Write your mess. Write your truth. Write what hurts. Someone out there needs it more than you know

Sometimes the most mythic moment in your book should be the leg of a drowning mythological figure waving from a distant corner.

The beauty of language doesn’t always come from sitting in your chair, sipping a nice tea, and waiting for divine inspiration to strike.

The beauty of fiction is that we get to explore those gaps, to discover the things we didn’t know we didn’t know.

Don’t be afraid to surprise your readers. After all, life is full of omnishambles—same for your stories

It was a regular day at the bar when James Joyce’s writer friend sat down, ordered a strong drink.

The fun, chaotic, and deeply human part of the story is what happens when ideals crash and burn

It’s about surviving the entire process, then standing on the other side with a wry smile, knowing you’ve done your time.

Here’s the deal: you can either play it safe, writing characters who are as boring as wet toast, or you can let your imagination run wild.

So don’t cry over that “failed” manuscript. Embrace it. Hold it close. And then let it go...

Find the "egg fee" in your next story, and see where it takes you.

How could someone take a perfectly reasonable idea and turn it into something wildly, explosively, spectacularly out of hand?

The next time you're stuck for a plot, remember the absurdity of it all. The mistakes, the greed, the human error...

Serve the Weird (it's okay, you'll see what I mean)

As a writer, slip a little “Woodman’s Son” moment into your narrative for comic effect (or a fireplace tragedy)!

Welcome to Action Park: Where Fiction Writers Find Wickedly Flawed Characters

Let’s start with the obvious: writing 300 words a day sounds great in theory. It’s the literary equivalent of going to the gym regularly...

The Agincourt Playbook - How French Overconfidence (and Mud) Can Ruin Everything

Ah, verschlimmbesserung—one of those delightful German words that perfectly captures the phenomenon of well-intentioned failure.

Dodging the "Giggles of Death"