And why is it so important for storytellers to get this right? — Note: This is part one of a two-part guide to fiction themes and plot-themes. To avoid making this article overly long and complex, I will address themes here and plot-themes in part two. Another note: I mostly reference novels in this article, but everything I say here about fiction themes…

It’s super important to understand what these are and how they work — I’ve been writing regularly since 1996. Based on my weekly average word counts, I’m sure I’ve written more than 10 million words by now. …

A handy set of ideas, tools, and strategies to jumpstart your fiction writing — The overwhelmingly vast majority of fiction writers I’ve met don’t actually do much writing. They think about writing, they talk about writing, they read about writing, but they rarely sit down and put pen to paper. This is a hard struggle to overcome, I get it. I’m writing this guide…

Writing a great novel is never easy, but this process makes it easier — I’ve been writing long fiction since the mid-late 90s. In all that time, I’ve collected a great deal of strong evidence in support of the idea that there is a specific way to write novels that almost invariably produces better novels than any other process. I could lay out all…

More isn’t always better — The other day, I was reading a novel written by an indie author. Halfway through the second chapter, my attention started to wander. The author spent roughly 800 words describing what three characters look like in ways that were mostly irrelevant and uninteresting. (800 words is half of this article.)…

No alchemy required — When my coaching clients ask me how to deal with writer’s block, I always start by telling them the same thing: You have to recognize that writer’s block isn’t real. There’s a good chance that you’re now furrowing your brow in mixed annoyance and disbelief. “What is this guy talking…

There’s (almost) no such thing as too much time spent on getting your theme right — I’ve edited thousands of nonfiction pieces written by other writers, from blog posts to news articles to books. When I see major problems, the root cause is the same in about 70% of cases: a poorly-formulated theme. In nonfiction, the theme is equivalent to the foundation of a building. If…

Turn your meandering drafts into clear, compelling arguments with this set of underappreciated editing tools — Easy reading is damn hard writing. — Nathaniel Hawthorne¹ Different kinds of writing call for different editorial approaches. Elements of one editorial process often work well for entirely different kinds of writing, but that’s not always the case. Today, I’d like to share a powerful process for editing long-form persuasive…