I’d never heard of whole-word reading until recently and my immediate reaction was… Why?I learned to read by sounding words out. So I was fascinated to discover that for years many schools moved away from systematic phonics and instead encoura…
The most valuable writing lesson I learned from beta readers had nothing to do with praise.Of course it’s nice to hear things like, “I loved this chapter.” Every writer appreciates that. But if I’m looking to improve my work, those comments don’…
It took me years to realize writing and math had something in common.I was good at math. Really good. In high school, I happily gave up two hours of sport each week to study university-level math. The more complicated the equation, the happier I…
Before anyone jumps on me, I’m not talking about beta readers or ARC readers. That’s a completely different relationship with different expectations.I’m talking about the reader who spots your cover, reads the blurb, sees a social media post and…
What people think writing is:✨ Inspiration strikes. ✨ You sit down. ✨ The words flow effortlessly. You type “The End.” ✨ Your book is published. ✨ Readers magically discover it.What writing is actually like:• Staring at a blinking cursor wonder…
Trigger warnings (or content warnings) are one of those topics that seem to spark endless debate in the book world.Some readers appreciate them. Others feel they act as spoilers. Some authors worry they reduce a complex story to a checklist of d…
I stopped chasing the perfect first draft a long time ago.Like most writers, I started out wanting every line to be perfect. I’d polish paragraphs, tweak dialogue, and rework scenes before moving on. Eventually, I realized I was wasting my time …
Writing a book isn’t hard. Finishing one is.The beginning is exciting as the world expands and the characters come to life. Jumping back in front of the keyboard is pretty easy.Then comes the middle. That’s when you hit the trenches, keeping the…
One of the most important questions a writer can ask is: What is my character’s “why”? Not what they want. Not what they do. But why they do it.A strong “why” gives context to every decision a character makes. Take “The Social Network” for examp…
There’s currently a lot of discourse on social media about readers skipping descriptive passages and only reading dialogue. Some authors seem genuinely alarmed by this. Readers have been skipping chunks of text for decades. Long before BookTok, …