Word to the Wise: Writing Advice You'll Actually Use
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Can you improve as a writer when the world's on fire?
How do you get better at writing when life is life-ing?
This is part two of a two-part series focused on building a creative practice during turbulent times. You can read part one here. Today, we're joined by Lori Puma.
Lori Puma helps writers craft fiction that inspires readers to skip bathroom breaks and ignore smartphone notifications. She helps them build outlines, hone their storytelling chops, and polish manuscripts so that their novel or short fiction hooks readers and stands out in a crowd. Find out more about Lori at her website.
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If the world is on fire, can you still improve as a writer?
Yes! First, focus on building your writing practice. When that’s an established habit that you feel comfortable with, then look for small ways to experiment or stretch yourself.
🌱 When You’re Starting Out
When the world is on fire, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture and fall down a rabbit hole. Creating detailed backstories for characters who barely appear or researching obscure historical details that won't be mentioned.
There are two skills that really matter, because they’re the main building blocks of fiction: scene-writing or global storytelling.
Ingermanson teaches a variation of the method for designing scenes known as Scene-Sequel. This technique was created by Dwight Swain and it is by far the most popular scene-writing technique. It’s helped countless authors learn to write scenes that sizzle with conflict and tension.
If you're in a critique group or use a site like Scribophile for feedback, chances are someone who’s given you comments had this technique in mind.
When the world is on fire, you might try reading a chapter at a time. Then, apply what you learn to one scene. Eventually, you want to master this entire method. But when life is chaotic, we want to break things down into the smallest piece possible.
Global storytelling
For the larger story, there’s one skill that often doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. That’s finding the main conflict or heart of your story. This is true, no matter what’s happening in the wider world. But finding the heart of your story is even more important when the world’s on fire.
You can boil every good story down to a single sentence that captures the struggle at the heart of the narrative.Will Katniss Everdeen survive long enough to win the Hunger Games? Can Hercule Poirot solve the murder? Will Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset turn their fake courtship into a long-lasting love?
You want to create a cohesive narrative where everything in the story has a clear relationship to this one central struggle. If there isn’t a clear main conflict, it creates unresolvable problems that cascade down to every act, sequence, and scene. This cascade of issues is why a poorly defined main conflict is the #1 reason that authors abandon manuscripts mid-draft.
Whether you call it a logline, a story question, the main conflict, or something else, refining this central conflict can help you make giant leaps forward in a short amount of time. That’s why it’s one of the best places for you to focus when life is messy.
Ideally, you want a main conflict that’s a good match for your target word count and that identifies what your character will lose if they fail to reach their story goal. When you’ve got this, the story is easier to write, and more fun to read.
Practice your main conflict creation skills with this worksheet.
How everything feels these days
🦸🏽 Got the Basics Covered? Find Your Superpower
If you’re an indie author, you’ve probably got LOADS of suggestions and ideas on things you could work on to improve your craft. When the world’s on fire, you want to focus on what’s effective and enjoyable.
The best authors aren't perfect at everything. They're solid at most things and exceptional at a few. What sets them apart is their unique storytelling perspective.
For example, Kameron Hurley is known for telling female-centric stories in complex and unconventional science fiction worlds. Her Bel Dame Apocrypha novels are set in a world where technology is insect-based. S.A. Cosby writes gritty, propulsive Southern noir crime that explores race and class with nuance and empathy.
When the world’s on fire, give yourself an emotional boost, and do your career a favor. Reflect on what lights you up that readers also love. Define and document what makes your storytelling different.
Post those reflections to your wall or desktop so you can remind yourself what makes you great every time you sit down to write. Pull it out when you feel scattered, doubtful, or disgusted by the AI trash we’re all bombarded with these days. We need stories written by real people with distinct voices now more than ever.
Every writer faces moments where feedback reveals problems they’re not sure how to solve. Maybe readers consistently misunderstand your protagonist's arc, or tell you the pacing feels off.
When you’re already stressed from non-writing turmoil, give yourself extra space and kindness to process difficult feelings and permission to avoid situations that generate negative feelings. Put critiques that sting aside until turmoil passes or the sting subsides. Take a step back from groups or platforms that make you doubt your abilities or your practice.
When our fight or flight system is activated, our perceptions get distorted. We’re more likely to take a negative view and believe bad things about ourselves and our capabilities, even if what was actually said was neutral.
When the world’s on fire, be vigilant about protecting your belief in yourself. We want writing to be a refuge, not a source of self-doubt and resentment. Writers who cultivate joy in their writing practice have long and healthy writing careers.
If you want outside support developing a writing practice that feels good, talk to Bailey!
🧑🏻🔧 Feeling Stuck? Step 2: Get the Right Fix
Don’t dive into revisions head-first, even when you’re feeling good. Take a step back and confirm that you’ve gotten to the root cause of the problem.
While you can trust a good professional editor’s suggestions, if your feedback came from readers that might not be the case. Readers are usually good at spotting when something's wrong, but they're not always right about what's causing the problem or how to fix it.
Check out this troubleshooting doc for common problems, what really causes them, and how to fix them properly.
Here are three highlights of common problems and how to address them:
First, main conflict problems. These are the number one reason writers abandon manuscripts mid-draft. If you’ve got a main conflict problem, you want to identify it as soon as possible. But many non-editors who read your story won’t say, “You have a main conflict problem.” They’ll say something vague, like, “Nothing happened,” or “The story didn’t grab me.”
You can hone your main conflict creation skills with this skill builder. You could also participate in this free annual DIY book clinic. The first step each year is writing a logline. Group members will help you if you get stuck.
After the main conflict, the next most common place for a story to get stuck is with the antagonists, whether that’s the chief antagonist (a.k.a. the villain), or any minions or minor antagonists. It’s rare for a non-editor to identify problems here, because they mostly happen off the page.
Antagonists who have vague goals, mushy motivations, and not enough opposition between each other cause problems. You want antagonists with concrete goals and strong motivations creating conflict with the protagonist and the other antagonists. Read this blog post to see how this works in The Princess Bride.
Finally, consider sequences. The most frequent problem is that the scenes comprising the sequence have reversible consequences. That means what happens in one scene doesn’t affect the next one, and the protagonist can renege on their decisions.
Addictive stories are the ones where your hero is repeatedly forced into situations where they cannot go back. They can only go forward. Irreversibility will look different in a romance than in an action novel, but the principle remains the same.
To assess if this is an issue in your fiction, try to reorder your scenes. If moving scenes around breaks the story, you’ve done great work! If reordering them is easy, you want to beef up your consequences so that it’s harder for your protagonist to go back. Look for ways to cut off their opportunities to retreat and force them to do the things they absolutely do not want to do.
When you’re on the right track, you might start noticing some changes in how others respond to your work.
Beta readers start highlighting passages that moved them rather than just marking typos. Reviews shift from "good story" to discussions about themes and character motivations.
You might sell stories to better publications more frequently, with editors providing personalized responses instead of sending form rejections. In your critique group, other writers may give you more specific, nuanced feedback—or they might start asking for your advice.
Don't let the fires put you out!
Your Writing Can Flourish, Even When the World Burns
When everything feels chaotic, your writing practice doesn't have to be perfect—just intentional. Focus on scene-writing techniques and your story's central conflict. These two skills will transform your fiction more than any amount of perfectionist research.
Protect your creative energy by being selective about feedback during turbulent times. When problems arise, diagnose the real issue first. Then, find and apply the solution.
Your stories matter, especially now. Keep writing, keep improving, and trust that small adjustments compound into significant growth.
Ready to take your project to the next level? A Page-Turning Outline Review can help you identify exactly what your story needs.
*Affiliate Disclaimer: I sometimes include affiliate links to books and products I love. There's no extra cost to you when buying something from an affiliate link; making a purchase helps me keep creating Word to the Wise!
-- Since this is the world we live in right now, I'm adding an itty bitty note about AI to the newsletter.
I do not use generative AI to write my newsletter, nor will I.
As a writer, I do not believe there is an ethical use case for generative AI in my creative practice or my business. That means everything you read here, from brilliance to BS, comes straight from my actual human brain.
If you have any questions about this, feel free to reply to any of my emails! I read and answer every response I get.
Word to the Wise: Writing Advice You'll Actually Use
Dr. Bailey Lang @ The Writing Desk
Helping aspiring authors build sustainable, enjoyable writing practices. Sign up for practical writing advice, plus insider wisdom from published authors.