Book cover with basic white, gold, and black colors: The Golden Thread writing guide.

You plotted. The story veered off halfway.
You pantsed. The draft turned into chaos.

The problem isn’t your process.
Your story’s missing its emotional core.

My Golden Thread Method helps you find it fast.

→ Grab it now: payhip.com/b/of7Pw

#howtowriteabook #writeyournovel #writingtips #writing

I cannot overstate how important it is to craft a solid self-protective lie for your main character. #howtowriteabook #writingtips #writingadvice #writingtipsfromwriters #writeyournovel

Person reading in bed. Tag for substack post: strategic genre rule-breaking for maximum reader trabsportation.

Knowing your genre BEFORE you start drafting is sooooo important. Knowing your primary genre means you can strategically borrow from a second to amplify reader immersion!

hollyschindler.substack.com/p/strategic-...

#writingtips #writingadvice #WriteYourNovel #howtowriteabook #writingcommunity

The writing advice I used to SWEAR BY but no longer give. And how I tell new writers to get through their first drafts these days...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB-U...

#writingtips #writingadvice #writeyourbook #writeyournovel #writersonwriting #writingcommunity #writinglife #indieauthorsupport

You will never feel like a writer if you let others decide if you are or not.

Don’t let anyone else define you.

You are a writer.

#writingcommunity #writersofbluesky #writinglife #writingtips #writersonwriting #writing #howtowriteabook #writeyournovel #writers #indieauthor #authors

Behind the Curtain: Can You Guess Which Sensory Detail Pulls Readers In the Most? (Hint: It Isn't Sight) As authors, we head straight to the visual to bring our books to life.

Authors: What sense is best for drawing readers into a book? I mean fully immersing them and making them feel your fictional world is real? (Hint: It's not sight!)

hollyschindler.substack.com/p/behind-the...

#writingtips #writeyournovel #writingadvice #writersofbluesky #writing #writingcommunity

The Reading Life: How to Tighten Up Those Sagging Middles (Deepen, Don't Expand) Ah, I’m so excited to get back to this series on narrative transportation!

Today, I'm looking at why it's a bad idea to expand your novel in the middle (adding new characters and subplots) and how, exactly, a writer can deepen the middle instead:
hollyschindler.substack.com/p/the-readin...

#writingadvice #writingtips #writingcommunity #writeyournovel

Okay, friends -- it's GO TIME. Applications for two online and one in-person Novel In A Year cohorts are due this Friday, July 11. The application takes less than 15 minutes -- just tell us about your project and upload a writing sample. Apply now!

buff.ly/FHLKYz8

#writeyournovel!

The right sensory details can make the difference between bogging a story down and fully transporting your reader into your fictional world. But which details are right?
hollyschindler.substack.com/p/the-readin...

#writingtips #writingadvice #writeyournovel #writingcommunity

Behind the Curtain: Using Chapter Breaks to Heighten Tension Last week, we examined how information flow could be controlled through the use of chapter breaks.

Make your readers feel the tension with chapter breaks: hollyschindler.substack.com/p/behind-the... #writing #writingcommunity #writingtips #writeyournovel #fictionwriting

#pretendpanel
This story started as part of a short writing class with The Australian Writers Centre during COVID. I finished the manuscript in 2024 in a 12 month Write Your Novel course. It has consumed a great deal of my brain and still does. #writeyournovel

Plotting Through Backstory: A Brief Review + Course Coming! In Plotting Through Backstory, I’ve argued that the absolute most important part of the outlining process is understanding the overall arc of the book.

Plotting Through Backstory mini-review + course coming! Discount + previews for paid Substack subscribers. $15 a year through the end of Jan: hollyschindler.substack.com/p/plotting-t... #writingcommunity #writingcourse #writeyournovel

Act 4 Overview and Some Advice (Plotting Through Backstory #23) Does anybody else start chewing on their nails at this point in the writing process?

Even the best plotters can wind up with outlines that don't work. What to do: hollyschindler.substack.com/p/act-4-over... #writing #novels #writeyournovel #writingtips #writingadvice

All that hard plotting work starts to SERIOUSLY pay off in Act 3! hollyschindler.substack.com/p/extra-beat... #writingtips #plotting #writersonwriting #writeyournovel

The Second Pinch Point / Third Plot Point (Plotting Through Backstory #20) Here they come again: the antagonist.

Act3 in Plotting Through Backstory! hollyschindler.substack.com/p/the-second... #writersonwriting #writingtips #writeyournovel

Backstory in the Extra Act 2 Beats (Plotting Through Backstory #17) Last week, I introduced the idea of including additional beats in Act 2.

In my plotting series, I've been looking at incorporating some extra beats (and backstory!) into Act 2. More beats for the sluggish middle? Yes, please: hollyschindler.substack.com/p/backstory-... #writing #writingtips #writersonwriting #Authors #writeyournovel

Act 2 Extra Beats (Plotting Through Backstory #16) Nothing helps a draft stay on track better than beats.

When plotting my books, Acts 2 and 3 of a 4 act structure (or Act 2 of a 3 act structure) really bothered me, because there were just sooo few beats. So I began to wonder...how could I logically add a few more? hollyschindler.substack.com/p/act-2-extr...

#writingtips #writeyournovel

Act 2 - An Overview (Plotting Through Backstory #13) Act 2!

Act 2, in which your protag fails...a lot: hollyschindler.substack.com/p/act-2-an-o... #writing #writersonwriting #writeyournovel #writingtips #plotting