch of notes saying to "write!" suggesting that writing challenges offer a daily rigor.

Writing Challenges: How Small Daily Commitments Create Extraordinary Results

The writing challenge is a commitment to write each day. A few years ago, I noticed that the writers in...

Writing journals are set open to show a large volume of notebooks and convey that writing journals is a flowery process

Writing Journals: A Conversation with Your Creative Mind 

Some people think writing journals are only for recording your feelings, venting frustrations, or documenting daily life. But for creative...

A team of people sat together and reviewing on a notebook and computer suggests the benefits of peer learning, themes of completion

Peer Learning: Why Writers Grow Faster Together

Most writers spend years trying to improve alone. I understand the instinct. Writing is personal, vulnerable work, and solitude often...

A pair of glasses sit on a dictionary to suggest that words have power and we must take a closer look

Words Have Power

You might see the philosophical, inspirational phrase “words have power” written on coffee mugs or in cards handed out at...

An image of a woman smiling while scrolling on her phone with a coffee in hand suggesting austerity, enjoyment, peace from looking at writing memes

Writing Memes: Why Writers Love Sharing Them (And What They Secretly Teach Us)

If you spend enough time with writers on social media, you’ll soon learn one thing — we enjoy writing memes....

Turkish planes fly in formation to signify strength and might in the form of blitzkrieg writing

Blitzkrieg Writing: How to Outrun Your Inner Critic  

Blitzkrieg is not a word typically associated with the quiet, solitary act of writing. It conjures up images of brute...

A woman with her head sunk into a pile of books is a visual simile for the author reading this article to learn overcoming procrastination

Overcoming Procrastination: How to Get Out of Your Own Way

There’s a quiet moment every writer knows. You sit. Open the page. The cursor blinks . . . waiting. Then...

An image of footballers all watching in amazement as a soccer ball flies into the goal, to invoke the theme: "equipped with these tools, any author can achieve their writing goals and stun those around them."

Writing Goals

What are your writing goals? Do you have dreams of winning the Pulitzer prize? Writing a bestseller or an Academy...

A woman whose style of singing sets her apart from the crowd is a simple and effective metaphor for how to visualize the ways to describe a voice for characters to be distinguished from one another easily

Ways to Describe a Voice

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called the human voice “the organ of the soul.” Writers must become skilled organists to differentiate and...

Image of the caucasus mountains used to visualize the 10,000 hour rule and how it can be applied to you, above in the background are high mountain peaks certainly worth climbing but in the foreground is a lake that suggests a serenity and calm in the achievement of joy

10,000 Hour Rule on Mastering Skills

“It takes 10,000 hours to truly master anything. Time spent leads to experience; experience leads to proficiency; and the more...

A visual metaphor for how an author chooses how many words in a chapter there 'ought to be. The language itself is like a large crop field, and those selected for a novel are like a great harvest of produce, from which one must batch together sections of produce to cordon into chapters.

How Many Words in a Chapter?

Authors often struggle to figure out when to add chapter breaks and how to properly split up their novel or...

Different writing styles featured image from the 1600s, painting by Gabriël Metsu used to depict a very royal feeling to writing

A Look at 5 Different Writing Styles

Just as your characters each have a distinct voice, every writing style carries its own purpose, logic, and effect. Knowing...

Featured image for a worldbuilding template for writers, what process of inquiry is necessary in order to build a compelling world that mirror's the author's own inner realms

Your Worldbuilding Template for Fiction

Organize your writing process with this comprehensive worldbuilding template. Define the details of your world as a starting point to...
Tips for writing a novel depicted by the messiness of a workspace — food, coffee, and a place to keep all of those things.

Tips for Writing a Novel

Master these tips for writing a novel by embracing messy first drafts and creative warmups. Learn how to silence your...