Co-written novels aren’t a new thing. Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett collaborated on their fantasy novel Good Omens. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child created the technothriller series Pendergast together. John Green and David Levithan made Will Grayson, Will Grayson a young adult smash hit. Countless authors gravitate toward the idea…

What makes a novel a thriller? What differentiates it from mystery or suspense? I discussed these questions and more with fellow YouTuber Alexa Donne, who’s a thriller connoisseur and author of The Ivies, a YA boarding school thriller. Her upcoming thriller Pretty Dead Queens is all about small-town murder. We…

And how to fix them — People have this frustrating habit of quitting before they start. I hear it most often with art. They’ll say, “I suck at drawing,” even though they’ve drawn two things in their entire life. As a professional editor and writer, I’ve noticed that the same goes for writing — writers burden…

The secret recipe for an enticing story is the same, no matter the word count. But if you can cook up a concise and coherent story in only 250 words, those skills will help you tackle bigger and more complex creations. You might be wondering, “When would I ever need…

“Suspenseful” is not how I’d describe a game of chess, but Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel The Queen’s Gambit is the exception. The incredible popularity of the Netflix show, which is a beat-for-beat adaptation of the book, proves that the source material succeeds in creating narrative tension. “Tension” can be defined…

You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning. But here you are, and you cannot say that the terrain is entirely unfamiliar, although the details are fuzzy. You are at a nightclub talking to a girl with…

This story is behind Medium’s membership paywall, which means the writer earns through our Partner Program. To become a Medium member, click here. “All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” —…

This story is behind Medium’s membership paywall, which means the writer earns through our Partner Program. To become a Medium member, click here. “Reading, done properly, is every bit as tough as writing.” Author Zadie Smith said this in an interview with Daily Good, and it changed my perspective on…

This article was originally published as a guest post on the Self-Published Fantasy Month blog. Why are antiheroes so captivating? What makes the likes of Loki, Han Solo, Jack Sparrow, Scarlett O’Hara, and Lady Macbeth worth following as characters? Here’s my theory: antiheroes refuse to be bound by expectations or…