Hi, welcome to another installment of ‘Opening the Writer’s Desk,’ where we take a deep dive into the writing tips from today’s most widely-read authors.

In today’s post, I’m going to share four writing tips from J.K. Rowling—you may have heard of her.

Because someone out there hasn’t, I’m just going to say it: Harry Potter. That’s her. Here’s what JK Rowling says she does to produce her best work.  

You know by now that you need a literary agent to sell your book to most publishers, at least the big ones. If you’ve checked out some of my other posts, you may even know the steps to get one.

But how do you know when you’re ready for a literary agent? Today, I’m going to share with you four must-dos before you’re ready for a literary agent. Let’s go.

If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ve probably wondered if publishing a book could boost your business. I’ve been in a number of business groups since I launched my own business a few years ago, and I’ve learned a lot from these groups and from my fellow entrepreneurs.

But there’s one trap I’ve noticed a number of entrepreneurs falling into that I think keeps them from understanding how powerful a book could be for them. Today I’m going to talk about that trap, and how writing a book can be a great marketing move. Let’s go! 

One of the most frequent questions I get from writers is: how am I (Mary) able to write so fast? Especially after they hear that I usually knock out my first draft in about 3 months…everyone wants to know how. 

So here it is: my answer. 

There’s one common habit shared by almost all writers who struggle with their writing pace—and I’m going to tell you what that is and how to fix it so that you can write more quickly if you want to. Let’s go.

There is so much writing advice out there that it can get overwhelming. Should you open your novel with the weather? Or never open it with the weather?

Should you include a dream sequence or never include a dream sequence?

Are memoirs done? Is publishing done? Ahhh!

Today, I’m going to debunk, as in bust open, the 3 most destructive writing myths that I see causing writers to suffer.

You want to improve as a writer—but you don’t want to spend all your time doing craft exercises when you can barely find time to work on your actual book. Does this sound like you?

If so, you’re in the right place. In this post, I’m sharing three exercises that will dramatically boost your writing skills and move you further along in your current creative writing project. Let’s go.

What makes a novel count as “literary fiction?” Is it more impressive than commercial fiction? And what’s the difference?

Today, I’m going to give you my highly opinionated and polarizing take on this question as a novelist, reader, and human being. Stick around and read till the end if you want to either yell “amen!” at me or throw something at your computer screen. Ready?

Before I was a published author, I felt like I was always on the Internet googling things about writing. How many words should my novel be? What contests could I enter? What classes should I take? What was the best writing software? What about the best place to find an agent? My questions were endless.

There are so many sites out there offering advice and services to writers—today, I want to share with you my 7 favorite websites for writers and aspiring authors and why I love them so much. Let’s go! 

If you’re here, you probably love stories. And if you love stories and you’re anything like me, you get your stories in whatever medium you can, whether that’s novels, movies, TV, or maybe something else.

And while there’s nothing quite like reading for me, I am obsessed with certain favorite shows: Trying is one of them, Schitt’s Creek is another.

Today, I want to share four things that TV shows can teach us about writing more compelling characters in our fiction.