You sit down to write your story. It’s personal. Emotional. True, but also – not exactly. You’ve changed names. Rearranged events. Invented scenes to make the emotional arc land. And […]
Writing Hard Scenes That Carry Real Emotion
If you’ve ever hit a section in your story that made you want to close your laptop and walk away, you’re not alone. Writing hard scenes—grief, shame, trauma, heartbreak—takes something […]
Research for Fiction Writing
Do You Need to Know the Weather in Chicago on March 7, 1930? (Maybe) Research for fiction writing can be both inspiring and overwhelming. It’s easy to fall into the […]
Choosing Your Publishing Path: The Traditional Way or Self-Publish?
Somewhere along the way—usually after a few drafts and a whole lot of soul-searching—every writer faces the same question: Should I try to get a book deal, or should I […]
How a Scrivener Outline Can Rescue Your First Draft
If your manuscript feels more like a pile of spaghetti than a structured story, you are not alone. Many of my writer friends and writers I work with regularly admit […]
Craft Questions in Writing: Do You Really Need That Scene?
In nearly every mastermind session we host inside the Mindful Writing Community, a few familiar questions pop up like clockwork: “Do I really need this flashback?”“Is my first page strong […]
Writing Through the Hardest Scenes: 5 Techniques to Stay Confident
There’s a kind of writing that asks more of us than craft. It asks us to show up emotionally. To stay present with the hard stuff. To touch the places […]