Stop Acting Like Selling Your Art Is Evil: You Deserve to Thrive (AKA – Why Are Artists Lying to Themselves About Money? ) Why are we artists lying to ourselves? No really. Why are we out here on these platforms, doing full Broadway monologues about how we “just want to create again without worrying about…
Why stepping into a narrator’s brain is the most honest kind of fiction—and the most fun. You’re probably not new to writing your stories in the first person. But I’m gonna give my own attempt at mansplaining it to you anyway. (Judging by how interested you were in the title, I’m hoping you don’t mind…
(a.k.a. the art of mind-freaking your readers with style) There’s nothing more satisfying than a plot twist that completely blindsides your readers—one that makes them gasp, flip back through the pages, and think, How did I not see this coming? But crafting a truly unexpected twist takes more than just shocking reveals. It requires subtlety,…
In many writing spaces—especially smaller, local, or peer-driven ones—praise is abundant. Writers cheer each other on with phrases like “You did great!” or “So good!” and “Love it!” Comments flood in with heart emojis and words of affirmation. And in many ways, it’s beautiful. Writing is such a vulnerable act, and having people affirm your…
Or: Stop Throwing the Whole Salt Shaker at Them, Brenda. Let’s be real—your world is probably amazing. You’ve got politics, portals, probably some kind of bread that’s definitely not called “bread.” And you’re dying to show it all off. But here’s the hard truth: Readers don’t care.At least not yet. They care about people. They…
Okay, so we all love a little time-travel in our fiction. You crack open a book and BOOM—you’re in 1884, wearing a corset, hiding forbidden love letters in the cracks between your bedroom wall… Or you’re zooming through a dystopian neon wasteland being chased by a malfunctioning AI toaster. You’re haunted by the technical glitch…
I’ve been thinking a lot about how to be more helpful to the writer community. After much thought (and scratching a bald spot into existence at the top of my head), I finally figured it out: What if… I taught you how to write funny? Using my own work as examples?! Yes, I know how…
aka, Your Brain is a Flashback Machine/Writing God You Take For Granted I’m in a lot of Facebook groups for writers. Like, a lot. Possibly too many. So many that my algorithm thinks I am a 2003 Tumblr post with feelings. And what I see constantly are posts like this: “Hey, can I get feedback…
Your In-house Editor’s Ultimate Guide to Structuring Your Novel: Learn how to fix your story structure without falling into info-dumping. This guide helps writers build pacing and plot that actually works. ⚠️ Warning: This guide may cause sudden novel breakthroughs, emotional catharsis, and an uncontrollable urge to plot multiple WIPs simultaneously. Hi, I’m Ann—but my…