NYT Bestselling young adult and middle-grade author Jonathan Auxier joins Mary Kole to discuss visual writing, worldbuilding, and how different media use dialogue to create action.

Now that you have a complete manuscript, you have some exciting decisions to make about what you want to do next. Whether Camp NaNoWriMo was a fun personal project or your first step on the path to publication, now is a great time to use your momentum to take your writing to new heights.

Should you be writing a standalone or a series arc? Let’s talk about some series perks.

If you’re wondering how to start your novel, your job is to hook the reader from page one. But how? In this post, editor Kristen Overman shares some tips on how to write an engaging novel opening, including how to start your novel with scene.

Historical and fantasy author Gail Carson Levine interviews with Mary Kole. She shares thoughts on the writing process, world-building, and her latest book, A Ceiling Made of Eggshells.

Few of us change overnight. We might wake up one morning and realize we’ve changed, but when we look back we can see it was the result of a million little things, day after day, that brought us to our current state. How do we build a character arc like this—showing gradual, compelling, believable change?

Negative feedback can be confusing and hard to hear. Turn what feels like “no” into a mission to “go”!

You can become a better writer by giving and receiving actionable advice. Here’s how.

One of the first decisions we have to make before writing is what tense to use. Present tense writing is often overlooked in favor of past tense—but when is present tense the better choice?

Story Mastermind is a five-month small group workshop intensive. The deliverable is a fully workshopped novel draft and submission materials. We’ll give you a taste of how we discuss story in Novel Mastermind: from the premise, the elevator pitch, the logline; to theme, character objective, and stakes.

This is everybody's favorite fucking topic. It is swearing in children's books. Very controversial. Keep in mind the power gatekeepers have in children’s publishing.

Revision happens best when you have a specific goal for your revision. Figuring out what your theme is, what your novel is about, is essential. Once you have your mission statement, you can start to put your chapters and your scenes up against that statement and see if they align.

I work as a freelance editor. I work with writers at thousands of projects a year on the revision process. I provide revision services. Every writer that I work with and every writer out there, I want them to engage in their own editing, their own revision process, because I do believe that a lot of writing happens in rewriting.

Your ending will make a lasting impression – one readers will carry with them after they put the book down. Here are some tips for writing an ending that will resonate with readers and get them excited for whatever you write next.

Overwriting happens often in early drafts, as writers try to get the story down and figure they’ll fix things later. Sometimes details draw us in, but often they can distract readers, pushing them to think about unrelated things ... and then to stop reading.

Violet prose—an ominous and sometimes confusing term. What is it, and how do we avoid it in our writing? Or … is it really that bad?

As writers, we all have perceived strengths we fall back on time and time again. But can over-reliance on your strengths actually weaken your manuscript?

How do you blend story feedback into your manuscript? This can seem like an impossible task—maybe you’ve received feedback that requires major surgery on your story. Maybe you’ve received conflicting feedback from different sources. How do you even begin?

To level up your writing, find a critique group. If you’re struggling to get past the first chapter, or you run out of interest midway through a project, a critique group could be essential. Getting feedback is invaluable, of course, but the benefits of joining a critique group don’t stop there.

Should you consider hiring an editor? What are the benefits, and how do you choose the right one? Former literary agent and publishing insider Mary Kole answers all your questions.