So you set off on a good note. You read enthusiastically. You whiz through those initial 100 pages, because they’re fresh and you’re paying attention. Then it’s the middle section. It’s here that most reading plans goes down in flames: you look at pile of unread pages left on the table (or Kindle) and know […]

If you’ve ever had one of those beta reads where reviewer says something like “The pacing was really erratic,” then you know the sickening sensation. They were riveted for the first few chapters…then, bang, they’re skimming because it feels like filler three chapters later. The problem is almost never weak characters or bad prose. More […]

A common source of panic among writers is Book Two of a series. Suddenly it’s bloated way past expected word count. Perhaps you began the project imagining a trilogy, but now realize that the finale requires more room then you budgeted? Almost everybody has this sort of structural drift because planning a series feel like […]

Nothing feels worse in literature than when, as you’re about to land your story, it deflates into a popped balloon. You lay the breadcrumbs, create the characters, and invest time. You get yourself all worked up, and then BOOM, you runs out of pages. The climax ends up arriving too soon or fizzling out without […]