What’s a scene? What’s a chapter? How do we use them to keep the reader hooked?

I’ve had this interesting question from Tom Austin. Could you please tell me the difference between a scene and a chapter, and define what they are? How long should a chapter be? To some of us, the…

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Let the messages emerge from characters and story – how journalist Alice Wright switched to novels

Alice Wright’s usual writing was entertainment columns until one day her imagination took an unexpected swerve. A beautiful day, a spooky song in the headphones, and she found she needed to write a…

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The envy that sends writers back to work

Let’s talk about one of the emotions of the creative life: envy. I don’t mean malice. The kind that wants someone else to fail. I mean the sharp twinge we feel when another writer, director, artist…

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Let the messages emerge from characters and story – how journalist Alice Wright switched to novels

Alice Wright’s usual writing was entertainment columns until one day her imagination took an unexpected swerve. A beautiful day, a spooky song in the headphones, and she found she needed to write a…

nailyournovel.wordpress.com

From lifeless to compelling: 5 craft fixes that transform a story

If you’re working on a novel or memoir, you might see this feedback at some point: it’s not quite working yet. It’s a bit lifeless. What might be wrong? Although we all have different strengt…

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Layer Cake: Writing Historical Fiction

Dateline: Budapest. Inspired by a recently discovered fresco in Pompeii depicting a delectable flatbread on a platter with a large goblet of red wine, a Budapest pizzeria crafted a pie using only i…

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You’ve Got Main Character Energy

Do kids these days still talk about main character energy? It was used for awhile as both a compliment and insult–compliment when noticing that someone was confident and taking charge of thei…

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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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The Switch to a Slow-Burn Writing Process

I’ve always been the type of person who’s hyper aware of the passage of time. I know time is fleeting, so when I know I want to do something, I want to do it as soon as possible lest time run out. …

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Author Up Close: Eriq La Salle—Keep Writing. Keep Going. Keep Creating.

Welcome back to another installment of Author Up Close, my exclusive series for Writer Unboxed where I interview authors at various stages of the publishing process. Today, I’m delighted to s…

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2026 Interview Series: Bookstagrammers and What You Should Know

This year, for The Buzz series, I am interviewing marketing-minded authors and other book-loving creators who are doing great things in our industry. In my last post, I spoke with popular books pod…

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From lifeless to compelling: 5 craft fixes that transform a story

If you’re working on a novel or memoir, you might see this feedback at some point: it’s not quite working yet. It’s a bit lifeless. What might be wrong? Although we all have different strengt…

nailyournovel.wordpress.com

4 Ways Specificity Drives Your Story Forward

Detail creates story movement by inviting the reader into your story’s experience. Sometimes. If you apply that detail indiscriminately, it’s equally possible that you’ll entangle your reader and d…

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Why Do We Write?

My youngest daughter got engaged last week, which means it’s been an intense weekend, with lots of hugs and joyful tears and gratitude and hope and excitement for the future. At the end of the week…

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Five Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing Five Years Ago

We’re thrilled to have former WU contributor and multi-published, New York Times bestselling novelist Allison Winn Scotch back with us today to share some of what she’s learned! Eleven …

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Write Anywhere, Write Everywhere

When my first book came out, I was working full-time, writing, and parenting two kids under three. It was, to say the least, hard to find the time to write. It was also hard to find a place to writ…

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What Noir Can Teach Any Writer

Please welcome author Ruth Knafo Setton to Writer Unboxed today! Ruth is the author of two novels, The Road to Fez, and her latest, Zigzag Girl, “[a] mystery that understands how easily a per…

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Lessons from hiring the wrong editor – and how to find the right match. Honest advice after the Indie Author Lab

A developmental editor is usually the first professional to see your book. Ideally they’ll help you nurture its strengths, tone up its weaknesses, get you writing your best work. But finding that p…

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Failing the Perception Check

In the video game Baldur’s Gate 3, you will occasionally stumble across traps—small landmines or treasure chests rigged to explode. To avoid taking damage, you roll a Perception check to see if you…

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Overlooked Tools

I moved recently. My new place is great. It’s all set up, but that took some doing. Unpacking. Arranging. Assembling some flat-pack furniture. Hanging pictures and art. Naturally, I needed tools. W…

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The Power of Story to Spark Corrective Emotional Experiences

Can a so-called “spicy” fictional hockey show from a small Canadian production company, based on a niche romance book series, provide genuine emotional breakthroughs for millions of global viewers?…

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Time After Time After Time

For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a wonderfully quirky gift: the Author Clock. With a simple, elegant design that should suit most decor styles, this clock tells the time through book quotes.…

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A Lesson in Perseverance from Walt Disney

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Disney Family Museum located in the beautiful Presidio in San Francisco. Being a Disney fan, I heard about the museum, started by one of Disney’s daught…

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Of Pens and Swords

In January 2011, a series of pro-democracy protests and demonstrations across North Africa and the Middle East succeeded in deposing multiple rulers. This constellation of events became known as th…

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Writing Retreats: What Showing Up Builds

Publishing is lonely in ways that are hard to explain to non-writers. I doubt I could persist without my trusted writer friends to help me navigate this career. This week, six of us have rented a h…

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Writing Retreats: What Showing Up Builds

Publishing is lonely in ways that are hard to explain to non-writers. I doubt I could persist without my trusted writer friends to help me navigate this career. This week, six of us have rented a h…

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New Perspectives at 14,000 Feet (and Falling Fast)

The photo above is real. Yep, that’s me, having just leapt from a perfectly good airplane 14,000 feet over Whitewright, Texas on January 15th, 2026. My thought at that moment: “Well, I’m out.” That…

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Take Five Interview: Gwendolyn Womack and THE LAST LABYRINTH

We are delighted to bring you an advance look at the new book from WU contributor Gwendolyn Womack. THE LAST LABYRINTH paperback and audiobook release on April 1st, and it’s a First Reads Pic…

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Finding The Heart of the Story

I was talking with a group of writer friends last week about latest projects, and we ended up in a deep discussion about the heart of the story, what it means to each of us, how we find it, and how…

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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…

writerunboxed.com