THE BLOG

Welcome back to Ask Rachel, a blog column dedicated to answering your writing questions. Send your questions to [email protected] for a chance to be featured in upcoming blog posts. 

This week's st...

This week I spent a lot of time working on my story world. I have a method I use to build story worlds quickly and thoroughly, and I'm excited to share it with you! 

A few things you'll find interest...

Early on in my writing career, I had strong story ideas, deeply developed characters, and...a completely flat world. Even in my own head, I couldn't see the finer details of my world, and because of t...

Welcome back to Ask Rachel, a blog column dedicated to answering your writing questions. Send your questions to [email protected] for a chance to be featured in upcoming blog posts. 

This week's st...

Welcome back to documenting my publishing journey - it's officially the end of week 7! Holy cow - where did all the time go? I feel like I only just started this project! 

Anyway, this week we're doi...

February 3, 2025

I had the actual stomach flu. I was in denial about it at first - I haven't had anything like this since I was a kid - but several hours in the bathroom later, I had to face the trut...

Writer’s block is one of the biggest challenges I help writers overcome. As a coach, I constantly hear the same question: How do I beat writer’s block?

I completely understand the frustration, fear, ...

This week was a week full of stress, personal failures (at least perceived ones) and surprises. I was really tempted to beat myself up about it this week, but we all know that doesn't help anything. 

This week, I hit a big milestone: 12,000 words!

While we're only at 1/8th of the projected length for this novel, it's important to me to celebrate this milestone, because this week has been a doozy....

They ran and ran and ran.

Jasper lost track of the turns he took and the echoing of footsteps in his ears. There was a relentless drumming in his head - and he would have followed its rhythm for mile...

Why do we write a blurb? I get this question a lot - what is a blurb, how do we write it, what do we use it for, do we even need a blurb... (the answer is yes to the last one, without a doubt). In thi...

January 13

One of the big questions I keep getting from my students is all about the querying process. There's a lot of information out there, but sorting through it and finding what is actually help...