by Anne R. Allen I’ve been going through my blog archives, and I found one of the first pieces I wrote for the blog—15 years ago. This was before the “Kindle Revolution” had really taken hold, so almost all beginning writers were desperately trying to “land an agent.” (We seemed to treat agents like some […]
Archives for June 2025
Chekhov’s Gun: Does Your Story Have a Forgotten “Gun”?
by Anne R. Allen This week I’m visiting the writing blog, Writers In the Storm, talking about “Chekhov’s Gun.” “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise, don’t put it there.”…Anton Chekhov Chekhov, the Russian playwright, also wrote short stories, […]
The Non-Linear Writing Process: What, How, and Why
by Jenny Hansen Was your writing process a long and winding road for anyone else here? And by writing process, I mean “a reliable way you’ve been able to approach the page that allows you to finish books.” I struggled for decades to find my process. And I do mean struggled. I’d open a Word […]