Writer Unleashed

Inspiration is a mysterious, mercurial force. Sometimes it shows up, sometimes it doesn’t. But what if we could summon inspiration at will? If each time we sat down to write, we could reach that magic...

14 Loka 202014min

How do you nudge your way into a story? How do you generate ideas? Do you start with a childhood memory? A vintage photograph? An overheard conversation? We all have our own way in. And our creative p...

7 Loka 202013min

I used to live for the rush of that first draft. And dread revision. The more I tried to revise the more lost in the mess of my draft I'd become. That's because I didn't understand what revision was...

30 Syys 202011min

In order to nail down a solid, productive writing practice, to reach the level of mastery that ultimately leads to publication, you need to be in a state of flow. But how do we find flow in our writin...

23 Syys 202017min

Happiness may be great in real life. But it’s fatal in story. Few things numb readers more than characters surrounded by birdsong and puppies who aren’t risking something deeply important. There’s no ...

16 Syys 202017min

We want to move our readers emotionally. We want them to feel our character’s joy, pain, and everything in between. But one of the surest ways to sever the reader’s emotional connection is to be over...

9 Syys 202015min

A flashback moves readers back in time. It interrupts the flow of the story to catch up on what happened before page 1. But when writers overuse flashbacks, readers grow impatient. They lose interest...

2 Syys 202014min

Time is finite. It’s not a renewable resource. We have so much crammed into our day - our jobs, our kids, our spouses, our homes. And even if we do find pockets of time to write, we’re flat out stonk...

26 Elo 202019min