My friends, I have a new favorite tool. It's called SaneBox, and it's right up there with Social Jukebox on my list of tools that help me keep my life together.

This app is amazing, and it is so simple. I honestly can't believe I haven't been using it for years. This is going to be a short post, just to let you know this exists—because I wish someone had told me.

You may or may not have heard of decision fatigue, but you have no doubt felt it. Decision fatigue refers to the exhaustion we feel after making so many large and small decisions over the course of the day.

Those in positions which involve more decision-making are of course more prone to this phenomenon. A 2011 study found that judges were likely to deliver harsher rulings later in the day. 

​But decision fatigue impacts everyone. Think about how many decisions you make every day. What to wear, what to eat for breakfast, how you want your coffee, whether to stop for gas, how to greet your coworkers, which task to start first, what language to use in an email... The list goes on.
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The narrator is one of the least utilized storytelling tools. A strong, unique narrator can add another layer of depth to your story. Let's talk about types of narrators and how to craft yours.

Whether you've completed your first novel-length draft or your twentieth, penning those final words is a rush. You've dedicated an incredible amount of time and energy to your manuscript, and finally reaching the end of the story can be emotional and amazing. But it can leave you asking a simple question:

What now?

Let's review a few simple steps every writer should take after completing a draft.

Read Time: 7.5 minutes

Most of my editing clients aspire to publication. They often ask me about their options for publishing their work. In the modern publishing industry, authors have more choices than ever before. That can be amazing, as it allows authors to choose the option that best suits their goals for each specific project and for their career as a whole. But it can also make it difficult to determine the best route.

Let's break down how to publish a book using the major types of publication, with the pros and cons of each option.
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I have been blogging in this little corner of the internet for going on a decade, and this blog has never had a real name. But I have finally chosen one: Pen Your Own Pages.
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If you're writing fiction, and you're not Cormac McCarthy, chances are you're using quotation marks. But are you using them correctly?

Let's go over the recommendations of the ​Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, the accepted style guide for American fiction.

I love National Novel Writing Month. I believe it teaches important lessons for beginning writers—and provides a reminder for more experienced writers. Putting pen to paper (literally or figuratively) is the most important things. Tough days come and go, but keeping up your writing momentum is crucial.
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—Madeleine L'Engle

He or she. He/she. S/he. There have been many attempts at gender-neutral pronouns, but as it so often does, language evolved naturally. And dictionaries and style guides have recently accepted that evolution.

Most of us use singular "they" frequently in informal conversation to refer to an individual whose gender we don't know. But is it okay to use singular "they" in fiction?

I love editing professionally because I get to help stories reach their full potential. But I also love it because I get to help writers learn and grow in their craft. Receiving a new manuscript from a previous client is an amazing feeling because that manuscript is nearly always stronger than the last.

But in-depth professional editing is not a financially viable option for everyone, and it doesn't always give me the opportunity to interact one-on-one as much as I'd like.

​So I'm introducing editing webinars.

These live online sessions will provide a platform for me to teach and engage with writers, and I could not be more excited. The first scheduled webinar is a three-part course that will cover fundamental editing concepts. The second is a two-hour line editing workshop.