We often see unconventional storytelling methods used in fiction, like text bubbles, to-do lists, and playlists. But what about in memoirs? Author Jennifer Lang has successfully used a variety of forms in her own […]

Award-winning author and editor Mekiya Outini shared invaluable insights for other editors on an episode of the Writing and Editing podcast. We continued the discussion after the show, and it is my hope that other […]

When writing a memoir, the author might wonder how much they should reveal of themselves and how much to hold back. Sharing a story that doesn’t cast us in the best light or is, quite frankly, […]

Have you ever wondered just why specificity matters? Eli Burnstein is a humor writer whose first book, Dictionary of Fine Distinctions, takes a clever and entertaining look at what differentiates similar sets or […]

Author and speaker Kevin O’Connor has found that using family letters enriches a memoir by bringing past feelings into the present and adding to characterization. He kindly agreed to elaborate on some of what we […]

Susan Day is an arts therapist practitioner, educator, author, and artist. Being creative and sharing the power of art with others is a dream come true for her. Susan is also passionate about helping people with […]

Have you ever wasted too much time that could have been spent writing looking back to see how you spelled “okay”? Or maybe you couldn’t quite remember whether Viktor’s last name was spelled Frankl or Frankel […]

Dialogue Tag or Action Beat?

What is the difference between a dialogue tag and an action beat? Why do they matter and why should we know how to format them?

Dialogue tags help your reader understand what is […]

Like many of us in the book community, I set a Goodreads goal at the start of each year. Sometimes those goals end up being overly optimistic and impossible to reach (how much free time did I think I would […]