“Show don’t tell” is the most repeated writing advice in existence. It’s also the most misunderstood. Telling isn’t bad. “She was exhausted” works fine if exhaustion is background the reader needs to move forward. Spending a full paragraph on heavy eyelids and stumbling steps would be self-indulgent. The real distinction is stakes. Tell when the…
55% of top-selling Kindle books in 2025 were romance — and 75% of those bestselling authors went indie. Five eye-opening stats about the hottest genre in publishing.
Plot vs. Story: The Key to Writing a Compelling Novel Many writers, even seasoned ones, often confuse the terms plot and story, using them interchangeably. However, as I explain in How to Fix Your Novel, understanding the crucial difference between these two elements can significantly improve your writing. By keeping plot and story distinct, you…
Lester Dent (1904–1959) was a prolific pulp fiction author who wrote hundreds of stories. He is best known as the principal author of the Doc Savage series, featuring a superhuman hero. Dent developed a formula—a master plot—for writing a 6,000-word pulp story. It has proven effective for adventure, detective, western, and war fiction. Here’s how it starts:…
Author Ian Fanselow breaks down his methodical approach to writing with an example scene from his new novel “Worlds Apart” I am a very methodical person and planning is my strength. So when I learned about the idea of “Scene and Sequel” it immediately clicked for me, and I developed a system I used for…
I chatted with Amazon Best-Selling author, illustrator, and Writing Academy graduate, Jeremy Ross, about the release of his third picture book in the Mustard Series: Mustard Thinks Twice! (available from Amazon). This time… Ketchup is up to his sneaky tricks again, and Mustard is faced with a difficult decision. Will Mustard join Ketchup and Ranch…
by Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey Between the Internet, Nintendo and the TV remote how can “boring” books compete? Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey explain what it takes to grab a kid’s attention and hold onto it from the beginning to “the end.” One chance. That’s all kids will give you before they toss…
by Laura Backes Tension. Without it, life would be–let’s face it–boring. So would fiction. Tension works with conflict to raise the emotional level of the text to a boiling point. It forces the reader to become invested in the story. But many children’s book writersare afraid to apply too much tension to their plots. They…
by Sid Fleishman Here are a few writing tips drawn from the pages of The Abracadabra Kid, A Writer’s Life. 1. It’s the job of the hero or heroine to solve the story problem: don’t leave it to a second-banana character like Uncle Harry. You’d know something was wrong if Watson solved the crime instead of Sherlock…
This handy chart was created by Advanced Fiction Writing student David Lovelock, who explained: When constructing outlines for a novel, I like to create a one-page overview that allows me to visualize and move my ideas around. Attached is what I’ve created to help with creating the main points of a Three Act Structure. I…
Moana has been on my mind recently thanks to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s adorable video singing his rap to his one-year-old. Like most kid’s movies, Moana’s structure is impeccable. And, like most musicals, some of the nine story structure checkpoints even get their own song! Here’s how this movie breaks down: Act 1 Hook The…
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