Here we are at the Big Kahuna of the 3-act structure: the third act. If you haven't read my last three blog posts on the 3-act structure (an overview and details on Act 1 and Act 2), please go do that now and then come back to this one. (Otherwise, this is not going to make a whole lot of sense.)

Three posts ago, I gave you an overview of the 3-act structure as a simple, powerful way to structure your story.

Then, I walked you through creating a strong Act 1 to hook you and your audience in quickly and effectively.

Next, I talked about how to write an engaging Act 2 by investing emotionally in your story. Now, we’re taking on the third and final act—the last thing you leave your audience with.

I’m sure you’ve been wondering all week how my law school story ends, so let’s wrap it up!

Rumor holds that Steven Spielberg once said—and excuse my French—“third acts are a bitch.” Not to contradict the God of the 21st Century Box Office, but I actually think second acts are harder.

To kick us off, I'm going to continue my story from last week about my first year of law school.

After the conversation with my aunt, a lawyer who tried to make me feel better about being in law school and not feeling smart enough to be there, I thought, “Okay, Mary, it’s time to get your act together.”

Today I want to share three things that no one tells you about becoming a published author. I published three novels over the last few years, which I'm not going to lie, was truly a dream come true.

Sometimes people ask me what it’s like to see your book on shelves when you didn't even bribe someone to put them there or sneak it in yourself? And it's awesome. I mean, it feels mostly amazing, but there are a few surprises you may not expect. I sure didn't. And I'm going to share those with you in this post.

Today I'm sharing three things that no one tells you about getting a literary agent. First, I'll cut to the chase. Yes, you need a literary agent, probably.

There are two exceptions. One, if you're self-publishing, you don't need a literary agent. And two, if you're only pursuing small publishers that accept submissions directly from writers. And these smaller publishers will say on their website if they accept what they will call unrepresented submissions, or they'll just say, we accept submissions directly from authors, but there aren't too many of these and you're going to need to seek them out.

I get this question all the time from people who want to write and publish books, and it’s a fair question. The problem is that the publishing industry is often extremely opaque when it comes to money, and the amount of money you can make varies tremendously: are you writing a novel or memoir? Are you a first-time author? What genre is your book?

But good news: I’ve got the data! Yep, I’ve got numbers. Today, I’m going to break down how much you can make as a writer so you know what to expect. Let’s go.

The last thing any writer wants is for someone to think we aren’t original, or that we’re just recycling commonly used phrases and ideas, right? So how do you avoid recycling other people’s writing, whether it’s a plot premise or a turn of phrase? How do you avoid hack topics and cliches? Today, I’m going to share 3 strategies to make sure you’re leaning into your own originality. Let’s go.

Today I'm sharing 10 top writing tips from bestselling authors! The truth is that what works for one writer, isn't going to work for every writer, so one way to help yourself is to explore all the different ways you can find your own success to go from amateur to best selling author yourself.

I'm going to share my favorite strategies from these best selling authors.

So you’ve heard that you need a literary agent to sell your book to a publisher. Cool. And you know you’re supposed to go out and find one. Cool again.

But are some literary agents bad? How do you know if an agent is…a creep? Or a fraud? Or a shyster? Today, I’m going to tell you three things to look out for when you’re approaching literary agents, so you don’t find yourself in an unfortunate situation.  

This is possibly the most important post I’ve ever made for this series. Today, I’m going to share 3 things that you don’t learn in creative writing classes.

No one ever told me these things. No one talks about these things still, as far as I know. I had to figure them out for myself, and as far as I know I’m the only one talking about them. But they are very very important if you want to write a book and get it published. Let’s go.