One of the most common questions we receive from fiction writers is “How do I plot my book?”

It’s the question that dominates writing conferences and a simple Google search...

We live in a small house with a total of one closet. It’s problematic for a modern family. And especially for a self-professed clothes horse.

When we moved in, we carved out a small section...

Most writers don't take the time to ask themselves why they're writing a book. They don't know the "why" of their book.

In this Author Gas Stops, Donna Freitas encourages writers to spend time...

Every book needs a developmental edit. Even professional writers do. In fact, professional writers crave developmental editing, because they know they don’t know it all.

But too many new...

I am a story snob.

I’m not as bad as my cousin whose critiques are borderline nitpicky. But I have high expectations for the media and literature I consume.  

I don’t like to waste...

I had an old-fashioned quarrel with ChatGPT the other night.

Maybe it was one sided. I yelled at him. He didn’t yell back.

I’ll call ChatGPT a “he,” along with 66% of the...

Each of us writes for a variety of reasons.

Some write to work out their pain. Others write as a creative outlet. Still others write to promote their business or nonprofit. The noble among us may...

Think about your favorite book or movie. What makes it your favorite?

It’s probably a combination of things—an applicable life lesson, jaw-dropping choreography and action, an intense...

I learned an important lesson about cohesion when we bought our 1923 brick bungalow 23 years ago and I painted my hallway pineapple yellow.

The color wasn’t a problem except its Miami-party...

We called it the “80% Rule.”

My first real professional job was as an assistant editor at a publication.

I acquired and edited magazine articles. I also edited books, since the...

My husband reads car repair manuals.

I’m grateful he has the brain to persist through that dreary copy—because when you own three used cars with hundreds of thousands of miles on each,...

Commercially viable memoirs are akin to novels. They engage the reader through storytelling techniques.

But new memoirists struggle to write an engaging story. They spend too much time inside...