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Do you have a good grasp of the difference between an emotion and an emotional state? Agent, author, and teacher Don Maass shows and tells the nuances, today at WU.
Writing Emotional States (Which Machines Do Not Have)
An emotion is one thing: It’s the feeling one has in a moment. An emotional state is another: it’s the condition one is in for a more extended period of time. It’s the difference between, I’m so ha…
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When and why is a sex scene a worthy addition to your storytelling? Editor Dave King weighs in, today at WU.
Sex
I’ve written before about when to move action offstage, and sex scenes are the most common candidate. More often than not, it’s the characters agreeing to make love that moves the story forward. …
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How long ago is long enough to call it historical fiction? Author Virginia Pye explores the issue, today at WU.
The Speed of Time and What Counts as ”Historical Fiction” Today
Historical fiction, as defined by the Historical Novel Society, is any story written at least fifty years after the events described or written by someone not alive at the time of the story. The au…
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Sure, Pressfield says, “Do the work.” But can we get caught in a trap? (Prolific) author Boo Walker explores life beyond 3000 words/day, today at WU.
Steven Pressfield Ruined My Life: On Finding Balance as a Creator
In The Matrix, Neo is given the choice between two pills. The red will wake him up from the simulated world and bring him to the truth; the blue will allow him to keep dreaming his life away, forev…
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How to write a good book. Author Terah Shelton Harris simplifies an almost impossibly complex and endlessly varied process, today at WU.
How to Write a Good Book
After traditionally publishing three bestselling books, I’m often asked: How do I get published? My response is not often what inspiring writers want to hear. They want me to tell them exactly how …
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Do you ever resent your writing process? Feel like it should be easier/smoother/faster? Author Barbara O’Neal shares her process—and her occasional resentments—today at WU.
Your Process Isn’t Broken
Do you ever wish for the kind of writing process your friend has? You know, the one who sails into the mist? Or the one who writes every scene in the book down ahead of time—and then sticks to it? …
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How do we take readers to emotional impact without pushing them off the rails? WU Assistant Editor Kim Bullock illuminates the tracks, today on the blog.
Emotional Turning Points: How to Ditch the Melodrama to Pack More Punch
Tear-jerker music was created for people like me. Last night, while scrolling through social media, I paused at a video of a puppy staring mournfully at the camera while Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” p…
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Writing is a marathon not a sprint. Sure, but how do we manage a marathon? Author Diana Giovinazzo goes the distance to bring us tips, today at WU.
Tips for Running the Marathon
They say publishing is a marathon, not a sprint? But what does that mean? When it comes to writing and publishing a book, everything feels like a sprint. Below are some of my tips for making…
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Structural integrity is fundamental to building a sound book. Author Harper Ross reveals how to stress-test your manuscript, today at WU.
Stress-Testing Your Story Before It’s Load-Bearing
Some of you saw the news this month about the buckled columns at the former Pfizer building in Manhattan, mid-conversion into apartments. Investigators later found the cause: reinforcement work cal…
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What’s the difference between story structure and story architecture? Author Denny S. Bryce explores the concept, today at WU.
Story Architecture: An Author’s Journey
Please welcome multi-published author Denny S. Bryce as our guest today! Denny reached out recently eager to share what she’d discovered about story architecture versus story structure–…
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A character’s vocation can deeply affect their story. Author Julie Christine Johnson explores how we can leverage a job, today at WU.
Punch the Clock: What Do Your Characters Do?
It’s high summer, the time when many of us down-shift. Close the office at noon on Fridays. Take vacations. Our kids are deep into their summer breaks, tanned and gritty. In my world, however, the …
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Writing is hard. Much of what we attempt fails to make the final cut. Is any of our effort wasted? Author Natalie Hart explores the concept, today at WU.
No Effort is Wasted, or, In Defense of Effort
I’ve got issues with the idea of “wasted time.” On the one hand, I reject the idea that my every waking moment needs to be “productive.” On the other hand, I have been known to fritter away whole e…
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Another hugely popular book gets flogged. Ray Rhamey is at it again. Stop by and enter your vote, today at WU.
Flog a Pro: Would You Turn the First Page of this Bestseller?
Email readers, heads up! For the full effect, pause after the excerpt and decide: Would you turn the page? Vote and then scroll for the reveal! Trained by reading hundreds of submissions, editors a…
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Do you know what to ask when you get “The Call”? Alison Hammer has our backs, today at WU.
The Agent Call: Everything to Ask Before You Say Yes
It’s been eight years since I got the email from my now-literary agent, Joanna MacKenzie, asking if we could schedule a phone call. After almost two years of querying two different manuscrip…
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In the new edition of Grace Wynter’s Author Up Close series, she interviews Somia Sadiq, an author whose work explores “the space between justice and forgiveness.” Today at WU.
Author Up Close: Somia Sadiq—Write Toward the Questions That Unsettle You
Greetings, WU fam! Summer is summering, the world is worlding, and we’re all still (hopefully) writing despite (or maybe because of) it all. In that spirit, I’m back with another Author…
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How can we understand the suffering of the Cuban people without seeking to understand history? Author and Cuban political refugee Elizabeth Huergo asks us to open our eyes, and suggests whom to read, today at WU.
Readings for Writers: South of the Buoy
At the southernmost point of the continental US, about latitude 24.5 and longitude 81.7, you will find an anchored buoy, 12-feet tall and 7-feet wide, a tourist attraction for visitors to Key West.…
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The Story Within the Story: The Life Narrative of Your Character, by David Corbett, today at WU.
The Story Within the Story: The Life Narrative of Your Character
t Let’s consider two characters—we’ll call them Angus and Zelda. Each is in their mid-twenties, living in New York City. Angus has lived his life without any clear direction, seizing on opportuniti…
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How do the stories we love inform our stories? How do we make the old into something new? Author and teacher Kathryn Craft shines a light, today at WU.
How the Old Becomes New
In some respects, we’re all writing a version of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. We can’t help it. We love stories because of those we’ve read, heard, watched, or otherwise absorbed througho…
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Writing for children is anything but easy. And getting stories into children’s hands is only getting tougher. Author Rachel Toalson advocates for children’s books, and their authors, today at WU.
In Defense of Writing for Children
It’s been a difficult summer in the world of children’s books. First of all, we kicked it off with our current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature publishing a book in which he writes…
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Are you on the road to burnout? If so, what can you do to avert it? Author Therese Walsh identifies the signs and provides ways to change course, today at WU.
Recognize and Manage Burnout-In-Progress
I’ve been burning the candle from both ends lately, so when I realized on Sunday that I was on the schedule for this week and had zero solid ideas in the works, I panicked. Luckily, I found n…
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Author Greer Macallister uses her own experience to illustrate how we can take our ideas to the next level, today at WU.
Taking Your Book Ideas to the Next Level
How do you keep track of your book ideas? Write them down in your phone’s Notes app, on a white board, in a notebook that you keep close, on a notepad on your nightstand? As with so many thin…
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Looking for a little optimism from the publishing side of things? StoryADay founder Julie Duffy delivers, today at WU.
I Was A Fly on the Wall at a Publishing Industry Conference. What Did I Learn?
I attended the US Book Show in the early summer of 2026—a publishing industry event held in the heart of Manhattan and hosted by Publishers Weekly. And no matter how hard they tried to avoid it, al…
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“The old adage of “show don’t tell” must go.” So begins a deep dive into the issue by agent, author, and teacher Don Maass, today at WU.
The Tyranny of Showing
The old writing adage “show don’t tell” must go. It’s simplistic and misleading. Showing is not automatically better. Indeed, the tyrannical dictum of “showing” leads commercial and literary writer…
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Going from writer writing to author marketing can be abrupt and trying. Soon-to-debut author Sarah Callender shares her struggles, today at WU.
Getting Books Into Readers’ Hot Little Hands
I teach 8th grade English, and as soon as my school year ended, I launched myself into full-on Summer Sarah, or, as my husband likes to say, Summer Wife. Yes, I’m aware this seasonal nickname…
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Ever ask yourself why you are pursuing a goal? Author Yuvi Zalkow takes along on his journey to answering his “why,” today at WU.
The Why Test (for Creative Projects)
Over the past six months, I’ve been working on yet-another-final-draft of a novel. As I got to the end of this draft, I thought I wanted to tell you the story of how I got through it, how I g…
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Trust us, friends, the scammers are getting trickier. Author and Writer Beware founder Victoria Strauss shows us how to spot scam emails, today at WU.
How to Spot Scam Email Addresses
I doubt that there will be anyone reading this article who hasn’t been targeted by a writing scam. That’s how prevalent and aggressive they are these days. Fraudsters who prey on writer…
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Just how bleak is the future for writers in an AI world? Author Kristin Hacken South delivers the lowdown, today at WU.
The AI Smackdown, Part Two: Further Evidence Is In
I frequently joke that I’ve become the third wheel in my marriage: my husband is having an affair with some bloke named Claude. I mean, if he’s up late with Claude, night after night, t…
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Do you have words that trip you up again and again? Author Emilie-Noelle Provost shares tricky word pairs, today at WU.
What’s the Word?
Words not only describe settings and actions, they also communicate mood, create suspense, stir emotions, and sometimes even provoke real-world action. No matter what you’re writing, successfully e…
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Ever wonder what it takes to crowdfund a publication project? Audiobook, maybe? Author Lisa Janice Cohen shares her experience, today at WU.
The Existential Dread: Kickstarter Edition
I exist in a state of continual tension between wanting to talk about and share my creative work and needing to be completely invisible in the world. This is not a helpful state of being as a write…
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Ever feel annoyed by being implored to chase your dreams at any cost? Ever consider that you might already be a success? Author Vaughn Roycroft recommends reflection, today at WU.
For the Love of It
I have a confession. Sometimes I get annoyed by encouragement. That sounds worse than what I mean. I’m talking about the cheery, impersonal stuff we all see in writerly circles online. You know the…
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