The Writer's Workout

Learn about copyediting and the repertoire of skills needed to be a copyeditor.

So, you’ve finished your story. First of all, congratulations! You’ve succeeded at a long, difficult task! Here’s the bad news: you’re not actually done. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but what you’ve essentially done is apply the first coat of paint. Just like surfaces need several coats for the color to come out as strong as possible, your story needs multiple rounds of revision. And you want to know the worst part of revision? It’s cutting things. Alright, trimmi

Learn about the different stages of editing during the revision process.

Distance before revision I wrote the first draft of my first novel just out of high school, right on the cusp of 19. I was young, inspired, and profoundly enamored with writing. It all started out with just a feeling: the grief that comes with unrequited love. From this one driving emotion flourished several characters whose voices and personalities wove their way into the pages of my story. At the time, I felt prepared. I had read my genre voraciously. I had planned the tim

Burnout is a familiar feeling in any creative profession, especially as a writer. Crafting elaborate worlds or working to develop their characters' psyches fully can take up a lot of brain space. All the everyday stress of life, personal relationships, jobs, and school can also add to that mental load. Life’s chaos can affect any number of people. I want to be clear: burnout is nothing to be ashamed of . There are ways to deal with it, and you may even use it to your advanta

Let’s face it: writing fiction, also known as filling a blank page with a wondrous, moving story, is hard. It’s building an entire world from scratch, sometimes several worlds. Far too many potential writers give up before they begin just because of how daunting it can be… but it doesn’t have to be that way. The idea of writing is full of obstacles like comparison to other writers, work and family obligations, a perceived lack of time, and, of course, self-doubt. But if you

We've got another INCREDIBLE lineup in the works for the 2026 conference! S.E. Reed, Bruce Buchanan, and I can't wait till this free week of so many awesome writing things kicks off, March 23, 2026 . In totally predictable I'm-too-excited-to-stop-myself fashion, our schedule is already mostly "set". While there will still be a few more updates coming (currently awaiting two emails right now), below is a sly teaser of what we have so far. As always, we are incredibly blessed