Archive - Writerly Things with Brooke Warner

10 Cool Writing- and Book-Adjacent Things That Make Me Happy This Holiday Season

with a birthday shoutout to my favorite kid!

Dec 22 •

Threshold Moments

The Chaos, Promise, and Absorption of Initiations

Dec 15 •

So You Want Your Scenes to Matter? (Memoir Primer Part II of II)

Harnessing the power of reflection in a genre where "meaning" matters more than "what happened"

Dec 8 •

So You Want to Write Good Scenes? (Memoir Primer Part I of II)

On staying grounded in place and time and resisting the urge to drift out of scene

Dec 1 •

November 2024

Hold Your Competition Lightly

Advice for authors on handling similar or same works, titles, and covers (with examples)

Nov 24 •

Writing Is a Mess

And Other Writing Advice from Salman Rushdie (coming to you live from the Kauai Writers Conference)

Nov 17 •

Why to Keep Writing

How abuse triggers writers' emotions—and 9 reasons to stay the course for the next four years

Nov 10 •

Personal Narrative as a Force for Cultural Progress

Why to stay the course with your writing, no matter the outcome on Tuesday

Nov 3 •

October 2024

How to Show the Whole in Your Memoir

Narration as an Exercise in Being Everywhere All At Once

Oct 27 •

Writing While Needed By Others

How to shield yourself and your writing against the forces of Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, Selfishness, and Guilt

Oct 20 •

We're Losing the Battle Against AI

The Authors Guild and Created by Humans announce new efforts in the fight, but it's not enough

Oct 13 •

The Anticlimax of Becoming an Author

Why publishing a book will turn you into an emotional wreck—for a time

Oct 6 •

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