You’ve typed “The End” on your first novel and feel triumphant—until you join a critique group and realize everyone’s first draft has the same invisible wounds. The protagonist who conveniently forgets their own backstory. The opening chapter that’s been polished to death while the rest gathers dust. The villain who explains their entire plan in … Read more
You celebrate writing 500 words on Monday, feel guilty for skipping Tuesday, manage 200 words on Wednesday, then life explodes and you don’t touch your project for two weeks. The cycle repeats monthly. This isn’t laziness—it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of how habits form. Writing isn’t about heroic bursts of inspiration; it’s about building a system … Read more
You’ve written “The End” at 150,000 words and feel triumphant—until a literary agent’s submission guidelines stop your heart: “Young Adult Fantasy: 80,000 words max.” Your epic isn’t epic; it’s unpublishable. Or is it? The unspoken truth of publishing is that word count functions as a first-pass filter, a market signal, and a reader contract all … Read more
You type “THE END,” lean back, and feel… absolutely terrified. The thing that consumed your mornings, your commutes, your insomnia-fueled midnight sessions is suddenly complete. For months, you lived inside these characters’ heads, and now they’re squatting in yours, demanding to know what happens next. The first draft is a miracle of persistence, but it’s … Read more