Lean Into Yourself and Write What You Know
"Write what you know": An oft-debated and more oft-misunderstood piece of writing advice. Does it mean fictionalizing your autobiography? Should you only write about...
Moral is Not a Dirty Word
Of course, we'd never endorse moralizing in your fiction and we'd never tell you what to think or feel. However, we assume you have...
There is No Book in Your Mind
In a post on Lit Hub, Aimee Bender says that not being able to write the book that's already in your head may not...
Maud Newton: “Let the True Flame of Your Interest Dominate”
In an article for Lit Hub, Maud Newton says that leaning in to her interests helped her writing her memoir Ancestor Trouble. "My craft...
The Freedom of Anonymity
During an interview with Lit Hub's Book Dreams podcast, Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan discuss the power of writing anonymously. In their collection Anonymous...
The Importance of Reading Against Your Biases
In an essay adapted from her book Read Dangerously, Azar Nafisi discusses the importance of reading works that challenge our perceptions and ways of...
What is Uncertainty Telling You?
In an essay for Lit Hub, George Saunders talks about that awkward moment when you're not sure what happens next in your story. Some...
Don’t Be Afraid to Explore
In a post on Writer Unboxed, Kathleen McCleary says we should challenge ourselves to work past fears in our writing.
For McCleary, that means writing...
Your Writing Isn’t Haute Couture
Continuing their lengthy series on what not to do, the editors at Writer's Digest have some advice we agree with wholeheartedly: Don't try to...
Write What You Don’t Know for Fun and Profit
In this share, we tackle another of writing's shibboleths: write what you know. Simple advice, easy to understand, but also incredibly vague and unhelpful.
In...
