#realworld — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #realworld, aggregated by home.social.
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4 Guides to a Sustainable Writing Life
In the publishing industry, “what will sell” is always a moving target. To adapt is to survive, for both creators and those who sell their works. Add today’s rapid socio-political shifts and it’s hard for a business to create a strategic plan that will still work next week let alone in the year(s) it will take to write and publish a novel.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/14/4-guides-to-a-sustainable-writing-life/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #Writinglife #DonMiguelRuiz #emotionalmanagement
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4 Guides to a Sustainable Writing Life
In the publishing industry, “what will sell” is always a moving target. To adapt is to survive, for both creators and those who sell their works. Add today’s rapid socio-political shifts and it’s hard for a business to create a strategic plan that will still work next week let alone in the year(s) it will take to write and publish a novel.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/14/4-guides-to-a-sustainable-writing-life/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #Writinglife #DonMiguelRuiz #emotionalmanagement
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4 Guides to a Sustainable Writing Life
In the publishing industry, “what will sell” is always a moving target. To adapt is to survive, for both creators and those who sell their works. Add today’s rapid socio-political shifts and it’s hard for a business to create a strategic plan that will still work next week let alone in the year(s) it will take to write and publish a novel.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/14/4-guides-to-a-sustainable-writing-life/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #Writinglife #DonMiguelRuiz #emotionalmanagement
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4 Guides to a Sustainable Writing Life
In the publishing industry, “what will sell” is always a moving target. To adapt is to survive, for both creators and those who sell their works. Add today’s rapid socio-political shifts and it’s hard for a business to create a strategic plan that will still work next week let alone in the year(s) it will take to write and publish a novel.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/14/4-guides-to-a-sustainable-writing-life/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #Writinglife #DonMiguelRuiz #emotionalmanagement
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The Story of You: How Much of Myself Should I Put In a Book?
Writers leave distinct fingerprints in everything they write, little pieces of themselves scattered in their work. It’s just a casualty of our job.
Edna St. Vincent Millay, my current research obsession, left clues to her lovers and relationships that readers can trace through her poetry. Sylvia Plath branded her poetry with her rage and discontent and used her personal experience in a psychiatric hospital in her novel The Bell Jar. Emily Brontë left a lasting impression in her poems and novel of a woman who didn’t fit inside a box, who was underestimated and dismissed even though she was highly intelligent, while Charlotte wrote about plain women in humble circumstances who were also independently minded—portraits of herself.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/13/the-story-of-you-how-much-of-myself-should-i-put-in-a-book/ -
Social Media is Redefining the Author’s Job
BookCon is a beloved event where the invisible boundary between authors and readers finally falls away, and everyone gets to share their mutual enthusiasm for impactful storytelling. I’ve never had the privilege of attending, but that’s where social media comes in handy. Each year BookCon took place, I found myself wistfully scrolling through posts shared by readers, authors, and publishers alike, dreaming of the day I’d finally be part of the crowd rather than a remote spectator.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/12/social-media-is-redefining-the-authors-job/ -
Readings for Writers: In Extremis: W.B. Yeats
As an Irishman, Yeats understood revolution as a turn toward independence, the freedom to determine one’s own fate. He also knew the cost, measured in lives lost, of the struggle to throw off British colonial rule. He was born in Dublin in 1865, the same year the Fenian Land Reform Movement began. He was 40 when the Sinn Féin political party was founded. He was 51 at the Easter Rebellion of 1916. He lived through the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), the brief truce that followed, the reignition of civil war, and the consolidation of the Irish Free State (1925-1939).
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/11/readings-for-writers-in-extremis-w-b-yeats/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #ElizabethHuergo #inspiration #writinglife
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Readings for Writers: In Extremis: W.B. Yeats
As an Irishman, Yeats understood revolution as a turn toward independence, the freedom to determine one’s own fate. He also knew the cost, measured in lives lost, of the struggle to throw off British colonial rule. He was born in Dublin in 1865, the same year the Fenian Land Reform Movement began. He was 40 when the Sinn Féin political party was founded. He was 51 at the Easter Rebellion of 1916. He lived through the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), the brief truce that followed, the reignition of civil war, and the consolidation of the Irish Free State (1925-1939).
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/11/readings-for-writers-in-extremis-w-b-yeats/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #ElizabethHuergo #inspiration #writinglife
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Readings for Writers: In Extremis: W.B. Yeats
As an Irishman, Yeats understood revolution as a turn toward independence, the freedom to determine one’s own fate. He also knew the cost, measured in lives lost, of the struggle to throw off British colonial rule. He was born in Dublin in 1865, the same year the Fenian Land Reform Movement began. He was 40 when the Sinn Féin political party was founded. He was 51 at the Easter Rebellion of 1916. He lived through the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), the brief truce that followed, the reignition of civil war, and the consolidation of the Irish Free State (1925-1939).
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/11/readings-for-writers-in-extremis-w-b-yeats/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #ElizabethHuergo #inspiration #writinglife
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Readings for Writers: In Extremis: W.B. Yeats
As an Irishman, Yeats understood revolution as a turn toward independence, the freedom to determine one’s own fate. He also knew the cost, measured in lives lost, of the struggle to throw off British colonial rule. He was born in Dublin in 1865, the same year the Fenian Land Reform Movement began. He was 40 when the Sinn Féin political party was founded. He was 51 at the Easter Rebellion of 1916. He lived through the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921), the brief truce that followed, the reignition of civil war, and the consolidation of the Irish Free State (1925-1939).
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/11/readings-for-writers-in-extremis-w-b-yeats/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #ElizabethHuergo #inspiration #writinglife
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https://www.evshift.com/452124/which-ev-actually-goes-the-distance-real-world-range-test-results/ Which EV Actually Goes the Distance? (Real-World Range Test Results) #Distance #ElectricCars #ElectricVehicle #ElectricVehicles #EmergencyRoadsideAssist #EmergencyRoadsideAssistance #EV #RACV #RacvCarInsurance #RacvCarLoans #RacvCarMatch #RacvCarReviews #RacvEmergencyRoadsideAssistance #RacvEra #RacvInsurance #RacvMotorInsurance #RacvNewsAndLifestyle #Range #realworld #Results #RoyalAuto #royalauto #Test
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What We Write About When We Write About Grief
Every love story is a potential grief story. If not at first, then later. If not for one, then for the other. Sometimes, for both.
—Julian Barnes, Levels of Life
Although I can claim no awareness of a comprehensive survey on the topic, it’s been my impression as I reflect on the novels I’ve read that an all-too-common way of portraying grief in fiction is as a trope to depict vulnerability, to suggest the character possesses some profound awareness of loss, sorrow, suffering, and thus the human condition writ large, providing a signal to the reader that your character has some gravitas. This can be done reasonably well, as in the first example below, or it can come across as a contrivance, a shortcut, a gimmick.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/08/what-we-write-about-when-we-write-about-grief/ -
“So What Kind of Writer Are You?”
I love books more than bagels. More than jewelry, or cashmere sweaters (and trust me, I love bagels, jewelry, and cashmere). Reading likely kept me from teen pregnancy, heroin, and robbing convenience stores with a badass boyfriend. I’ve read great books, good books, mediocre books, and books so awful they damaged my eyes.
Genre never determined how I ranked books (perhaps because, from the moment I could walk into a library, I chose titles through a mysterious mind alchemy). Then, I became a writer and had the literary caste system thrust into my face.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/07/so-what-kind-of-writer-are-you/ -
Writing on Solid Ground: Create an Intentional Writing Practice
The first time I took the bus from Pennsylvania to New York City I was surprised to discover that the skyline is not, as I had thought, all skyscrapers. Seen from a westerly approach, there are two distinct clusters of skyscrapers separated by blocks and blocks and blocks of shorter buildings. It seemed weird that the city planners hadn’t built more skyscrapers, given how many people want to live and work in Manhattan.
It was a puzzle I didn’t unlock until I found out about the geology of the island.
Manhattan has two areas of solid bedrock—one in Midtown and one downtown. And that’s where the skyscrapers go.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/05/writing-on-solid-ground-create-an-intentional-writing-practice/ -
Writing on Solid Ground: Create an Intentional Writing Practice
The first time I took the bus from Pennsylvania to New York City I was surprised to discover that the skyline is not, as I had thought, all skyscrapers. Seen from a westerly approach, there are two distinct clusters of skyscrapers separated by blocks and blocks and blocks of shorter buildings. It seemed weird that the city planners hadn’t built more skyscrapers, given how many people want to live and work in Manhattan.
It was a puzzle I didn’t unlock until I found out about the geology of the island.
Manhattan has two areas of solid bedrock—one in Midtown and one downtown. And that’s where the skyscrapers go.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/05/writing-on-solid-ground-create-an-intentional-writing-practice/ -
Writing on Solid Ground: Create an Intentional Writing Practice
The first time I took the bus from Pennsylvania to New York City I was surprised to discover that the skyline is not, as I had thought, all skyscrapers. Seen from a westerly approach, there are two distinct clusters of skyscrapers separated by blocks and blocks and blocks of shorter buildings. It seemed weird that the city planners hadn’t built more skyscrapers, given how many people want to live and work in Manhattan.
It was a puzzle I didn’t unlock until I found out about the geology of the island.
Manhattan has two areas of solid bedrock—one in Midtown and one downtown. And that’s where the skyscrapers go.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/05/writing-on-solid-ground-create-an-intentional-writing-practice/ -
Writing on Solid Ground: Create an Intentional Writing Practice
The first time I took the bus from Pennsylvania to New York City I was surprised to discover that the skyline is not, as I had thought, all skyscrapers. Seen from a westerly approach, there are two distinct clusters of skyscrapers separated by blocks and blocks and blocks of shorter buildings. It seemed weird that the city planners hadn’t built more skyscrapers, given how many people want to live and work in Manhattan.
It was a puzzle I didn’t unlock until I found out about the geology of the island.
Manhattan has two areas of solid bedrock—one in Midtown and one downtown. And that’s where the skyscrapers go.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/05/writing-on-solid-ground-create-an-intentional-writing-practice/ -
Getting Down to Business
AI is in the news yet again. There’s an update on the Anthropic lawsuit, there are new guidelines on the use of AI in publishing from the Authors Guild, and a freelancer for The New York Times was fired for using AI to write, of all things, a book review. It’s no surprise that Netflix adaptations of books boost sales, sometimes 500% or more. Read about it below. The people have spoken and most say they prefer physical books to ebooks—at least according to one survey. A new ruling from the Supreme Court undercuts authors’ effort to slow the tsunami of book pirating. Another right-wing publishing imprint is established (Tucker Carlson Books), with 24 books slated for release starting next month, and Jane Friedman offers insights as to why book sales figures are so hard to get and sometimes even harder to interpret.
AI…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/05/01/getting-down-to-business-33/ -
Lessons from My Mentor
There’s one reason why my words stand before you, one reason why I feel this desperate calling to share my thoughts on the craft with other writers. It’s to pay forward all the generosity bestowed upon me by creators over the years. What would we do without our teachers, our mentors—the selfless people who were willing to step out of their own worlds to give us a lift up?
One person in particular had a profound impact on me: Leila Meacham. She was a proud Texan, a football lover, a beloved English teacher, and a novelist who hit the big time (seven-figure deals) later in life. To me, she was more than my writing mentor. She was my hero, and I’d like to pass along some of her wisdom.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/30/lessons-from-my-mentor/ -
Lessons from My Mentor
There’s one reason why my words stand before you, one reason why I feel this desperate calling to share my thoughts on the craft with other writers. It’s to pay forward all the generosity bestowed upon me by creators over the years. What would we do without our teachers, our mentors—the selfless people who were willing to step out of their own worlds to give us a lift up?
One person in particular had a profound impact on me: Leila Meacham. She was a proud Texan, a football lover, a beloved English teacher, and a novelist who hit the big time (seven-figure deals) later in life. To me, she was more than my writing mentor. She was my hero, and I’d like to pass along some of her wisdom.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/30/lessons-from-my-mentor/ -
Lessons from My Mentor
There’s one reason why my words stand before you, one reason why I feel this desperate calling to share my thoughts on the craft with other writers. It’s to pay forward all the generosity bestowed upon me by creators over the years. What would we do without our teachers, our mentors—the selfless people who were willing to step out of their own worlds to give us a lift up?
One person in particular had a profound impact on me: Leila Meacham. She was a proud Texan, a football lover, a beloved English teacher, and a novelist who hit the big time (seven-figure deals) later in life. To me, she was more than my writing mentor. She was my hero, and I’d like to pass along some of her wisdom.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/30/lessons-from-my-mentor/ -
Lessons from My Mentor
There’s one reason why my words stand before you, one reason why I feel this desperate calling to share my thoughts on the craft with other writers. It’s to pay forward all the generosity bestowed upon me by creators over the years. What would we do without our teachers, our mentors—the selfless people who were willing to step out of their own worlds to give us a lift up?
One person in particular had a profound impact on me: Leila Meacham. She was a proud Texan, a football lover, a beloved English teacher, and a novelist who hit the big time (seven-figure deals) later in life. To me, she was more than my writing mentor. She was my hero, and I’d like to pass along some of her wisdom.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/30/lessons-from-my-mentor/ -
From Thrillers to the Supernatural: What Writing YA Taught Me About Storytelling
I’ve always written about monsters. The human kind of monsters. Hopefully, I write the kind you can’t tear away from. The ones who force you to ask yourself the uncomfortable questions about human nature and the choices we make.
My stories have always lived in the adult space—where tension builds like a pressure cooker, danger is inevitable, the story unravels slowly to that huge climax, and the question isn’t just what will happen, but when, how, and how to stop it from happening or happening again.
Knowing all of this, I didn’t expect that writing a young adult book, filled with monsters of a literal kind, would challenge me in new and frustrating ways.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/29/from-thrillers-to-the-supernatural-what-writing-ya-taught-me-about-storytelling/ -
Wendy Tokunaga Introduces BRENDA BARKER’S NEXT CHAPTER
Dear WU community:
I think there are times when we all like to read to escape the uncertainty of the world and the daily stresses of life—I know I do! But we also enjoy immersing ourselves in a story that is not only joyful and inspiring but one that also has something important to say. I want to share with you my new novel, Brenda Barker’s Next Chapter, which I feel ticks all these boxes.
Brenda Barker’s Next Chapter will appeal to:
Fans of women’s fiction
Fans of humorous fiction
Women of a certain age
Aspiring writers of all ages
Published writers of all ages
Fans of the satire of Christopher Guest (Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Waiting for Guffman)
Wine lovers…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/26/wendy-tokunaga-introduces-brenda-barkers-next-chapter/ -
NEW Story 360 Virtual Advanced Fiction Workshop (exclusive PROMO CODE available!)
Introducing our NEW Story 360 Virtual Advanced Fiction Workshop! An intensive three-day virtual workshop for writers of fiction and creative nonfiction who relish deep-dive, challenging classes that go far beyond the basics.
https://www.free-expressions.com/story-360
Included in the workshop are a day-long master class, THE DEEP END: SECRETS OF STORY DEPTH with literary agent and WU contributor Donald Maass and substantive courses on advanced topics from industry pros, Janice Hardy, Sarah Fisk, Sheree L. Greer, Jordan Rosenfeld, Lorin Oberweger, Leah Henderson, Jonathan Maberry, and Steven James.
Topics include:
Flat Settings, Heavy Paragraphs, and Other Description Disasters
The Scintillating Synopsis…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/25/new-story-360-virtual-advanced-fiction-workshop-promo-code-available/ -
Vibe Coding Has a Security Problem, and Shipping Code You Do Not Understand Is Not a Strategy
AI-assisted coding is speeding up software development, but it is also making it easier to ship insecure defaults, weak access controls, poisoned dependencies, and code nobody on the team can confidently defend.
#vibecoding #programming #itsecurity #itsec #aicoding #aislop #coding #itsec #realworld #nosecurity #itsecurity #it
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Four Ways to Give Your Creativity a Boost
One of the most difficult things about writing, for me anyway, is coming up with ideas for things to write about. Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit staring at a blank Word document, waiting for inspiration to strike. Although there’s a lot of good advice out there offering ways to combat this problem, not everything I’ve tried has helped. Below are four tips I’ve come to rely on whenever I feel stuck.
Just Write Something
Back when I worked as a magazine editor, one of things I often said to writers experiencing creative blocks was: You can’t edit a blank page. By this, I meant that while it’s possible to fix a less-than-perfect story, you can’t make something out of nothing.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/22/four-ways-to-give-your-creativity-a-boost/ -
Four Ways to Give Your Creativity a Boost
One of the most difficult things about writing, for me anyway, is coming up with ideas for things to write about. Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit staring at a blank Word document, waiting for inspiration to strike. Although there’s a lot of good advice out there offering ways to combat this problem, not everything I’ve tried has helped. Below are four tips I’ve come to rely on whenever I feel stuck.
Just Write Something
Back when I worked as a magazine editor, one of things I often said to writers experiencing creative blocks was: You can’t edit a blank page. By this, I meant that while it’s possible to fix a less-than-perfect story, you can’t make something out of nothing.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/22/four-ways-to-give-your-creativity-a-boost/ -
Four Ways to Give Your Creativity a Boost
One of the most difficult things about writing, for me anyway, is coming up with ideas for things to write about. Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit staring at a blank Word document, waiting for inspiration to strike. Although there’s a lot of good advice out there offering ways to combat this problem, not everything I’ve tried has helped. Below are four tips I’ve come to rely on whenever I feel stuck.
Just Write Something
Back when I worked as a magazine editor, one of things I often said to writers experiencing creative blocks was: You can’t edit a blank page. By this, I meant that while it’s possible to fix a less-than-perfect story, you can’t make something out of nothing.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/22/four-ways-to-give-your-creativity-a-boost/ -
Four Ways to Give Your Creativity a Boost
One of the most difficult things about writing, for me anyway, is coming up with ideas for things to write about. Over the course of my career, I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit staring at a blank Word document, waiting for inspiration to strike. Although there’s a lot of good advice out there offering ways to combat this problem, not everything I’ve tried has helped. Below are four tips I’ve come to rely on whenever I feel stuck.
Just Write Something
Back when I worked as a magazine editor, one of things I often said to writers experiencing creative blocks was: You can’t edit a blank page. By this, I meant that while it’s possible to fix a less-than-perfect story, you can’t make something out of nothing.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/22/four-ways-to-give-your-creativity-a-boost/ -
The Past as Unexplored Territory
I’ve written a number of articles about how to get into the head of someone who thinks differently from you. But in the last couple of weeks, I was reminded of just how hard this is by the stories of two different men – Eric Swalwell and Samuel Pepys.
If you have a newsfeed and a pulse, you’ve probably heard that Representative Eric Swalwell has dropped out of the California Governor’s race and resigned from Congress. He really had no choice after he was credibly accused by several women of sexual harassment and even rape. (He denies the rape accusations.)…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/21/87257/ -
The Switch to a Slow-Burn Writing Process
I’ve always been the type of person who’s hyper aware of the passage of time. I know time is fleeting, so when I know I want to do something, I want to do it as soon as possible lest time run out.
That’s been true for my writing, too. I used to crank out drafts in a couple months. They were rough but at least I had something to fix. Later, as I grew busier with my day job, I was still pretty good at finishing a decent draft of a new project about once a year.
And then I had a child. And writing seemed like much less of a priority (and has stayed that way). Plus, there was the sleep deprivation factor, and my focus on keeping another human being alive while trying to do a good job at it.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/15/the-switch-to-a-slow-burn-writing-process/ -
Klassisches Microblogging hat natürlich eine Existenzberechtigung ohne ein Social-Media-Video-Algorithmen-Spektakel sein zu müssen. Man benutzt ja auch sein Mail-Postfach, obwohl es dort keine lustigen Tanzvideos gibt...
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Author Up Close: Eriq La Salle—Keep Writing. Keep Going. Keep Creating.
Welcome back to another installment of Author Up Close, my exclusive series for Writer Unboxed where I interview authors at various stages of the publishing process. Today, I’m delighted to share a Q&A with actor, director, producer, and author Eriq La Salle.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/14/author-up-close-eriq-la-salle-keep-writing-keep-going-keep-creating/ -
2026 Interview Series: Bookstagrammers and What You Should Know
This year, for The Buzz series, I am interviewing marketing-minded authors and other book-loving creators who are doing great things in our industry. In my last post, I spoke with popular books podcaster, Courtney Marzilli. Today, get to know how two popular bookstagrammers— @electric_bookaloo (Jen) and @the_unwined (Sophia)—operate.
A few quick pointers about working with bookstagrammers from someone whose agency has been doing so for a decade:
Get to know them. Follow them and engage with their posts first.
Pay attention to what genres they read.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/13/2026-interview-series-bookstagrammers-and-what-you-should-know/ -
Why Do We Write?
My youngest daughter got engaged last week, which means it’s been an intense weekend, with lots of hugs and joyful tears and gratitude and hope and excitement for the future. At the end of the weekend, a friend said to me: This was so much intense emotion. Are you going to use that in a novel?
The question stopped me short, because it made me think about the many times in my life I’ve felt driven to write, in order to process intense emotion. And yet it’s almost always been because I needed to process something hard , something that knocked the steel from my knees and the breath from my lungs. For me, writing my way through painful experiences helps me regain my equilibrium; happy feelings don’t elicit the same need.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/08/why-do-we-write-2/ -
Why Do We Write?
My youngest daughter got engaged last week, which means it’s been an intense weekend, with lots of hugs and joyful tears and gratitude and hope and excitement for the future. At the end of the weekend, a friend said to me: This was so much intense emotion. Are you going to use that in a novel?
The question stopped me short, because it made me think about the many times in my life I’ve felt driven to write, in order to process intense emotion. And yet it’s almost always been because I needed to process something hard , something that knocked the steel from my knees and the breath from my lungs. For me, writing my way through painful experiences helps me regain my equilibrium; happy feelings don’t elicit the same need.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/08/why-do-we-write-2/ -
Why Do We Write?
My youngest daughter got engaged last week, which means it’s been an intense weekend, with lots of hugs and joyful tears and gratitude and hope and excitement for the future. At the end of the weekend, a friend said to me: This was so much intense emotion. Are you going to use that in a novel?
The question stopped me short, because it made me think about the many times in my life I’ve felt driven to write, in order to process intense emotion. And yet it’s almost always been because I needed to process something hard , something that knocked the steel from my knees and the breath from my lungs. For me, writing my way through painful experiences helps me regain my equilibrium; happy feelings don’t elicit the same need.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/08/why-do-we-write-2/ -
Why Do We Write?
My youngest daughter got engaged last week, which means it’s been an intense weekend, with lots of hugs and joyful tears and gratitude and hope and excitement for the future. At the end of the weekend, a friend said to me: This was so much intense emotion. Are you going to use that in a novel?
The question stopped me short, because it made me think about the many times in my life I’ve felt driven to write, in order to process intense emotion. And yet it’s almost always been because I needed to process something hard , something that knocked the steel from my knees and the breath from my lungs. For me, writing my way through painful experiences helps me regain my equilibrium; happy feelings don’t elicit the same need.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/08/why-do-we-write-2/ -
Five Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing Five Years Ago
We’re thrilled to have former WU contributor and multi-published, New York Times bestselling novelist Allison Winn Scotch back with us today to share some of what she’s learned! Eleven novels in, she’s learned quite a lot about what it takes to stay in the business longterm, and we’re here for it.
Speaking of that 11th novel, The Insomniacs , which releases on April 14th, marks a genre-pivot for Allison–to thrillers! From People.com :…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/07/five-things-i-didnt-know-about-publishing-five-years-ago/ -
Write Anywhere, Write Everywhere
When my first book came out, I was working full-time, writing, and parenting two kids under three. It was, to say the least, hard to find the time to write. It was also hard to find a place to write.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/06/write-anywhere-write-everywhere/ -
Write Anywhere, Write Everywhere
When my first book came out, I was working full-time, writing, and parenting two kids under three. It was, to say the least, hard to find the time to write. It was also hard to find a place to write.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/06/write-anywhere-write-everywhere/ -
Write Anywhere, Write Everywhere
When my first book came out, I was working full-time, writing, and parenting two kids under three. It was, to say the least, hard to find the time to write. It was also hard to find a place to write.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/06/write-anywhere-write-everywhere/ -
Write Anywhere, Write Everywhere
When my first book came out, I was working full-time, writing, and parenting two kids under three. It was, to say the least, hard to find the time to write. It was also hard to find a place to write.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/06/write-anywhere-write-everywhere/ -
What Noir Can Teach Any Writer
Please welcome author Ruth Knafo Setton to Writer Unboxed today! Ruth is the author of two novels, The Road to Fez, and her latest, Zigzag Girl, “[a] mystery that understands how easily a performance can become a crime—and how dangerous it is to confuse the two.” (Kirkus Reviews)
From Ruth’s bio:…
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/04/04/what-noir-can-teach-any-writer/ -
A Lesson in Perseverance from Walt Disney
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Disney Family Museum located in the beautiful Presidio in San Francisco. Being a Disney fan, I heard about the museum, started by one of Disney’s daughters, Diane Disney, and decided to check it out. While I wandered through the museum, I learned about the family’s humble Irish immigrant beginnings and his time as a WW1 soldier. It was Walt Disney’s struggles as an artist that really interested me though, and what his story of perseverance means to other artists.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/27/a-lesson-in-perseverance-from-walt-disney/ -
Of Pens and Swords
In January 2011, a series of pro-democracy protests and demonstrations across North Africa and the Middle East succeeded in deposing multiple rulers. This constellation of events became known as the Arab Spring, and it ushered in, at least briefly, hope for a new era of change.
When I returned to Egypt afterward, the physical landscape of Cairo had changed. At Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolution, the gutted-out shell of a hotel testified to the violence that marked the revolution. Giant new walls surrounded the national museum. Narrow avenues of entry and guard posts slowed access to tourist sites. During my daily drives through Cairo I also saw something that never existed during the Mubarak era: graffiti.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/26/of-pens-and-swords/#Inspirations #REALWORLD #Writinglife #powerofwords #thepenandthesword
