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Thoughts on Writing, Publishing, and the Creative Life

Writing, Publishing & Everything In Between

My brain is overflowing with all the writerly knowledge I’m gaining through my MFA program, and I love having a place to share it.

Explore my articles for thoughts on writing, editing, and storytelling, or visit my Substack for even more tips, tricks, and writing inspiration.

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Reaction into Action: How to Turn Negative Feedback Around — Good Story CompanyNegative feedback can be confusing and hard to hear. Turn what feels like “no” into a mission to “go”!

Picture Books That Sing: You Don’t Have to be a Poet to Write a Picture Book in Verse — Good Story CompanyPicture books are so fun to read aloud! Readers can play with the volume, pitch, and inflection of their voices to give the verses maximum effect.

The Case for Re-Reading — Good Story CompanyActually, re-reading the books you love by authors who have done them well is more valuable than that first, time-stolen read. When we crack those pages open for a second time, we are no longer looking for the building blocks of the story. We are looking for the complexities that form the how.

Before You Hit "Submit" — Good Story CompanyTyping “the end,” either literally or figuratively, after spending many months on a project is worthy of celebration. The logical next step is querying. But before you begin to query, there are some critical steps to take.

Art Speaks: Creating Wordless Picture Books — Good Story CompanyIf you’re an author/illustrator in the picture book business, you probably feel like you’re at an advantage—and to be honest, so do those of us who “just” write or are “just” visual artists. While there is value in being able to create an entire work on your own, I’d like you to imagine, for a minut

Brighten Even The Foggiest Story Idea — Good Story CompanyStory ideas don’t always come easily, but sometimes we get glimmers that turn into a list of foggy ideas. How do we decide which new idea to run with? And how do we take steps to make it shine?

Query Smart — Good Story CompanyQuery smart by making sure you’re targeting agents and editors who want what you’re writing.

How to Write Diverse Characters (And, Also, Are You Qualified?) — Good Story CompanyHow can writers successfully create worlds that look like the ideal we allegedly aspire to in America – a true fusion of personalities and cultures, religious beliefs, and ethnicities? How do we create art that imitates the life we say we are striving for?

Manuscript Submission — Good Story CompanyYou’re ready to take the next step, but manuscript submission can feel overwhelming. (Am I the only one who hadn’t heard anyone use the word ‘query’ in a hundred years before entering publishing?) Let’s take a zoomed-out look at what manuscript submission is and look at some resources that can help

Novel Setting: Where’s It Gonna Be? — Good Story CompanyYour novel has to be somewhere. It can be anywhere! But setting is not an arbitrary detail: it can make all the difference.

Put Your Words Down, Flip Them, and Reverse Them: Writing Your Memoir in Reverse Chronology — Good Story CompanyIf you’re writing a memoir, you have to write your life events exactly the way they happened—but you don’t have to write them in order! Give your readers a backwards walk through your remarkable life with reverse chronology.

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