Today on Reddit I saw a post from a young author who felt unsupported. He was seeking someone to edit his book for free, or give feedback or commentary. I’m sharing my response because I truly sympathize: writing can be hard and isolating. And getting real feedback from a developmental editor is expensive. I charge $5K+ for editing and...
Quick Answer The best writing coaches charge $50–$300/hour — but most writers don’t need one; a developmental editor is usually a better investment. I started this article ages ago but only recently decided to finish it: in the past I’ve been skeptical of writing coaches in general, and even made an hour long rant in
People are sometimes confused about the phrase “writing to market”. On the one hand, it sounds like tropes and elements, that are unique to each genre. That’s half of it. Tropes should be sustained and elevated, same same but different: it’s about meeting reader expectations and requirements – this is what they wanted...
There are three ways to write a successful memoir: Be Someone Famous. Know Famous People. Write a Good Story. If you’re famous and you have a lot of fans, you can write about what you ate for breakfast and people will still read it. If you’re not famous but have met a lot of famous
After I finished writing BookCraft, I got a little obsessed with the particularities of writing a satisfying conclusion or resolution. It’s something I started noticing in TV shows and movies, especially: how the hero’s personal quest was deliberately illustrated with a hard comparison, a “before and after” that...
Quick Answer Show don’t tell means using action, dialogue, and sensory detail instead of stating emotions directly — here are three techniques. (Updated May 2026.) What does it mean when you get feedback on your writing or advice to “show don’t tell”? I get this question a lot but didn’t have a clear answer...
Real quick: Medium is a side-project by Twitter CEO that’s mostly unmonetized but gets a crazy amount of traffic; making it one of the biggest content sites on the internet. You *can* get paid by views under certain conditions and *some* writers are making real money ($1000~$10,000 a month) but it’s not easy to do
There’s a revolution happening in literature: writers are going short. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve already heard of flash fiction, those tiny, compressed stories flourishing in the literary underground. Writers and readers are falling in love with the form and discovering something delightful and poignant in these small spaces...
Quick Answer Start with your reader’s problem, outline 8–12 chapters that solve it step by step, and use the templates below to structure each one. (Updated May 2026.) When I wrote my huge guide to book writing (Book Craft) I cut out all the nonfiction tips and strategies last minute; I’d already explored a bunch
After spending years as a developmental editor, a decade getting my PhD in Literature and a few writing courses where I helped thousands of writers nail the basics of plotting out their story, I decided to put my best tips on the craft of writing together in a book. I already knew I had unique
Twists make readers react. Sometimes, a great plot twist makes your jaw hit the floor, or make you want to turn back to page one and start the book all over again, this time with a whole new perspective. Learning how to write twists will help you entertain your readers and sell your stories, especially
Quick Answer Write your memoir in 10 chapters: childhood anchor, defining crisis, the struggle, turning point, aftermath — here’s the full template. This is an advanced excerpt from Anna David’s new release “Make Your Mess Your Memoir.” If you’re ready to take your own experience and make it into a memoir...
