• There are two different camps writers fall into when it comes to how much writing goes into the first draft. There are those who choose a skeleton draft...

    The First Draft: Skeleton Draft or Bulging Draft

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    Just like there are two different types of plotting styles—plotting and pantsing—there are also two different camps writers fall into when it comes to how much writing goes into the first draft. There are writers who choose a skeleton draft, meaning they put the bones of their stories down during the first draft and then use subsequent drafts and rounds of revisions to continue to grow and fill out their manuscript until it’s complete. Other writers aim to put anything and everything down on paper during the first round, which is typically a bulging draft and way over word count.…

  • This writing challenge is simple and its sole purpose is to get you writing every day. There are 30 writing prompts below. Write a sentence, a poem, or a ...

    30 Writing Prompts for the Next 30 Days

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    Grab a new notebook or open up a new doc, it’s time to start a new writing challenge! This one is simple and its sole purpose is to get you writing every day. At the end of the 30 writing prompts, you may have either found an idea for your next writing project, written publishable content, or just practiced writing every day–which is an accomplishment on its own. There are 30 writing prompts below. Read one prompt per day and write a sentence, a poem, a paragraph, an essay, or whatever you’re inspired to write! Write about the time you…

  • Self-Check: If you’re devoting a lot of time to writing but aren't seeing the progress you want, keep tabs on yourself. Is self-editing slowing you down? ...

    2021 Writing Self Check-in

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    Self-Check  How are your 2021 writing goals going so far? If you feel like you’re devoting a lot of time to writing, but you aren’t seeing your word count climb, then you may want to start keeping tabs on yourself. Is self-editing, as you go, slowing you down? Starting each writing session by editing what you wrote during your previous writing period can eat up a significant amount of time you could have been writing, and you’ll never make large strides in your word count that way. Find a paper planner you can use solely for this self-check. Add in…

  • There's less than a week left of NaNoWriMo. Here’s how to keep moving forward, no matter which stage you’re at in your writing this month.

    NaNoWriMo Check-In 

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    If you’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo this year, my guess is you’re acutely aware that there is less than a week left to accomplish the challenge of writing 50,000 words in the month of November. Don’t start to sweat at that thought. Here’s how to keep moving forward, no matter which stage you’re at in your writing this month. If you’re super far behind. Take a few minutes to figure out why or how you got so far behind on your NaNoWriMo project. Did something unexpected come up at work or home that is out of your control? Give yourself…