Writing Tips
Writing Tips is the general craft library — practical, standalone advice on the mechanics and psychology of fiction writing, from point-of-view management and reader engagement to diagnosing what’s actually wrong with a stuck scene. It’s a broader mix than the more focused Scene Craft or Revision categories, covering everything from sentence-level choices to the assumptions writers make about what readers already know. Built from real coaching sessions and fifteen-plus years of working with novelists, it’s a good place to browse if you’re not sure exactly what you’re looking for yet.
Sentence Structure in Fiction: How to Write Stronger Scenes One Sentence at a Time
What Is Sentence Structure?
Sentence structure in fiction is how you put together your words, phrases, clauses, and use sentence lengths to control a reader’s experience. Novelists use sentence structure to shape pacing, build tension, emphasize important moments, and develop narrative voice.
The most important element of Sentence Structure is control. To keep your reader connected, it’s important[…]
How to Pants Your Way to a Novel
The middle path between plotting and pantsing that actually gets books finished.
“Once we really got into it, I actually found the outlining kind of annoying,” a client told me recently. She’d tried detailed plotting systems, character worksheets, and extensive planning documents. “It’s like, no, I guess I’m just going to sit[…]
What I Taught at Novel Summer Camp (And What You Can Still Use)
Last week I had the privilege of joining ProWritingAid’s Novel Summer Camp for a live workshop on pacing — one of the most fundamental and most misunderstood tools in a fiction writer’s kit.
The session is recorded, and you can watch it below. But I also want to give you the core ideas in writing, because[…]
Make Readers See Your Scenes
The Best Books Make Readers See Their Scenes.
Yours Can, Too.
There’s a reason certain books get finished and certain books get put down.
It’s not the premise. It’s not the genre. It’s not even the writing, exactly — not[…]
The Books Readers Trust All Share This
For more about writing a book readers can’t put down, read this post first.
There’s a reason certain books get recommended and certain books get quietly abandoned.
It’s not always the plot. It’s not always the prose. Often it’s something subtler, something readers feel before they can name it: they don’t trust the[…]
Write the Book You Most Want to Read
There’s a piece of advice I keep coming back to, and I gave it to a client recently when she worried that her novel—ambitious, sprawling, decades in the character’s lives—might be too much. Too historical. Too personal. Too big.
I told her: write the book you most want to read. If it doesn’t exist yet, go[…]
Have You Ever Moved Three Times in Two Weeks?
A couple of years ago, I helped a friend move apartments. By the end of the day, she was surrounded by boxes in a new living room, trying to figure out where to put the couch. It took her about a week before the place started to feel like home — before she stopped reaching[…]
Writing Craft Advice from Denis Johnson
Press play to listen to a craft lecture by Denis Johnson.
In 1999 I had the good fortune to study with one of my heroes, the novelist and short story writer Denis Johnson (Train Dreams, Jesus’ Son, The Name of the World, Tree[…]
When Spitballing Fails: Writing as the Tool for Discovery
Here’s a scenario I see often in my coaching work: A writer has a plot problem. Something isn’t clicking—maybe the motive doesn’t feel strong enough, or there’s a gap in the logic, or a character’s actions don’t quite make sense. So we talk it through. We throw ideas at the wall. We brainstorm. We spitball.
And[…]
The Reader’s Backpack: What You Ask Us to Carry
Two essential metaphors that will change how you think about reader engagement.
“Call that the banana in the backpack metaphor,” I told a writer after explaining why his story opening wasn’t working. He’d been telegraphing plot developments before they happened, essentially telling readers what was in the backpack before asking them to be curious about it.
This[…]
I’ve Told You to Show, Not Tell. Here’s the Rest of the Lesson
You already know the rule. Every writing teacher, every craft book, every workshop you’ve ever sat in has said it: show, don’t tell. And if you’ve been working on your writing for any length of time, you’ve probably internalized it. You’ve cut the adverbs. You’ve replaced “she was nervous” with a physical action. You’ve learned[…]
The Iceberg Principle: What You Know vs. What Your Reader Needs
I was coaching a writer recently who’d done extensive research for his historical thriller. He knew the Ethiopian Jewish community’s ancient practices, the Knights Templar’s connection to religious artifacts, the details of World War II Italian fascism, and dozens of other historical elements that informed his story.
His problem? All of that research was ending up[…]
The Hidden Cost of Point of View Shifts: Why Your Reader Capital Matters
Every time you switch point of view in your novel, you’re asking your reader to make an adjustment. They have to leave one character’s head, reorient themselves, and settle into someone new. This cognitive shift isn’t free—it costs something I call reader capital.
Understanding this cost, and learning how to minimize it, can make the difference[…]
You’re Probably Solving the Wrong Problem
Writers come to me all the time with a diagnosis already in hand.
“My pacing is too slow.”
“I think I need to restructure the whole book.”
I’m not sure where my inciting incident is.”
“I’m worried I’m boring my reader.”
They’ve been thinking about this for weeks, sometimes months. They’ve read craft books. They’ve gotten feedback from writing groups.[…]
How Often Can You Ask Your Reader to Jump?
Thank you to Jane Friedman for sharing an earlier version of this post on her blog.
I’ve written before about the three kinds of transitions that require connective tissue and how connective tissue builds character through the in-between moments. Both of those posts focus on the same core skill: recognizing the jump and[…]
The Reader-Writer Curve: What’s Actually on the Page vs. What’s in Your Head
Why writers struggle with the assumption gap—and how to bridge it.
[Ideas in this post come from Frank Conroy’s essay “The Writers’ Workshop”—Featured in Dogs Bark, but the Caravan Rolls On.]
“I definitely write with assumptions,” a writer told me recently. “I assume my reader knows what I’m talking about.”
He’d just discovered something that trips up most[…]
Stop Varying Your Sentence Starts
There’s a sentence structure I see in many developing writers’ work, and when I point it out, they’re always surprised — not because they didn’t know they were doing it, but because they thought they were doing something good.
The structure looks like this:
Gripping the railing, she made her way down the stairs.
Scanning the crowd for[…]
How to Start a Novel: The Fastest Fix for a Weak Opening Scene
The Play That Started in the Dark
The most common problem in opening chapters is also the fastest to fix. It’s not your dialogue. It’s not your voice. It’s not your plot. It’s something so fundamental that you probably can’t see it on your own — but a reader notices it immediately.
Let me explain with a[…]
Your Character Needs a Body
Immersive fiction depends less on what a character sees and more on what they physically do.
A writer sent me the opening pages of her novel recently. The setup was strong — a complicated woman arriving at a place she didn’t want to be, surrounded by people who weren’t sure she belonged. The atmosphere was tense,[…]
What “Trust the Reader” Actually Looks Like on the Page
The phrase “trust the reader” gets repeated in writing workshops constantly, but it’s rarely defined in practical terms.
I was reading a client’s chapter recently — a scene where two men sit down to negotiate a backroom deal in 1950s Havana. There’s no shouting. No guns on the table. One of them lights a[…]
The Three Rules for Tagging Dialogue (And Why “Said” Is All You Need)
If you’ve ever overthought dialogue tags, you’re not alone.
A writer sent me a dialogue scene recently. The conversation itself was strong—sharp, tense, full of character voice. But she’d tagged every single line:
“I can’t believe you did that,” she said.
“What was I supposed to do?” he said.
“Tell me the truth!” she said.
“I am telling you the[…]
Stop Burying Your Best Verbs
I wrote recently about the hierarchy in your sentences — the idea that verbs and nouns carry the most weight, and that where you place them in a sentence determines how much force they actually deliver. (If you haven’t read that post, it’s a good place to start.)
Today I want to get more specific,[…]
Build the Bridge: 3 Kinds of Transitions
Thank you to Jane Friedman for sharing this post on her blog last week.
A writer recently told me she was struggling with her memoir structure. She’d written scenes about a difficult period in her life, and she wanted to include a memory from several years earlier that provided important context.
“How do I make[…]
Static vs. Dynamic Description Part 2: Implementation Strategies
This is the second part of our exploration of static versus dynamic description. In part one, we defined these concepts and explained why dynamic description matters for reader engagement.
The Overcompensation Problem in Dynamic Description
When writers first attempt to transition from static to dynamic description, they often fall into what I call “the compressed action[…]
Static vs. Dynamic Description: Understanding the Difference
One of the most transformative changes writers can make to elevate their prose is mastering the distinction between static and dynamic description. This seemingly subtle difference fundamentally changes how readers experience your story world and connect with your characters.
During a recent coaching session with a crime fiction writer, I found myself repeatedly drawn to this[…]
