Writing Advice

We are very fortunate to have been consulting with fantasy author Sebastien de Castell on the Novel Factory software, getting his advice and feedback on how to best make the software serve a professional, full time writer. And in addition to that, de Castell kindly agreed to be interviewed for the benefit of the Novel…

We proudly present this guest post from Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer. As a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Sawyer has written and published 15 historical fiction books with Native main characters, and The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian honored her as a literary artist through their Artist Leadership Program for her…

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Anton Chekhov If you’ve been writing for any amount of time, you’ve probably come across the phrase ‘show don’t tell’. Like many pieces of writing advice, it’s extremely useful – up to a point. However – also like many…

Wouldn’t it be great if you could learn how to write faster? You’d have the first draft of your novel completed much more quickly, avoid all the usual delays and snags, and publish in record time — and finishing your first draft quickly does matter. After all, most of us don’t have the luxury of…

Finishing and publishing your novel is tough, no doubt about it. Writing a book is a big project. Writers commonly underestimate everything that’s involved. And that’s a problem, because you run the risk of wasting time, missing critical steps, or having to circle back for extensive rewrites. You might even feel frustrated enough to want…

A hundred years ago, there were hardly any resources to teach you how to write a novel. You had to work everything out from first principles and forge your own path. These days, things look very different. There are hundreds, even thousands, of books, courses and other resources, all claiming to hold the secrets to…