All Stories

So you finished writing a book. Congratulations! And now sit down and let’s get to work. If you’ve been following me on this series, you already know that there are four levels of editing a book needs to go through to make sure it’s polished and ready to be viewed by the naked eye: Developmental Editing Line Editing Copyediting Proofreading Ideally, you’d hire professional editors to help you with all these editorial processes, but what if you don’t have the funds? I’ve got y

So you’ve finished writing your manuscript, thinking that the hard work is behind you, but then it comes creeping up from the shadows like a hungry trash-panda at night: editing. If you’ve followed me along for this series of articles, you’ll know by now that editing isn’t a one-and-done process but a series of revisions and polishing work your book needs before it is ready to be viewed by the naked eye. This series of revisions consists of: Developmental Editing Line Editing

You sat on your bum, wrote consistently, tuned into your inspiration, planned, plotted, pantsed, and danced around to summon the muses (or just built a habit, because muses can't be trusted), and finished a book. And now comes the real work—editing. But there are multiple levels of editing, and not all writers can hire a professional editor (not to mention 4 of them). So how can you self-edit on a budget? In the previous post, we talked about developmental editing on a budget

You finished writing your first draft. Congrats! But before your messy, passionate, and possibly brilliant first draft is ready to be published in any way or form, it needs to be polished like a diamond until it shines. And this polishing means editing. The problem is what do you do when you can’t afford an editor? Many writers tend to think of editing as this one-in-all stop, when in fact, there are different levels of editing a book needs to undergo: Developmental editing L

If plotting feels like too heavy an investment, and pantsing often keeps you stuck, a good approach that can help you make progress on your book is loose outlining. A loose outline is like a plot, only that it doesn’t need to be particularly detailed or even complete; it can be a general idea of the main events or just the next part of the book you’re about to write. Having a plan (even a loosely defined one) is a great way of ensuring that you know where your story is going,

When it comes to writing, some writers rush to take a side—either planning their book to the last detail and following that plan to the letter, or letting the muse guide them, writing when inspiration strikes and figuring things out as they go along. But have you ever wondered if you could be a plotter and a pantser at the same time and combine both approaches? In the previous two posts, I’ve shared an overview of both the pantsing and plotting approaches to writing, discusse

In the previous post, we talked about the pantsing approach to writing—what it is, why it works, and what to do when it doesn’t. But if sitting in front of a blank page sounds like more anxiety than fun, plotting might be the better writing approach for you. If you’re new to plotting, wondering if it might work for you, or find it challenging, this guide will help you understand what plotting is and how to use it to write your book. In today’s post, we’ll look at: What is Plo

One common question writers often ask each other (other than “why?”) is “Are you a plotter or a pantser?” If you’re drawn to pantsing, trying to figure out if it works for you, or keep getting stuck when you try it, this guide will help you understand what pantsing is and how to use it to write your book. In today’s post, we’ll look at: What is pantsing? Why write using this method? When pantsing doesn’t work? What to do about it? Let’s dive in. What is a Plotter or a Pantser

Your mood has a significant impact on your writing (shocking, I know). Feeling sad can draw you to describe gloomy days and dramatic conversations, while exciting events can make you feel pumped and act as fuel for more dynamic, fast-paced, or romantic writing (or make the dragon your heroes encounter in the cave suddenly start singing like a Disney princess). But while it can help, mood can also be a significant hindrance , and potentially prevent you from writing altogether

Can you recall the first time you were hit with the writing bug? For me, it was after discovering the fantasy genre. The limitless potential of a world much more mysterious than our own was so alluring, that I just had to try and create one of my own. But soon after attempting to write my first book, I realized that for some unexplainable reason, I just can’t seem to be able to. And I know I’m not alone in this. Many aspiring writers find that writing, despite our passion for

Last winter, as I was still busy preparing my debut book for release, I happened to stumble upon a conversation with a local indie-author who owned his own small publishing company and claimed to be an authority in the field. “How many times did you rewrite your book?” he asked me. “Do you mean how many times I edited it?” I replied, explaining that there were multiple rounds of beta-reader feedback, changes, tweaks, and lots of grammar checks with Grammarly. But our guy was

The writer’s path is full of obstacles—from deciding what to write about to actually finishing a manuscript. But one of the biggest challenges is one we create for ourselves: overthinking. For many writers, one of the main reasons they find it so hard to write a draft from beginning to end is that they keep getting themselves sidetracked by overthinking: What should the cover for this book look like? Is it YA or dark fantasy? How many goblins should ambush my protagonist in t

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck mid-writing—not sure how to develop an idea into a narrative, or not sure where to take your characters next—the problem isn’t with inspiration, but lack of analysis. We like to think of writing as a creative art, ruled by elusive powers such as the muse and inspiration. We wait for stories to unfold on their own and characters to mystically write themselves as they go through the plot. But if you’ve ever had a staring contest with a blank

For many beginner writers, the first struggle they need to overcome is actually writing something from beginning to end. But it’s not the only challenge an aspiring writer can face. Once writing a complete manuscript is no longer an issue, you soon find yourself faced with a different kind of question: how to improve as a writer, and ideally, without spending money on it? Whether you’re writing as a hobby or attempting to publish your books for the whole world to see, somewhe

Let’s face it, most fantasy writers are in it for the magic. And I can’t blame them—it’s much more exciting than our mundane reality. It’s what got me into writing fantasy in the first place; I’ve been to reality, and even though I haven’t lived through all possible human experiences, I think I get the gist. Fantasy, on the other hand, is a land of shiny, endless possibilities. But while liberating (from office jobs and pesky laws of physics), fantasy writing presents a diffe

Most aspiring writers struggle to finish writing a book, and it’s not only the discipline or the art of storytelling that’s standing in their way—but it’s also the fear of failure. For many beginner writers, the fear of criticism, of not being good enough, is the thing that takes them from “I have this great idea I want to write” to “It’s probably bad.” The paradox is, however, that becoming a good writer takes time and practice (as well as being open to criticism), and none

One of the main obstacles we face as writers is writing about things we know absolutely nothing about. We’re drawn to writing for the freedom it gives us to create worlds and visit places we’ve never seen (which is obviously more interesting than writing about what we know). But this freedom also poses a challenge. I recently encountered this problem when writing Monsters and Heroes ; I was fine with the quest through the dark forest and the royal family, but then came a scen

The thing most beginner writers struggle with the most is building a consistent writing habit. When you’re just starting out, writing feels chaotic. Your attention is pulled in a dozen directions, and your ability to write seems to depend entirely on the mood you wake up in or whether the muse decided to pay you a visit that day. But the reality is that writing has little to do with inspiration and everything to do with habit. And just to make my point – I’m writing this arti

Are you trying to decide whether to set your novel in the real world or a fantasy one? You’re not alone. Many writers get stuck at this exact crossroads, and I can’t blame them; Realism offers safety, familiarity, but also some serious expectations to meet, while fantasy offers, well, freedom. For many writers, fantasy solves problems that realism creates: overwhelming research, creative limitations, and a sense that everyday life simply isn’t interesting enough. Which is whe

If you’re anything like me, you probably find the idea of writing about our very real, modern, and clearly existing world deeply uninspiring. Writing is the time we dedicate to escaping the world we know into one we conjure on the page, so writing about that same familiar world sort of defeats the purpose. And it makes sense—if our minds can create places and people we’ve never seen before, why limit ourselves to the safety of the known? ​ When weaving a different reality as