“In that book which is my memory, On the first page of the chapter that is the day when I first met you, Appear the words, ‘Here begins a new life’.” ― Dante Alighieri, Vita Nuova For everyone, a book…

As a writer, you may think you have the market cornered on this. This is one job where you can plug away for twenty years without positive reinforcement from the industry. Then one day, everything changes. Instead of an endless…

You may not know this about me, but I’m a gamer. I’ve been playing since college. First, it was pen and paper games, but pretty much as soon as I owned a computer, I also had games for it. Since…

For me, it’s character development. Interesting characters, those that are different, unusual, flawed: those are the ones I remember. I love reading about people who shine, who stand out from the literary pack. By shine, I don’t mean perfection. Flaws…

People often ask me how I can get so much done. So I’m going to share with you a few of the strategies I’ve learned since I’ve been writing professionally. 1) Don’t multitask. When you’re writing, that’s what you need…

At some point in your career, you may write something that offends. That’s the nature of the job. But don’t feel that you must choose the safe course for fear of running aground. The beauty of fiction is that we…

Every year around this time, I hear all about national novel writing month. People are jazzed about writing and that’s a good thing. People will try to give you advice about how to meet your goals, how to complete a…

I’ve been asked, more than once, how I go about writing a book. Certain factors don’t change from project to project. Some writers do extensive outlining before they start writing. I read. For instance, before I wrote Endgame, the last…

There is a school of thought that says you can’t write anything unless the stars are aligned and your muse is inspired. I don’t subscribe to it. I say there is inspiration / motivation to be found in adversity, too.…

We are our own worst enemies. When I read the words, “I can’t, because…” I feel sad. Because that is the reason you can’t. Because you believe you can’t, because you don’t try. And then failure is a given. We…

What do you do if what you’re writing isn’t a genre? In my case, I sell the book anyway. That’s certainly the situation for the book that came out yesterday. It’s called NIGHTFALL, and it has elements from fantasy and…

How many of you have vivid dreams? I do. I’ve wondered if there’s any correlation between those who have really detailed, realistic dreams, remember them, and use them to inform their writing on some level. I didn’t always remember my…

A friend and reader pointed out to me that I have a tendency to fill my books with things that terrify me. And she is 100% correct. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, however. It’s way cheaper than therapy.…

So I’m seeing tons of coverage of the digital phenomenon. There’s been a lot written about Amanda Hocking, obviously, and the new Kindle millionaires, many of whom have never been traditionally published. This is exciting for many reasons, but I…

I actually get this one pretty often. The answer is yes. I sleep, generally from midnight to eight a.m., unless I’m up later, giggling maniacally with Moira Rogers (Bree & Donna) in IM. This happens about once a week. I…

A couple of months ago, this site got a bit heated over NaNo. I don’t intend to open that dialogue again. Instead, I’m offering a glimpse of how I work, year-round. I hope it will prove beneficial, as I’m super…

I had an email from Therese, advising me that we’re taking questions from blog readers for the month of December. That was actually a relief, as I’m fast drafting this month, and I’m using most of my brain for other…

Kath here. Rarely do I preface a contributor post, but we’ve already had some upsets in the comments over Ann’s post.  A reminder that as writers, we can leave comments of disagreement that are polite and reasoned, and not the…

So last Tuesday, the fourth Jax book came out. I won’t be spoiling anyone by admitting this particular novel ends on a rather spectacular cliffhanger. Donning my reader hat for a moment, I have a love / hate relationship with…

That title is spot on for what I want to talk about today. First, let’s discuss our own egos. It can be easy to get puffed up because someone liked a book, or because we passed a milestone. But it’s…

Sometimes everything goes perfectly. You’re spot on schedule, writing away, making your word counts. Your life runs like a well-oiled machine. But what happens when your children need extra attention, the dog runs mad, you have four hundred errands to…

When Therese told me we’re having an “advice” month here on Writer Unboxed, I was pleased. Not because my advice is so stellar, but because themes make it easier for me to choose a post topic. Our lovely co-founder expressed…

People will tell you to do this or that to make it in this business. Sacrifice a goat. Knock three times on the ceiling if you want me. Never write at 3 a.m. Stop killing your main characters. (Okay, maybe…

Today I’ll be talking about the research I did to bring Kilmer to life in HELL FIRE. Kilmer is the archetypal spooky small Southern town, hiding dark secrets and terrifying magic. Here are some descriptive bits to give you some…

If you stick to it in this business, if you work on your craft and keep striving to improve, the chances are actually pretty good that you will achieve some level of success. There’s a saying I really like from…

I recently read a post wherein people discuss the idea of characters needing to be “worthy” of happiness and/or love. In other words, some folks don’t want to read about people who don’t always walk the straight and narrow, or…

So I got a DM from Therese this week, telling me that we’re focusing on voice this month. I was happy to have some direction for my post. First, I’ll say that I’m not feeling well as I write this,…

I asked on Twitter what I should write about today because I like to feel there’s some interest beforehand. That means people will read what I have to say! So Eliza asks, “How do you keep more than one story…

Today on WU, I’ve chosen a query letter from the pile and will give it a makeover. This is a pretty good starting point, but we can do better. Here’s the text, as sent to me, but I should note;…