Why?
Years ago, in my other life as a journalist, I interviewed Michael Jordan for a cover story for the magazine I worked for at the time. At the peak of his fame, shortly after his father was murdered, Jordan had quit basketball to try playing baseball. When I interviewed him, he had just made the sudden and surprising decision to return to basketball.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/06/10/why/
#CRAFT #Writinglife #adviceforwriters #KathleenMcCleary #REALWORLD
Once Upon a Page
(With thanks to writer T.A. Barnes for the title of this post.)
How many pages are in your current manuscript? Every one of them is a momentary story. A story instant. For your reader, that story instant is as important as the grand problem, the giant premise that you established in your opening.
Your reader is only once on the opening page. After that, it is up to each page to tell the story: not the big story—the overall plot, although it may advance that one step—but the little story of right now. This instant. You can bring story effects to bear upon this instant, or you can cruise along on the presumption that, once hooked, your reader will read anything you set down for hundreds of pages.
Do you think that’s likely? Nah, me either.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/06/once-upon-a-page/
Keeping Conflict on the Page
Writing stories is like having a whole host of people in your head, each with their own mind, will, history, flaws, and needs. On the best of days as a writer, I feel like I am simply channeling my characters and that their truths are what take over the page. They feel strongly; they speak freely and in their own idiom; they do things their way; they have extreme highs and lows.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/24/a-conflict-averse-writers-guide-to-keeping-conflict-on-the-page/
#CRAFT #adviceforwriters #bridgingconflict #conflict #inspiration
Layer Cake: Writing Historical Fiction
Dateline: Budapest. Inspired by a recently discovered fresco in Pompeii depicting a delectable flatbread on a platter with a large goblet of red wine, a Budapest pizzeria crafted a pie using only ingredients that would have been available in ancient Rome. Although it wasn’t until the 1800s that the city of Naples introduced a street food of tomatoes, cheese, and herbs baked on a thin crust of leavened bread, Titus Caesar in his 79 A.D. toga could have eaten focaccia topped with nuts, savory sauce, dried fruit, herbs. More French Laundry than Dominos.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/20/layer-cake-writing-historical-fiction/
#CRAFT #Inspirations #adviceforwriters #inspiration #writinglife
Overlooked Tools
I moved recently. My new place is great. It’s all set up, but that took some doing. Unpacking. Arranging. Assembling some flat-pack furniture. Hanging pictures and art. Naturally, I needed tools.
What surprised me were which tools were the most needed. Like many, I have a toolbox. I’ve collected quite a few over the years. Chisels. Scrapers. Wire strippers. Plumber’s wrench. Vice grips. The workhorse tools in the box would be screwdriver and hammer, you would think, and I did use those but not as much as a couple of others. I came to appreciate those overlooked tools.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/01/overlooked-tools/
Writing Retreats: What Showing Up Builds
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https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/25/writing-retreats-what-showing-up-builds/
New Perspectives at 14,000 Feet (and Falling Fast)
The photo above is real.
Yep, that’s me, having just leapt from a perfectly good airplane 14,000 feet over Whitewright, Texas on January 15 th , 2026. My thought at that moment: “Well, I’m out.”
That’s it.
No prayer for a working parachute.
No refrain of ‘I’m going to die.’
No screamed profanity. Or screaming at all.
After 52 years of being stuck in constant narration mode, the only thing my brain had to say about plunging toward the ground at 120mph was a simple acknowledgment that I had left the plane.
Neurodivergence is weird.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/23/new-perspectives-at-14000-feet-and-falling-fast/
Lessons from hiring the wrong editor – and how to find the right match. Honest advice after the Indie Author Lab
A developmental editor is usually the first professional to see your book. Ideally they’ll help you nurture its strengths, tone up its weaknesses, get you writing your best work. But finding that person can be a minefield. This week I was one of the resident experts at the Alliance of Independent Authors Indie Author… Continue reading Lessons from hiring the wrong editor – and how to find the right match. Honest advice after the Indie Author Lab…
https://nailyournovel.wordpress.com/2026/03/15/lessons-from-hiring-the-wrong-editor-and-how-to-find-the-right-match-honest-advice-after-the-indie-author-lab/
#Howtowriteabook #adviceforwriters #adviceonselfpublishing #authorlife #books
A developmental editor is usually the first professional to see your book. Ideally they’ll help you nurture its strengths, tone up its weaknesses, get you writing your best work. But finding that p…
My Brain is Not My Friend Right Now: the Challenges of Working with a Quirky Brain
I was in tears. Again.
I was tired of tears. I was pretty sure my husband was, too.
The problem is, tears are pretty standard for me, as an autistic woman (not for every autistic woman, but definitely for me). Masking; walking in a world that is usually overstimulating in multiple ways, just by virtue of being the world ; trying to communicate “normally” and read between lines I can hardly see sometimes…it all makes for a perpetual feeling of being lost/left out/left behind/left alone to handle what I’m handling.
That’s only a tiny piece of being a writer with a “quirky” brain.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/11/my-brain-is-not-my-friend-right-now-the-challenges-of-working-with-a-quirky-brain/
#REALWORLD #Writinglife #adviceforwriters #neurodivergentwriter #neurodiversity
Reading as an Agent
Two very recent WU posts ( HERE and HERE ) got me thinking about how I read. In one mode, I read manuscripts with an agent’s eyes. In another mode, I read novels (published or pre-) as a craft analyst and teacher. In still a different mode, I read as a fiction writer.
Once in a while, I read for enjoyment. It’s difficult to do. The other modes don’t like to shut up. And not all novels are so absorbing that my inner analyst forgets to analyze.
As agent, you might imagine that I am looking for work that matches the market’s needs. As craft analyst and teacher, you might think that I am looking for illustrative examples. As fiction writer, you might expect that that I read in awe, envy, or judgment.
In those presumptions, you would be wrong.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/04/reading-as-an-agent/
#CRAFT #adviceforwriters #characters #DonaldMaass #inspiration
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