by Meg Dowell

Pursuing a career in writing comes with plenty of obstacles. Overcoming those obstacles — especially when your barriers involve other people — can be overwhelming. The stress of trying to Make Writing Happen can be draining enough to force you to consider quitting. Even though you shouldn’t!

Here are a few things that will, or have already, almost convince you to stop writing — and how not to let them bring you down.

Continue reading Everything That Will Tempt You to Quit Writing–and How to Deal with It →

Throwback Thursday is a series where we take a look back at some of AWP’s most popular posts. Enjoy!

by Katie McCoach

Your fingers hurt. Your eyes burn. You haven’t had anything to drink except coffee for the past few days, weeks, year. You are pretty sure you haven’t slept a full night without dreaming about characters and plot lines.

You are certain you will never type again. Because you finally finished writing the first draft of your novel. Phew!

No matter how many times an author finishes the first draft of a novel, they know this is only the beginning of the writing process. So what do you even do after you write that first draft? What comes next? Where do you even begin the process of revising, rewriting, sharing, and more?

Continue reading Throwback Thursday: What to Do After the First Draft →

by Kelsie Engen

Writers can mostly agree that writing is a time consuming process. You write a first draft, step back, revise into a second draft, send out for feedback (beta readers or developmental editor), receive and revise, send for final edits, then finally submit and (possibly change) and then publish. Whew. I get tired just writing that list.

Then factor in this: Some authors spend a decade or more writing and perfecting their novels.

So…what can you possibly do in 15 minutes?

Continue reading What Can You Write in 15 Minutes? →

by Whitney Carter

“I hate writing, I love having written.” – Dorothy Parker

Do you know what the single most important characteristic of a writer is? Determination. Determination translates to the discipline that sees you to writing even when you don’t feel like it, into perseverance to keep submitting in the face of rejection and through the writer’s blocks and headaches and heartaches that are the process of stringing words together.

Continue reading Why Writers Need Determination →

by M.K. Williams

When you are juggling a day job and working on your next book, it can feel like there is never any free time to market the book that you currently have available for purchase. Who has the time to do everything that is recommended, all while finding time to craft captivating dialog and suspenseful plot twists? Here are a few methods that I have found that have helped me to market both of my books while I have been working on the third:

Continue reading Balancing Marketing and Writing New Books →

by Destine Williams

Hey everybody, today I wanted to do another Day In the Life post. And for today’s topic, I wanted to shift our focus inward and talk about something that’s been on my mind a lot these days. It’s this idea of being more honest when we write, draw, compose, or just create well…anything.

On Where This All Came From…

You see I’ve always had this feeling before I had the words to express them, but it was finally cleared up for me when I heard about artists that have sketchbooks that are made for the sole purpose of showing people and separate sketchbooks that are just for them.

Continue reading What Would You Write If No One Was Looking? →

by Kathryn

Write What You FEEL

Because of reasons, I’m going to dive back into the importance of “show, not tell”.

What are the reasons? Well, I’m not going to talk about it because I don’t want to traumatize my readership, but if you hop on to my Twitter and scroll back a few days, you’ll see some nooooooooooo gifs with the hashtag #AllTheBoats.

That’s my vague reaction to what I was suffering through, and what inspired me to draft this post.

Ugh.

Moving on.

Continue reading How to Instantly Add Depth to Your Story →

by Helena Fairfax

This is another topic that has made me take a good look at my own writing. My first thought is that it’s vital to have an opening that hooks the reader. Some people say a killer opening is even more important now, since online stores like Amazon have a facility to “Look inside” the book, or to download the first few pages as a sample.

They say readers have too much choice and a short attention span, and we have to be hooked immediately or you lose us. But I think back to the days when there was no Amazon and I could only obtain books from bookshops or libraries. I used to do exactly the same thing before choosing a book – check out the blurb, and then have a read of the opening to see if it grabbed me. If I wasn’t hooked, I put the book back.

Continue reading Hooking the Reader with a Killer Opening to Your Book →

by S. T. Sanchez

1. Trustworthy

This is definitely something you want to look at.  Can you trust this person to read and critique your work without sharing it and putting it out on social media without your consent.  (This has happened to well known authors.  Just look up midnight sun by Stephenie Meyers)

Some writers even go so far as to have their beta readers sign a confidentiality agreement.  I have chosen not to go this route, but I am very particular about who I let see my work pre-publication.

Continue reading 5 Qualities to Look for in a Good Beta Reader →