Script Events Competitions Archive Subscribe Shop

Online Writing Workshops

May/June 2026 Issue

Online Membership

Write Better Fiction Write Better Nonfiction Write Better Poetry Get Published Be Inspired WD Competitions Resources

First drafts

Writing Techniques 4 Things I Do Before I Write the First Word of a Novel

Author Marybeth Mayhew Whalen shares the four things she does before writing the first word of a novel (that’s worked 11 times so far).

Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

Writing Techniques Tips for Overcoming the Blank-Page Blues Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Writing Habits and Practices Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Censoring Yourself Robert Lee Brewer

Writing Habits and Practices My First Ideas Aren’t My Best—And AI Only Makes Them Worse Andrew Bridgeman

Writing Habits and Practices Feeling Stuck With Your Manuscript? Going “Off Page” Could Be the Solution.Lauren Reynolds

Writing Habits and Practices On Writing Slowly Luis Jaramillo

Writing Habits and Practices Wrangling a Big Manuscript Cara Lopez Lee

Writing Techniques When Trying to Simplify, It Became Complicated Matt Mendez

The Writer's Life Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Holding Back Robert Lee Brewer

Write Better Fiction Why You Should Embrace Extreme Editing Julia Kelly

Writing Habits and Practices How To Get Past the Fact That You’ve Reread Your Book Too Many Times Siena Sterling

Writing Habits and Practices My Funny Valentine: How to Date Your Work This February Nancy Stohlman

Writing Habits and Practices Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Talking About the Work-in-Progress Robert Lee Brewer

Writing Your First Draft The Psychology Behind Poor Early Drafts and 5 Steps to Making Sense of Them Mackenzie Belcastro

Writing Your First Draft 9 Ways You Succeed When Your First Draft Fails Greer Macallister

Writing Your First Draft 6 Things to Consider After You Write Your First Draft D. M. King

Newsletter

Subscribe directly from us by clicking this link