How to Live with a Fictional Universe in Your Head

I missed the first two messages from my father when my mother fell last month and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. My ringer was off, as it often is, because I didn’t want anything to disrupt my flow state while I was writing.
I wrote a lot of words that day, but I wasn’t present in my real life.
It’s a pattern I’m not proud of.
Living with a novel in progress means carrying around a hidden universe that can simultaneously feel like a gift and a burden. It’s my job to hold and shape this imagined world long enough to make it real for readers, without losing myself in the process.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/06/02/how-to-live-with-a-fictional-universe-in-your-head/

#AuthorinProgress #Community #conflict #Health #Lamentations

What It Costs To Be Seen

You probably became a writer because you loved books, not because you wanted to be a full-time internet personality. Yet the prevailing wisdom in publishing right now is that authors need platforms. It’s not enough to write a good book. These days, you’ve got to build your audience before your book exists. I know authors who obsess about the algorithms. They show up online consistently and spend hours each week creating interesting, original content. Even my agent agrees that publishers increasingly want writers who have both a manuscript and built-in visibility, engagement, and a personal brand.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/27/what-it-costs-to-be-seen/

#AuthorinProgress #Community #Health #Marketing #Publicity

Common Mistakes New Writers Make and How to Fix Them

For the last few years, I’ve worked as a developmental editor for a small publishing house as well as with creative writing students who want to improve their skills. More recently, I took on the role of fiction editor for the literary journal Résonance , an annual publication that focuses on work by artists and writers belonging to North America’s French diaspora.
After having edited several novels and stories by less experienced writers, one of the things I’ve noticed is that nearly all of them tend to make the same mistakes. I thought it might be helpful to point out those I see most often and offer some tips on how to fix them.
Vagueness…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/02/23/common-mistakes-new-writers-make-and-how-to-fix-them/

#AuthorinProgress #CRAFT #critique #Editing #Process

How to Begin Your Novel at the Beginning

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/12/16/how-to-begin-your-novel-at-the-beginning/

#AuthorinProgress #bookcoach #bookcoaching #CRAFT #Editing

Notes From the Spiked Hamster Wheel

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/12/05/notes-from-the-spiked-hamster-wheel/

#Agents #AuthorinProgress #Community #conflict #critique

Your Flight Will Be Delayed: Lessons in Publishing Patience

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/09/24/your-flight-will-be-delayed-lessons-in-publishing-patience/

#AuthorinProgress #Lamentations #perseverance #traditionalpublishing #pointofview

Artistic Integrity vs. Market Trends: Writing What’s Yours While Catching the Wave

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/07/23/artistic-integrity-vs-market-trends-writing-whats-yours-while-catching-the-wave/

#AuthorinProgress #CRAFT #Genre #traditionalpublishing #adviceforwriters
@indieauthors

Obsess Much? Welcome to Your Best Fiction Ingredients

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/07/14/obsess-much-welcome-to-your-best-fiction-ingredients/

#AuthorinProgress #Community #Fictiontherapy #perseverance
@indieauthors

Free Yourself and Your Writing Will Follow: Killing Self-Censorship

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/06/25/free-yourself-and-your-writing-will-follow-killing-self-censorship/

#AuthorinProgress #conflict #Editing #Lamentations #perseverance
@indieauthors

The Discipline Myth—and What Actually Sustains Us

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https://writerunboxed.com/2025/05/28/the-discipline-myth-and-what-actually-sustains-us/

#AuthorinProgress #Community #perseverance #adviceforwriters #REALWORLD
@indieauthors