Writer's Digest

Walking through the streets of Bury St. Edmunds, still laid out in its square grid pattern with Tudor-era homes leaning heavily on their ancient frames, I immediately had a sense of what someone from 1645 would see. The steep hill toward Moyse’s Hall, which dates back to 1180, made my leg muscles burn. These details were precious to me as I wrote my upcoming novel, A Time of Witches. I do a lot of research for every historical fiction I write, generally drawing on more than 100 nonfiction books.

In Game of Thrones, Rhaenyra Targaryen, one of the most powerful women in fictional Westerosi history, is either not mentioned at all or barely so in lineage discussions in the first five books of the series. At her peak, she has a legitimate claim to the coveted Iron Throne. Yet it’s not until the sixth book that readers get a sense of her capability and power. This high fantasy version of a powerful woman’s life follows a familiar trajectory for real women.

Every writer has heard the advice to “just keep writing.” And while consistency certainly has its place, there are seasons when sitting down at the keyboard feels less like pursuing a passion and more like clocking in for a shift. The ideas don’t come as easily. Every sentence feels overworked. Projects that once sparked excitement now feel like obligations. (Creating a Writer's Joy List.) If that sounds familiar, take heart. Creative burnout isn’t a sign that you’ve lost your gift.

(Editor's note: Recently, Susan Farrell, author of Vonnegut's War: The Making of Slaughterhouse-Five, put together a list of 10 things writers should know about the author and his popular novel.) Serving as a scout in World War Two, Vonnegut was captured behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge.

“There’s one last thing I need you to do,” my editor said. We were on our introductory Zoom call and I was in the early phases of drafting my memoir. “Let me do the cutting. Please include every story and any details that might be relevant. I’ll suggest changes.” (How the Memoir I Wasn't Supposed to Write Saved My Life.) “Really? I might give you a manuscript the size of an encyclopedia doing that.” “That’s okay by me,” he chuckled.

Getting a literary agent is an important step toward finding publishing success of many authors. While several other paths exist (and representation does not guarantee publication), agents are a tried and true way for many debut authors to get published by major and mid-sized traditional publishers. I know, because we feature these success stories regularly in our Successful Queries series on the site that shares query letters that helped writers land their agents and/or editors.

My first books were mystery novels, in many ways the simplest novel to write, in terms of structure if not of content. The plot is simple: A crime is committed, a sleuth is introduced. Through interrogation, observation, and a series of clues he manages to solve the crime, assembling the suspects together in a room to declare, “I have brought you here to name the murderer.” (On Creating Secondary Characters.) At least that was how Agatha Christie did it.

Readers do not need your protagonist to be good; they need a reason to care what happens to them. They can disapprove of what a character does and still hope they survive, defeat someone worse, find redemption, or stop before they destroy themselves. (5 Moral Dilemmas That Make Characters and Stories Better.) Rooting is not the same as liking, forgiving, or simply waiting to see what fresh disaster the character will cause. Curiosity keeps readers watching.

[This article originally appeared in the January/February 2026 issue of Writer's Digest magazine.] For as much as I love the process of writing (and I do), I also adore learning how other writers handle their business—from the creative process itself to how they promote themselves and their writing. After all, who better to study than other writers who are finding success, right?

[This article first appeared in the July/August 2026 issue of Writer's Digest.] Many authors start doing media with preconceived notions about what it means and how it might change their lives. As a television producer for nearly 20 years, I ran into these myths when I was working with experts. Now I’m a media trainer for authors. and I see how the same ideas persist. For example, you might imagine that doing media will mean selling tons of books.