Writing Your First Draft

Understanding what works for you only requires taking an honest inventory of the way you relate to your everyday to-do list. Writing is a practice, sure, but so is getting dinner together every night, staying on top of the laundry, or making time for some exercise, and I bet you make some semblance of those things happen with reasonable regularity. Take a moment and consider the you that’s off social media—the one who’s #notwriting, with a messy house and plenty of obligations beyond your writing life—and make a judgement-free plan of action based on the kind of motivation you respond to.

No matter the genre, editing is essential. Audrey Wick and her editor, Julie Sturgeon, give readers a behind-the-scenes peek at the process of editing the first chapter of a manuscript.

From writing sketch comedy to novels to telling true stories from his own life, William Kenower has found that all writing takes courage. Learn more about how to gather the courage to turn nothing into something.

Plots and characters will come and go, but for successful writers, passion for the writing process burns on. Use these 6 questions from Bob Mayer to transform your creative method from craft into art.

Sometimes finishing a story is the most unsatisfying part of writing. No matter how hard you work on it, you may still feel something is missing. William Kenower discusses this dissatisfaction, the quest for perfection, and the need to relinquish your story to your readers.

As fans eagerly await Season 3 of Netflix hit series Stranger Things, Scott Hildreth offers three storytelling lessons and editing goals writers can glean from the show.

Strapped for writing time? Fret no more: This incremental approach will lead you from first draft to finished manuscript in no time. Learn how to write a novel in mere minutes a day.

Taking on a 30-day writing challenge this month? Here, 30 veterans share their best NaNoWriMo tips and advice for finishing the month strong.

Mackenzie Belcastro addresses writers who are despairing over their early drafts, highlighting five ways you can persevere and discover your story within them.

In this episode of the Writer’s Digest Podcast, we talk with author and Executive Director of National Novel Writing Month Grant Faulkner, who shares an inside look at the NaNoWriMo writing challenge and discusses how to overcome some of the main obstacles to creativity, techniques to help you prepare to write your novel, and how to keep your creative momentum up every month of the year.

Many writers who can't get their first novel published put it in a drawer and write a second one. Gayle Abrams discusses the decision to put that first novel in the drawer and move on to book two, or to persevere with the first.

Despite long-standing aspirations of writing a book, initial successes with short stories and essays, and a healthy career in publishing, Andrea Jarrell published her first book at age 55. Here, she shares her experiences and offers principles for achieving your writing goals.

Procrastination can be a writer's worst enemy. But here, Jenna Blum rethinks her approach to self-distraction and shares seven creative ways writers can productively procrastinate.

Reading with a critical eye can ruin the fun of reading, but it's also what makes our writing stronger. Deanna Cabinian identifies five things that you might want to reconsider before including them in your work.

Script's Editor Jeanne Veillette Bowerman shares why screenwriters should take on the NaNoWriMo challenge by adapting backwards, screenplay to novel.

How does a writer create a character unlike themselves and give it a living, breathing personality? I’ll walk through these six steps that worked for me--and perhaps they’ll work for you.

Writing a story that has all the enticing elements of a screenplay in novel form can be a challenge, but if done right it can lead to a cinematic manuscript that's bound to catch the eye of agents and readers. Here are seven ways to take your eye for big screen story ideas and craft them into can't-miss novel ideas.

Here are some reasons why cruising is a great way to spend a vacation that can lead to some excellent writing results.