I grew up creating—writing stories, drawing and painting, making jewelry, constructing homemade furniture and accessories for my dolls,...

Grab a coffee, pull up a chair, and join us as we chat book tropes! I just launched a fun, new thing on YouTube: Trope Talk with MJ and...

this newest resource is for fiction-writers who – like me – struggle to keep the big-picture story neatly in mind while writing...

Many of the reasons writers give for not writing are chiefly motivated by one element: Fear.

A brief tour of Arameth, to show you what emerged from this world and how it all came together.

Everyone needs at least one book-nerd friend. Here's why!

Announcing my new "crash course in fiction writing" guide!

If you’ve followed any of my series on Plotting, you know that I like plotting.But here’s my secret: I didn’t use to plot my stories at all.

A collection of inspirational writing quotes

A question I'm asked repeatedly: What about “Show, Don’t Tell”? How do I do it? What are the rules?

I often receive comments on how I’ve managed to build an online community around my writing. Here's a step-by-step of how I did that...

What to do when it suddenly feels like writing sucks and you wonder why you ever decided to do this in the first place.

A good self-edit can make a huge difference in your writing, but only if you know how to do it well. Here are 7 tips to help you self-edit..

Vibrant, memorable characters are the heart of storytelling and the window through which you are able to access your readers’ emotions.

Writers have a unique and important challenge: take ideas, experience, language – and assemble them into something altogether different...

How do you overcome the fear of others reading your work? The simplest answer to this is actually the most difficult to execute...

As both a writer and a writing instructor, I read a lot of books on writing.  Here are my top book recommendations for writers.

Throw your writing to the wolves. Sure, it may get uncomfortable. You may even get hurt a bit. But you may also find something wonderful...

There are two reasons a reader might cringe while reading a story... The difference between these two reasons can make or break a story.

What is Creative Independence? I’m glad you asked. 😉