Today, I’m delighted to welcome Angela Ackerman to the blog. She’s an insightful writer and blogger who is the coauthor of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. In today’s tip, she talks about how you can create characters that hook a reader’s heart. (And check out below how you can win an...Read More

I was thrilled to meet Joyce Lavene on Twitter for two reasons. First, I had read some of the books she wrote with her husband, Jim, and I was a fan. Second, I was curious about their writing process since I have written with my husband, too. I’ll bet you’re curious, too—how do two people...Read More

Five Things Editors Wish You Knew By Rochelle Melander Never throw up on an editor. —Ellen Datlow I have edited a quarterly periodical for 12 years. In addition, I edit books for both publishing houses and private clients. Over the years, I have kept a mental list of things I wish writers knew. Here are...Read More

Balcony Space & The Writing Life by Rochelle Melander Business leaders have to be able to view patterns as if they were on a balcony. It does them no good to be swept into the field of action. —Ron Heifetz and Donald Laurie, The Work of Leadership in Harvard Business Review (December 2001) Balcony space...Read More

When I speak to groups of writers, I frequently hear the question: what should I write about? Last week we talked about how following our passion can provide a pretty good list of writing topics. But if thinking about your passions did not give you enough ideas, think about doing a self-inventory of what you...Read More

For the past 11 years, I’ve edited a quarterly devotional periodical. I work with at least one or two new writers a quarter. Some become regular writers. Some never get hired again. All of them were good enough to get hired in the first place. But not every writer has what it takes to get...Read More