Four Ways to Give Your Creativity a Boost One of the most difficult things about writing, for me anyway, is coming up with ideas for things to write about. Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit staring a…

Looking for ideas for your next project? Author Emilie-Noelle Provost has you covered, today at WU.

The Past as Unexplored Territory I’ve written a number of articles about how to get into the head of someone who thinks differently from you.   But in the last couple of weeks, I was reminded of just how hard this is by the storie…

“Putting yourself in the head of someone who thinks very differently widens your view of what it can mean to be human.”—Author and editor Dave King, today at WU.

Layer Cake: Writing Historical Fiction Dateline: Budapest. Inspired by a recently discovered fresco in Pompeii depicting a delectable flatbread on a platter with a large goblet of red wine, a Budapest pizzeria crafted a pie using only i…

The sheer scope of history can be daunting, let alone the many passions we bring to setting a story in a certain place and time. Author Julie Christine Johnson guides us through her process, today at WU.

You’ve Got Main Character Energy Do kids these days still talk about main character energy? It was used for awhile as both a compliment and insult–compliment when noticing that someone was confident and taking charge of thei…

How are your writerly fears? Dealing with them with Main Character Energy? Author Natalie Hart provides us with MCE, today at WU.

Flog a Pro: Would You Turn the First Page of this Bestseller? Email readers, heads up! For the full effect, pause after the excerpt and decide: Would you turn the page? Vote and then scroll for the reveal! Trained by reading hundreds of submissions, editors a…

You be the judge! Ray Rhamey is back with another edition of Flog a Pro, today at WU.

The Switch to a Slow-Burn Writing Process I’ve always been the type of person who’s hyper aware of the passage of time. I know time is fleeting, so when I know I want to do something, I want to do it as soon as possible lest time run out. …

Do you write like you’re running out of time? Author Deanna Cabinian makes the case for slow-burn writing, today at WU.

Author Up Close: Eriq La Salle—Keep Writing. Keep Going. Keep Creating. Welcome back to another installment of Author Up Close, my exclusive series for Writer Unboxed where I interview authors at various stages of the publishing process. Today, I’m delighted to s…

Author Grace Wynter interviews author (and actor) Eriq La Salle, today at WU.

2026 Interview Series: Bookstagrammers and What You Should Know This year, for The Buzz series, I am interviewing marketing-minded authors and other book-loving creators who are doing great things in our industry. In my last post, I spoke with popular books pod…

Curious about the best approach to Bookstagram? Hear from the Bookstagrammers themselves, via PR specialist Ann Marie Nieves. Today at WU.

4 Ways Specificity Drives Your Story Forward Detail creates story movement by inviting the reader into your story’s experience. Sometimes. If you apply that detail indiscriminately, it’s equally possible that you’ll entangle your reader and d…

“Detail creates story movement by inviting the reader into your story’s experience…

Sometimes.”—Kathryn Craft is here to show us how, today at WU.

Why Do We Write? My youngest daughter got engaged last week, which means it’s been an intense weekend, with lots of hugs and joyful tears and gratitude and hope and excitement for the future. At the end of the week…

Occasionally we all ask ourselves a recurring question: Why do we do this? Author Kathleen McCleary offers her latest answers, today at WU.

Five Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing Five Years Ago We’re thrilled to have former WU contributor and multi-published, New York Times bestselling novelist Allison Winn Scotch back with us today to share some of what she’s learned! Eleven …

Author Allison Winn Scotch returns to WU, offering advice from “a war-worn veteran.

Write Anywhere, Write Everywhere When my first book came out, I was working full-time, writing, and parenting two kids under three. It was, to say the least, hard to find the time to write. It was also hard to find a place to writ…

Author Greer Macallister says we can’t always choose *where* we write; we can only choose *to* write—today at WU. writerunboxed.com/2026/04/06/w...

Failing the Perception Check In the video game Baldur’s Gate 3, you will occasionally stumble across traps—small landmines or treasure chests rigged to explode. To avoid taking damage, you roll a Perception check to see if you…

You’ve heard of “Plotters vs. Pantsers.” But have you considered “Container Writers vs. Content Writers”? Author Kelsey Allagood walks us through it, today at WU.

Overlooked Tools I moved recently. My new place is great. It’s all set up, but that took some doing. Unpacking. Arranging. Assembling some flat-pack furniture. Hanging pictures and art. Naturally, I needed tools. W…

There are numerous tools we can use in our storytelling. Agent and teacher Don Maass provides a list of those we tend to overlook, today at WU.

The Power of Story to Spark Corrective Emotional Experiences Can a so-called “spicy” fictional hockey show from a small Canadian production company, based on a niche romance book series, provide genuine emotional breakthroughs for millions of global viewers?…

Sometimes we discover a story that provides newfound perspective on our own writing. Author John J. Kelley shares his experience with Heated Rivalry, today at WU.

Time After Time After Time For Christmas, my mother-in-law gave me a wonderfully quirky gift: the Author Clock. With a simple, elegant design that should suit most decor styles, this clock tells the time through book quotes.…

“Sometimes it feels like I have nothing to show for [3 decades of writing], like each day is just another opportunity slipping through my fingers.” Author Kristan Hoffman offers us the gift of time, today at WU.

A Lesson in Perseverance from Walt Disney Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Disney Family Museum located in the beautiful Presidio in San Francisco. Being a Disney fan, I heard about the museum, started by one of Disney’s daught…

What stories of perseverance inspire you? Author Diana Giovinazzo shares how Disney inspires her, today at WU.

Of Pens and Swords In January 2011, a series of pro-democracy protests and demonstrations across North Africa and the Middle East succeeded in deposing multiple rulers. This constellation of events became known as th…

“Naturally, I intend no…parallel in mentioning a leader who attempts to gin up support for a war in order to unite a fractured populace and draw attention away from troubles at home. What I do see is the potency of words to cause chaos and destruction, or to end it.”—Kristin Hacken South, at WU.

Writing Retreats: What Showing Up Builds Publishing is lonely in ways that are hard to explain to non-writers. I doubt I could persist without my trusted writer friends to help me navigate this career. This week, six of us have rented a h…

How do you find your people, and maximize the value of community? Author Harper Ross shares her path bto a close community, today at WU.

Your Value as a Writer in The Face of Generative AI The whole world seems like it’s in the midst of huge cultural and technological shifts. I don’t think anyone really knows what’s coming next. As someone who works in the software…

In an era when AI can generate a novel-length story in mere minutes, how do we recognize and maintain our value as writers? Author Tessa Barbosa seeks the long view, today at WU.

New Perspectives at 14,000 Feet (and Falling Fast) The photo above is real. Yep, that’s me, having just leapt from a perfectly good airplane 14,000 feet over Whitewright, Texas on January 15th, 2026. My thought at that moment: “Well, I’m out.” That…

Could jumping out of a plane jumpstart your writing routine? Author Kim Bullock confirms it, and implores us to face our fears and to take the leap towards progress, today at WU.

Finding The Heart of the Story I was talking with a group of writer friends last week about latest projects, and we ended up in a deep discussion about the heart of the story, what it means to each of us, how we find it, and how…

How do you find your way to the heart of the story you’re writing? Author Heather Webb explores her own techniques, as well as how she develops a story around its heart, today at WU.

Flog a Pro: Would You Turn the First Page of this Bestseller? Email readers, heads up! For the full effect, pause after the excerpt and decide: Would you turn the page? Vote and then scroll for the reveal! Trained by reading hundreds of submissions, editors a…

It’s your turn to judge a bestseller’s opening. Ray Rhamey is back with another edition of Flog a Pro, today at WU.

Finish First: Sometimes the Best Advice Is the Simplest A few weeks ago, I was listening to a great new podcast, Little Pod, by Olivia Muenter (of Bad on Paper fame). The show follows the emotional rollercoaster of Olivia’s most recent book launch—somet…

Sometimes the simplest advice is best. But, as author Alison Hammer reveals, it can take years to fully appreciate it and live by it. Today at WU.

Stuck: Further thoughts on Pride and Prejudice It is a truth universally acknowledged that a character must grow over the course of a novel.  Dramatic conflict, by definition, means your main character faces and overcomes challenges.  When thos…

Some secondary characters do not grow or change over the course of a novel. Editor Dave King explores their usefulness in remaining unchanged, today at WU.

From Bodysnatchers to the Borg and Beyond Given the association of misfortune with this day, Friday the 13th, I guess you could attribute it to the (bad) luck of the draw that, for the second month in a row, it’s my day up. And this time I…

Is our ability to think what defines us as human? If so, and if we’re willing to concede its preeminence to AI, must we redefine what it is that makes us human? Author David Corbett implores us to think, today at WU.

7 Reasons We Writers Need Human Interaction Like me, two of my sisters are also writers and editors. When we check in with each other in the morning, we’ll sometimes say, “Today I must be alone in my garret all day because I’m on deadl…

“Real people will surprise you.” An undeniable truth, and one of author Kathryn Craft’s reasons we need human interaction. Read the others, today at WU.

My Brain is Not My Friend Right Now: the Challenges of Working with a Quirky Brain I was in tears. Again. I was tired of tears. I was pretty sure my husband was, too. The problem is, tears are pretty standard for me, as an autistic woman (not for every autistic woman, but definit…

It’s easy to get overwrought these days. Easy to imagine that all is lost. Author Rachel Toalson gives us the tools to stay positive and keep fighting, today at WU.

Reality…But Better: Never Let Facts Get in the Way of Fiction The holidays before these last holidays, my wife and I, our kids, and my in-laws went to Ecuador to cruise around the Galapagos Islands. As wonderful as that sounds, full disclosure, I had some dou…

Sometimes what feels like the perfect story idea, taken from real life, is too prosaic for the page. Author Matthew Norman takes us from (too) smooth sailing to dramatic stormy seas, today at WU.

Readings for Writers: Miguel Delibes and George Saunders The conceit of a story set at a wake or vigil certainly isn’t new. Five Hours with Mario (Cinco horas con Mario) by Spanish writer Miguel Delibes, tells the story of Carmen Sotillo’s hours sitting …

“We have to figure out what a novel does better than a screenplay. It’s a difficult question, especially now, after generations have had the page supplanted by the screen…” Author Elizabeth Huergo explores the central question for writers of our time, today at WU.