Shortcuts for Writers Blog: Writing Tips & Resources for Authors

Practical Writing Advice for Every Stage of the Writing Process

Explore articles on writing craft, self-editing, revision, productivity, organization, creativity, and the writing life, along with behind-the-scenes insights from authors about what changed when they revised their work.

5 Revision Lessons from a Dark Underground Romance

Today's guest post follows Crystal Naldi through five major revisions she made while writing A Man's Fight, a dark underground romance. I especially loved the addition of Patrick's painted nails. Curious what I'm talking about? Read on to discover how that small...

Spellcheck vs Proofreading: What Romance Authors Need to Know

Spellcheck is a useful first step, but it's far from the final one. While it can catch many typos, it can't recognize context, continuity, character consistency, or the subtle issues that affect a reader's experience. That's why polishing a manuscript takes more than...

How to Cut Word Count in a Novel: Smart Editing Tips

Finishing a novel is a huge milestone, but what happens when your word count spirals far beyond industry expectations? If you’ve ever typed “The End” only to realize your manuscript is too long, you’ll relate to this "Behind the Rewrite" guest post from Bruce Conord....

AI vs Human Writing: Who Writes Better Stories?

As artificial intelligence tools become more common in the writing world, the debate around AI vs human writing is heating up. Many authors are asking the same questions: Can AI write a novel that feels human?Will AI replace writers? My personal answer is that if we...

Writing a Christmas Story: A Guide for Children’s Book Authors

Christmas always brings a little extra magic into the world, and it’s no surprise that many writers dream about writing a Christmas story of their own. If that’s you, you’ll love today’s guest post from G.R. Saunders, a former teacher and lifelong storyteller who...

Practices to Strengthen Your Writing Voice

Finding your writing voice can feel like a struggle, but sometimes it’s about uncovering what’s already inside you. That’s why I’m thrilled to share this guest post from Dani Fankhauser, a writing coach and energy healer who helps writers tap into their authentic...

Surprising Benefits of Editing a Published Story

In this Behind the Rewrite post, Jann Everard shares her experience revising a short story for inclusion in her short fiction collection. Despite the story's previous publications, Jann saw an opportunity to strengthen the piece further. Below, she reflects on why she...

Read This Show Don’t Tell Example

Writers are often told to “show, don’t tell,” but what does that really mean? When Alina Adams revised a pivotal scene in her upcoming novel Go On Pretending, you can see firsthand how turning exposition into action and dialogue made the emotions more powerful, the...

Redesign & Resources for Authors

I’m thrilled to announce that Shortcuts for Writers just got a fresh new makeover. As a writer, editor, and coach, I know how important it is to keep things organized and inspiring—and that includes my website. I wanted to make it even easier for you to navigate my...

Writing Historical Fiction: Research

Author Nancy Houser-Bluhm, one of my editing clients, shares about her two-year journey writing her time travel romance, The Nickel Loop. If you've ever felt the pressure to write faster or wondered if all those research rabbit holes were worth it, you'll want to read...

Finding The Right Book Cover Design And Title

Finding the perfect book cover design concept can be a stressful task. Book covers should give readers a sneak peek of what to expect and set an overall tone for the journey ahead. Without a strong cover, readers may decide against investing their time and money into...

Check Out This Book Promotion Graphics Software

I just uploaded a new video to YouTube. It's a demo and review of MockUpShots, a site that gives authors lifetime access to a library of images for book promotion purposes. You can watch my 12-minute demo here. I'll show you: * What the software does with the...

5 Revision Lessons from a Dark Underground Romance

How to Cut Word Count in a Novel: Smart Editing Tips

Surprising Benefits of Editing a Published Story

Read This Show Don’t Tell Example

5 Tips For Writing A Children’s Picture Book

Have you ever considered writing a children's picture book? Because children's picture books are so short, it can be challenging to tell your story effectively. You have limited space, need to use an age-appropriate vocabulary, and your words have to inspire an...

5 Revising Strategies for Historical Novel

Welcome to New York Times Bestselling Author Alina Adams, who is returning to the blog to share 5 changes she made to her latest book, My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region. Keep reading to get insight into Alina's revising strategies on this...

5 Major Changes To YA Space Opera Novel

Welcome to Justin Doyle who gave us a sneak peek behind the rewrite of his YA space opera, Embargo on Hope. Here are five areas that Justin focused on while editing his science fiction book. Embargo on Hope took me over fifteen years from first words on paper to...

5 Steps To Revising A Mystery Novel

Hi, my name is Maureen Fisher. As a guest blogger on Behind the Rewrite, I’m delighted to share my editing experience at Stacy Juba’s competent hands. After reading Stacy’s 10-page edit summary of Deadly Thanksgiving (A Senior Sleuth Mystery - Book 2), I realized I’d...

Revisions Inspired By Free Editing Class

Today's Behind the Rewrite meant a lot to me as author C.E. Flores made her revisions after taking my free editing class, Line Editing Made Simple: 5 Days to More Polished Pages. If you haven't gone through the course, be sure to sign up. And if you took it a long...

5 Helpful Fiction Editing Techniques

It's always fascinating to see what goes into the rewrite process. I'm delighted to welcome Amber Lambda, who shares five changes she made to her YA fantasy novel, Halos. Below, Amber, describes the fiction editing techniques she used when revising her book. ***...

Rewriting An Old Manuscript

As a freelance developmental editor, I often send long editorial letters and suggest major rewrites. When clients are discouraged, I remind them that I'm an author, too, and can relate to difficult rewrites. However, I'm not entirely sure they believe me! So, I'm...

Behind The Rewrite: Turning A Script Into A Book

I'm always fascinated by how authors approach the rewrite process, but there's one type of project I've never considered before: turning a script into a book. When I was researching SEO tags for this post, I discovered that lots of people search for phrases like "how...

Making Sentences Less Passive

I see a lot of writers who need to learn the logistics of making sentences less passive. In this Behind the Rewrite, Liesel K Hill explains why limiting passive voice is important and how she approached line editing her fantasy novel Dragon Magic. Since Liesel is both...

How To Increase Word Count In A Novel

How do you increase the word count in a novel when the book is too short? In today's Behind the Rewrite, author Clarissa Gosling gives us a glimpse into how she fleshed out her YA fantasy Dragon Shift during the editing process. Writing too short is an issue that many...

Varied Words Aren’t Always a Given

When I read Judy Penz Sheluk's Behind the Rewrite post, I chuckled as boy, does it ring true! We all have crutch words and phrases that we rely on when we're talking to others. It drives me crazy when I listen to myself in a podcast interview and hear myself...

Behind The Rewrite: Authentic Details In Fiction

Mystery author Nancy Lynn Jarvis gives us a peek into her editing process in today's Behind the Rewrite. Nancy shares five of her biggest changes, which include inserting and fact-checking small details. Adding these authentic details in fiction can flesh out your...

Alina Adams: Back And Forth With HarperCollins

I remember hearing New York Times bestselling author Alina Adams speak at a conference about her figure skating mystery series many years ago. Over the years, I've gotten to know Alina through social media, and when I heard about her new release, The Nesting...

Solving Boring Sentence Structure

In today's Behind the Rewrite, Brenda Whiteside talks about one of the last—but most important—aspects of the editing process: varying boring sentence structure. She shares a before-and-after excerpt from her novel Southwest of Love and Murder, book two in a five-book...

Behind the Rewrite – Power of the Red Pen

In today's Behind the Rewrite, romantic suspense author Cathy Skendrovich talks about the power of the red pen—and the delete button. She discusses five changes she made when rewriting her new release Zone of Action. It doesn’t matter how great you think the book...

5 Editing Tips From Author Renee Wildes

In today’s Behind The Rewrite, author Renee Wildes discusses having her romantic epic fantasy series picked up by a new publisher. She shares five important editing tips for authors to keep in mind when revising their manuscripts. 1: New Publisher/Title/Editor The...

Behind The Rewrite: Fleshing Out A Scene

Do you ever have a tendency to underwrite the scenes in your first draft and realize that you need to do some fleshing out in your rewrites? In today's Behind The Rewrite, romance author Suzanne Jefferies talks about exactly that situation and shares a before and...

Behind The Rewrite: Editing A Short Story

Today's Behind the Rewrite gives some unique insight into editing a short story. I appreciate the detail that the author, Emerald, went into describing why she decided to cut the below scene from her short story "Winter," part of her collection, Initiative: Tales of...

Line Editing Example: Fleshing Out Scenes

In this Behind the Rewrite installment, author Alice Renaud shows how to flesh out and improve the flow of a scene through line editing, using an excerpt from her fantasy romance novel, Music for a Merman. Alice Renaud's Behind The Rewrite The hero, Rob, a...

Behind The Rewrite: Tackling Wordiness

Do you ever grapple with wordiness in your manuscripts? Below, J. Arlene Culiner shows you a before-and-after from her romantic mystery book, The Turkish Affair, demonstrating the importance of tightening your manuscript. J. Arlene Culiner's Behind The Rewrite...

Behind The Rewrite: Breathing Life Into A Flat First Draft

If you've ever skimmed through your flat first draft and felt as if it needed more depth to come alive, then you'll relate to this Behind the Rewrite post from author JL Peridot. Below, she discusses rewriting her sci-fi romance novel It Starts With A Kiss. JL...

Behind The Rewrite: Scene Purpose

Do you find it painful to delete a scene in your manuscript or give it a massive overhaul? Take heart as you're not alone. Below, Kathy L Wheeler shows you a before-and-after from her book, Mail Order Bride:The Counterfeit, demonstrating why scene purpose is so...

Guest Blogging For Authors Opportunity

Are you a published author who would like to get some exposure on the Shortcuts for Writers blog? Then I'd love to have you participate in my guest blogging opportunity, Behind the Rewrite. This is a win-win opportunity as you get to share the post with your readers,...

Shortcuts for Writers Blog: Writing Tips & Resources for Authors

Practical Writing Advice for Every Stage of the Writing Process

Recent Posts

Behind the Rewrite Collection

Looking for something else?

Enter a word in the search bar below.

Pin It on Pinterest