
It’s Time to Go on a Diet - Writing Tighter and Making Your Manuscript Lean
Every year, in the dead of winter, several people across the English-speaking world come up with long-term and short-term plans to trim...


Reel Your Reader In: Finding a Hook for Your Book
What’s the best way to reel your reader into your story? Answer: Capture their attention. Use a hook, or a hook sentence, to engage your...


What's Your Story? Pen Your Memoir
Everyone has a story. It’s true. Some people have many stories, but everybody has at least one. That means YOU have a story, and you get...


Jessi's Guide To: Formatting Rules
Do you ever find yourself struggling with formatting academic essays or manuscripts? Here’s something to make your life a little easier....


Top 5 Reasons Why You Need to Join a Writer's Group
Are you looking for feedback on your thesis? Do you need direction on where your story is going? Are you looking to expand your audience?...


The 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing
As an editor and writer, I’m always on the lookout for good reference or learning material. I just finished a book that fulfills both...


Slogging Through the Mud… Writing as a Journey
Envision this: you’re sitting at your computer, blank document open, and all you can do is stare at the page. You have the idea in your...

Revision and Self-Editing: Let the Blood-Letting Commence!
Woo-hoo! You’ve written the draft. That cursed blank page is chiseled with 50,000-80,000 words. Well done! Now lock that manuscript in a...


Quality V. Quantity
I remember when I first read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. My high school freshman literature teacher referred to the book as a...

Are Your Characters Real?
There are many important elements to develop when writing a story. Your characters are certainly one of them. Without a well-developed...