Writing Habits

“The customer is always right” doesn’t mean what most people think—and for authors, understanding what it actually means changes how you write, market, and respond to feedback about your book audience.

This five-habit tracker fits on a Post-It, takes sixty seconds to draw, and works for writing, reading, business goals, or any routine you’re trying to build. Here’s exactly how to set it up.

The writing you read is the end of a long process. The writing you create is the beginning. Here’s why comparing them is killing your progress—and what to do instead.

"I'm too busy." "I'm not good at it." "I don't feel inspired." These aren't the real reasons you're not writing. Here's what's actually going on—and what to do about it.

Three wildly different famous writers, three writing habits worth stealing. Here's what Hunter S. Thompson's retyping drill, Le Guin's daily schedule, and Bradbury's dedicated writing space can teach any writer about building a sustainable practice.

"Write more" is not a goal. Here's how to set meaningful, measurable writing goals across quality, quantity, productivity, and budget—and how to tell the difference between what you control and what you don't.

Hate outlining but need to know if your story holds together before you write 50,000 words? This synopsis-based planning method works for plotters, pantsers, and everyone in between.

You don't need an MFA, a day job in publishing, or a daily writing compulsion to call yourself a writer. Here are six "real writer" myths debunked—and the only thing that actually makes you one.

Plot and story aren't the same thing—and conflating them is one of the most common reasons manuscripts stall. Here's exactly what sets them apart, and a five-step method for plotting your book from start to finish.

Perfectionism doesn't make your writing better — it stops you from finishing. Here's what 21 years in publishing taught me about quality, errors, and knowing when to call it done.

Stuck in the middle of your draft and can't move forward? This one writer's block trick will get you unstuck and back to writing in minutes.

Can't seem to finish what you start? Here's a 4-step system for setting a writing deadline that actually works — and breaking your project down until it's done.

Before query letters, agents, or book covers: every writer needs to complete their first draft before they can pursue getting published.

Stop staring at the blank page. Here's a 4-step process for writing your first draft from idea to manuscript—without intimidating yourself out of starting.

A to-do list sounds simple — but most writers make theirs in ways that set them up to fail. Here are 7 tips for building a to-do list that creates momentum, handles distractions, and actually gets things done: from the three-section structure to immovable items, color categories, gimme tasks, rewards, and the overflow list.

The first step to doing anything well — including writing — is being absolutely terrible at it. A professional editor makes the case for writing badly, consistently, without worrying about quality, and explains why comparing your work to published books is like comparing rhubarb to rhubarb pie.

Writers make three common comparisons that quietly destroy their confidence — comparing their drafts to published books, to peers in their writing group, and to writers at a similar age or stage. Here's why those comparisons are unfair, and two useful comparisons you can make instead.

You have the idea. Now what? This step-by-step process helps writers get their story out of their head and onto the page — using journalism's 5 Ws, inverted pyramid structure, five-act story structure, and a gap-filling exercise to build a solid plot before you draft.

Writing with ADHD is hard — focus, executive function, and procrastination work against you at every turn. Here are five strategies a professional editor with ADHD uses to start writing and keep writing, with or without medication.

Every writer gets asked where their ideas come from. Here are three reliable sources fiction writers can return to again and again: dreams (even fragments), strategic creative borrowing, and the iteration game — a thought exercise that turns any existing story into something entirely your own.