When it comes to writers and objectivity, most of us like to think we’re objective about our work, and that we can see both the forest and the trees. We’re not, and we can't. No matter how seasoned or self-aware we are, bias creeps in—quietly, cleverly, like a cat...

When people tell me they loved a novel, they rarely say, “Wow, that plot twist was brilliant!” More often, it’s: “I couldn’t stop thinking about the character.” And usually, what they’re really responding to is the character arc—the way an oh-so-human character...

We writers are fantastic starters. We have more beginnings than a stack of unplanted seed packets—novel ideas, essays, poems, children's books, half-built worlds. Finishing? That’s trickier. Somewhere between the rush of inspiration and the final period, enthusiasm...