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Thought Triggers: The Chekhov’s Gun of Writing Tricks
“Clever Cogs!” by Piyushgiri Revagar An experience most of us are familiar with: You’ve just bought something new, whether it be a car, a backpack, a sports jersey with a particular player’s number,...
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Learning to Wait Well: A Pragmatist’s Guide to Easing the Ugh
photo by Martijn van den Bemt I want to talk today about waiting, and not just because I’m yet again standing on the shore of A Long Wait. (Okay, partially because I’m standing on the shore of A Long...
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Getting Back to Grateful
photo by Cindi Albright If there’s one universal truth about all types of writing and all types of writers, it’s probably that this is hard. Writing is difficult. If you pursue it with any persistence...
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Summit Fever and Knowing When to Say Whoa
Photo via Visual Hunt My husband who climbs mountains (I know) once told me about a phenomenon one of his peers had experienced, known in the field as “summit fever.” Poet me perked immediately, drawn...
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Which Types of Readers to Use for Feedback
Photo by David Melchor Diaz Every writer needs feedback before publication—every writer and every book. It’s a critical part of the process. In fact, it’s several critical parts of the process, because...
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How to Process and Filter Feedback
Photo by Robert Gourley In my last post I talked about “which types of readers to use for feedback,” covering the pros and cons of a weekly critique group, beta readers, specialty readers, and agents...
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The Forest for the Trees
One of the hardest lessons I’ve had to learn—and am still constantly learning—as a writer has been patience. Not just moment-to-moment, don’t-re-check-your-inbox patience, but long term,...
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When Risks Go Wrong
“Blue mountains” by Adam Kubalica I talk about fear and bravery a lot because they’re big parts of my writing life—and not just because I write horror. I encourage writers (including myself) to be...
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Advice to Writers Who Are in It
Painted Cave on Santa Cruz Island by Mike Baird I’ve shared tons of writing advice over the years, both in craft and lifestyle, and it’s always been a pleasure to pass along the things I’ve learned...
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Hello, Goodbye
Image by Edgar Ja This is my last post for Writer Unboxed as a regular contributor. As I write this, I feel sad, nostalgic, and grateful, grateful, grateful. Aside from a single guest post in 2011, I...
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