Here’s something that might surprise you: we writers don’t just write when we’re sitting at our desks. Our brains are always working on our stories—detangling plot snags, filling holes, connecting threads—even when we’re doing other things. Like washing dishes, walking the dog, or standing in line at the grocery store. Scientists call this process “idea  … Read more

When writers ask me, “How do I know if my story is any good?” I always give them the same answer: Send it to a critique partner. As writers, we’re often too close to our stories to see them clearly. What feels perfectly obvious to us might be confusing to readers. Meanwhile, plot holes we  … Read more

One of the biggest mistakes I see writers make when writing a novel is trying to go it alone. Yes, writing is, by nature, a solitary endeavor, but it doesn’t have to be lonely. In fact, I’d argue that the more you surround yourself with supportive people during the writing process, the easier it gets.  … Read more

Chapter 12 of my book Page One to Done to all about defining realistic goals for completing your first draft and using them to track your progress and stay in flow. If you’re following the exercise on page 160 to define your goals, you can use this handy calculator to do all the math for you!  … Read more

I’m beyond thrilled to share some huge news: my next writing craft book is coming in 2026 from Hay House Publishing! PAGE ONE TO DONE: Finish Your Novel in 30 Days with the Fast Drafting Method If you’ve ever struggled to finish a first draft (and let’s be honest, who hasn’t?), this book is for  … Read more

“How do you approach the beat sheet?” There’s a question I get asked a lot. Logically, you might think I start with the Opening Image and just work my way through, beat by beat, until I reach the Final Image. But that’s not usually the case. Although all of my novel brainstorm processes are unique,  … Read more

Writing a novel can be a lot of fun. But it can also be stressful. For many people, writing a full-length book can take its toll on the mind and body. So I’ve decided to put together a list of my top 5 tips for avoiding Novel Writing Burn Out  And if you’re participating in  … Read more

Not all scenes or chapters come to us fully formed, with witty dialogue, striking metaphors, beautiful prose, and perfect structure. Wouldn’t that be nice? For me, more often than not, scenes come to me in chunky, choppy bits and pieces. A dialogue exchange here, a nice description there, a sentence or two about how the  … Read more

Let’s face it. Writing is about .01% pure inspiration and about 99.99% tricking our brain into just getting words down on the page every day. I’m ALL for tricking my brain into doing things it doesn’t want to do. Those of you who have taken my Productivity Hacks for Writers course know I’m the master  … Read more

Woo hoo! It’s almost NaNoWriMo time! For those of you who don’t know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month and it’s a great event that happens every November where novelists around the world take on the challenge of writing a novel (equivalent to 50,000 words or more) in one month. As someone who writes four  … Read more