What I Learned (the Hard Way) About Becoming a Full-time Writer

If you want to get your writing noticed, if you want the world to hear your message, you can’t just sit in a cabin and write all day. There’s more to mastering your craft than that. You have to put yourself, and your work, out there.

Overcoming the 10 Biggest Obstacles to Creating

As much as we wish we could, it is impossible to completely get rid of the resistance to create — whether that’s creating art, starting a business, or writing. The resistance will always come up … but we have to learn how to overcome it, to work with it. You must conquer the obstacles that get in the way of the creation habit - on a daily basis.

About That White as Default Thing

I describe myself as Asian. But white people don’t generally describe themselves as white; they have the privilege of not having to think about it. That’s why I will always, always read a character as white until told explicitly otherwise, and why I will never be able to see me in a racially “neutral” character.

How to Set Up Pre-orders for Self-published E-Books

Making your book available for pre-order is a great way to satisfy that universal urge for immediacy. For potential readers who are following up a direct lead to your book, it gives them the option to set up a purchase there and then; for those who discover your book through search or algorithmic recommendation, it reduces the risk that they will move on and buy something similar that is available to buy/pre-order.

Getting Ready for an Edit: How to Help Your Editor and Save Money

You’ve written a book, and it’s time to send it to your editor. Or is it? That depends on how much work you want your editor to do. It may also depend on how deep your pockets are! What if we told you that there are some things you can do yourself, and that by doing them, you’ll learn a lot about writing and save on editing costs?

The Basics of Point of View for Fiction Writers

The goal in selecting a point of view is not simply finding a way to convey information but being able to tell it the right way, making the world you create understandable and believable. The following is a brief rundown of the basic forms of POV available to you and a description of how they work.

I Can't Finish My Story! Failure to Launch, a (Common) Writer Nightmare

It’s not uncommon to see the finish line and suddenly become… intimidated. Truman Capote said finishing a story is like taking your child out in the back yard and shooting it. Oh yes he did Oh yes he did See? Why is that? Why do so many writers get so far along and then not finish?

The Publication Path, First to Last Draft

For new writers, it’s hard to hear about seventh, eighth, tenth, twentieth, fiftieth drafts. When we finally put pen to page with a wonderful idea, we’re just proud to finish. But perhaps, reading over our work, we realize there could be improvements, and so we revise.

Why You Still Want To Kick Someone’s Butt Even Though You Meditate (And Why It’s Okay)

You’ve been lied to. You’ve been told meditation will turn you into a sweetly smiling saint; endlessly kind, patient, and positive. But that’s a crock. You’re not an android. You’re built to have feelings. Meditation won’t erase them. And that’s good! Because without emotions your life would be as flat as a gravestone.

14 Ways to Avoid Being Accused of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious issue and it’s no longer limited primarily to academic circles. The need to meet ever-shorter deadlines, fill content mills, build a backlist of novels to generate more sales, and churn out more and more articles to satisfy hungry blog readers is leading to an increase in plagiarized work. No matter how it happens, it can lead to serious legal trouble if you are caught. You want to do everything you can to avoid this kind of trouble. 

This Just In: Generic is Not Going to Cut It

Book promotion that is all one-sided does not work, and in fact, most of the time it has the opposite effect. Promotion of any kind (including for books) does not work if all you’re doing is yelling “buy my thing” over and over again to anyone who will listen. Promotion is about building relationships over time, then presenting a quality product so that your relationships might either buy your thing or help you promote it.

Five Mistakes To Avoid in Your NaNoWriMo Novel

To help you with your masterpiece-in-progress, Grammarly compiled a list of the most frequent writing mistakes they encountered while editing their 2014 NaNoWriMo project, a crowdsourced novel called Frozen by Fire. When it’s time to proofread and revise your manuscript, make sure to watch out for these common pitfalls.

Does an Author Really Need Social Media?

It’s inevitable: The instant you release a book or decide you’re going to be an author, you start finding articles and advice everywhere about social media. The cloud of advice is thick and vast, and it’s generally confusing and contradictory to boot. And that leaves you wondering what you’re really supposed to do with social media. 

Blank Page to Final Draft: Write, Revise, Edit, and Complete Your Novel in 2016!

Every Monday in 2016, Bryn Donovan will share a post with a weekly assignment on her blog. If you do the thing every week, by the end of the year, you will have not just a whole novel draft, but a complete, revised, and edited novel. The first post will be January 1. Are you in?

YA Fiction Advice from Some Actual Young Adults

When two bright and insightful teenagers, Natalie and Bella, stopped by the Wise Ink office to learn more about self-publishing, we decided to learn something from them as well. When they weren’t busy helping us get organized or reading manuscripts, we asked them to give us a consumer’s perspective on one of today’s most beloved book categories: Young Adult fiction.