Nail Your Novel
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Nail Your Novel
3d ago
When Eleanor Vincent submitted an essay collection to a publisher, they asked her to reshape it to focus on her marriage. But as Eleanor began the revisions, her marriage took an unexpected turn and she found herself writing new chapters as painful events unfolded. But Eleanor is no stranger to difficult material and examining herself ..read more
Nail Your Novel
1w ago
Why would I open this can of worms? AI must be the most polarising subject in the arts world at the moment. Because I recently had an email from a software developer who’s working on an AI tool to provide writers with some of the functions of a developmental editor. She wanted to hire me ..read more
Nail Your Novel
1M ago
In many kinds of non-fiction, we tend to seek certainty. Answers. Solutions. But those qualities are not so desirable in stories. Most stories are about trouble in some way. But this is often uncomfortable for authors who are used to writing factual books. They don’t like trouble, ambiguities, uncertainties and muddy waters. Here are ..read more
Nail Your Novel
3M ago
We often don’t understand the novel we’re writing at first. That knowledge might creep in – maybe during research, maybe during revision. It might even give us the title. That’s how it was for novelist Rachel Stolzman Gullo, who has just released Confuse the Wind, the story of an interloper in a troubled family who ..read more
Nail Your Novel
3M ago
As you might have seen from previous posts and newsletters, I’m one of the judges in the 2025 International Voices in Creative Non-Fiction competition. I’ve just finished my reading and I’ve learned a few things. How to compare chalk and cheese? Creative non-fiction is a term that covers just about every literary form. Some entries ..read more
Nail Your Novel
4M ago
Alycia Vreeland is a visual artist and dancer embarking on a new venture in the world of words. She’s releasing two books at once, on the anniversary of the death of her husband Jon Vreeland. Jon is the author of The Taste of Cigarettes: a Memoir of A Heroin Addict and is strongly present in ..read more
Nail Your Novel
5M ago
You might be wincing already. Dialogue shouldn’t be used for exposition, right? Not entirely right. But often, it goes wrong. We’ve all seen dialogue scenes where it’s clear the characters are only talking so they can give information to the reader. It might be just a line, it might be an entire ‘speech’ or ‘explanation ..read more
Nail Your Novel
6M ago
Sara Hosey says her stories arise from obsessions. So far these have been ADHD, The Twilight Zone, feminism and places that are gritty and unexpectedly beautiful. She once stayed for months at a cottage on an island in the middle of a lake, reachable only by boat, with an intrepid cat for company. I began by asking ..read more
Nail Your Novel
6M ago
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an author should send a regular newsletter to tell readers about special offers and news of upcoming releases. It is a truth less universally acknowledged that this is really awkward for some authors. If you aren’t releasing books frequently or making things that are suitable for special offers ..read more
Nail Your Novel
6M ago
I’ve been editing a novel where the author dearly wanted to explore weighty themes. But they were suffocating the book. What do I mean by a theme? It’s a meaning, an ordering force, that shines out of the book’s content, bigger than just the story. Often writers consider the theme to be the most ‘serious ..read more