Do You Need a Writing Buddy? What Works and What Doesn’t
A writing buddy can be the difference between a finished draft and another abandoned one. Why it never worked for me as an introvert, how to find a good one, and the rules that make it work.
Tag: Critique Groups
Other writers reading your work before the world does, and what makes that useful rather than discouraging.
Critique GroupsWhy Are Writing Groups So Hostile?
You'd think writers would be kind to each other. Writing groups are some of the cruelest rooms online. Why rejection, fear and status drive it, why the polite groups don't help either, and what a good group looks like.
AI WritingFacebook Writing Groups Suck: Where Writers Go to Get Torn Apart
Big Facebook writing groups promise help and deliver pile-ons. A beginner asks an honest question and gets insulted, an author asks for a cover vote and gets called a thief, and any mention of AI starts a brawl. Here's why…
Critique GroupsBeta Reader Handbook
A beta reader is a test audience, not an editor. They report where the reading experience broke, not how to fix it, and that is your job. Learn to send only a
AI WritingDogpile
Two authors asked ordinary questions in writing groups. One wanted a vote on three cover mockups, the other wanted honest readers for a book he had just published. Neither did anything wrong, and both got a stoning. A pile-on has…
Critique GroupsWorld Read Aloud Day
World Read Aloud Day is the first Wednesday in February. From bedtime stories to critique groups, why reading aloud is the best editing tool a writer has.
Book MarketingGetting Published: Proposals, Beta Readers and the Rest
The parts of getting published that nobody explains properly. What a proposal has to prove before anyone reads the manuscript, what beta readers are genuinely for, and where the process stalls.
Critique GroupsWriting Critique Groups: Techniques to Enhance Your Writing Skills
The most powerful writing tool I ever used cost me nothing: a small group of writers meeting regularly to read each other's work and tell the truth about it. I started one for science fiction through Meetup and learned what…
CollaborationCollaborative Writing: What Fifty Ghostwriting Projects Taught Me About Trust, Feedback, and Making the Work Better
No ghostwritten book gets made alone; the client brings the ideas and the voice, the writer brings craft and structure, and the quality of that partnership decides the quality of the book more than talent on either side. After fifty-plus…
Amazon & KDPEngage a Book Writing Team to Succeed
You know your book will sell, but the sheer weight of everything between draft and published makes you want to quit. You do not have to carry it alone. A small team of volunteers and contractors gets it done faster…
Author TalksDebbie Zaken: Award-Winning Young Adult Sci-Fi and the Power of Critique Partners
Award-winning YA author Debbie Zaken joins Author Talks to discuss writing young adult sci-fi, critique partners, and writing through blocks.