Freewriting to Break Writer's Block

It has taken me a long time to understand my writing process. In school, I learned how to draft, revise, and workshop with peers. Those skills matter, but they could only take me so far. I needed something more to continue growing as a writer. More recently, I’ve been applying another learning model to my creative work—ARCS. 💪 Act. 🧘♀️ Reflect. ✨ Consult. 📚 Study. This approach reminds me that writing is not just about producing polished pages. It is also about experimentation, reflection, feedback, and continued learning. Some drafts require courage before clarity. Some ideas need conversation before revision. Some projects reveal gaps in knowledge that require research. The ARCS model has helped me move away from perfectionism and toward a more thoughtful and sustainable creative practice. In this week’s blog post, I reflect on these different stages of learning and how they shape the writing life. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gh84pKUz #WritingCommunity #Writing #CreativeProcess #WritingLife #AmWriting #LifelongLearning

Our latest deep dive is available to read now! How can #CreativeWriting inform #SocialResearch? What can creative writing bring to #qualitative methods? https://lnkd.in/eTaaXc6W

Planning a summer of writing can feel both exciting and overwhelming. This post from Elizabeth O’Connor, prize-winning novelist and UoB staff member, offers practical, realistic ways to build a writing routine that works for you.

What separates writing that lands from writing that falls flat? Elaboration. Elaboration is the specific information a writer uses to develop their topic — details, facts, anecdotes, dialogue, inner thinking, statistics, reasons, and more. When a writer uses purposeful detail, their meaning becomes clear and the writing comes to life. Without it, even the most interesting topic can feel confusing or underdeveloped to a reader. So how do we teach this to young writers? Watch Jennifer Serravallo do it beautifully with a small group of 2nd graders. She gives them one concrete strategy: find a fact in your writing, then ask yourself How? Why? What kind? That single question prompts writers to dig deeper and give readers the information they want. It's a simple, transferable move that works across grade levels and genres, and watching it in action is a great reminder of just how powerful the just-right strategy—and focused small-group instruction—can be. Tap the link to watch the full video and share it with your teachers.

Perfect Your Writing We want to avoid giving a lot of details or exposition in a big bunch during our stories, because it bores the reader and they tune out. Here's how to avoid doing this. https://lnkd.in/ez5MSbJN #writing #InfoDump

The One Thing Authors Get Wrong About Editing  First-time writers complete their draft, run spell-check, fix a few commas, and believe their writing is ready for publication. But turning a manuscript into a memorable book is a much more complex process than correcting grammar.  When you're in the editing stage, here’s what a professional edit really looks like: It is structural, not grammatical. Before we even look at spelling, we examine the foundation. Is there a slow pace in the middle? Is the main character's purpose believable, or is the central argument of your nonfiction work fully developed? Are there plot holes or logical gaps you haven't noticed because you’re too close to the story? This is Developmental Editing, and it sometimes involves rewriting entire sections. It sometimes involves "killing your darlings." That beautifully written paragraph you love? If it doesn’t serve the story or strengthen your argument, a good editor will advise you to cut it. It’s uncomfortable, but it makes the book better. It refines your sentences. Line Editing focuses on how your writing flows at the sentence and paragraph level – word choice, rhythm, clarity, and tone. This is where your voice gets polished without being replaced. It catches what your eyes skip over. Copy Editing handles grammar, punctuation, consistency, and style. It’s the detail pass that ensures your manuscript meets professional publishing standards.     It's a collaboration, not a dictatorship. A true editor doesn’t want to change your voice; they want to elevate it. It's a dialogue, not a lecture. At The Publishing Pad, when we push back on a scene or a passage, it's because we want your reader to feel exactly the emotion you intended.    Proofreading is the very last step of a long journey. If the process hasn’t felt a little uncomfortable or challenging, you may not have cut deep enough.   Authors, what has been your biggest learning curve when working with an editor or self-editing your work? Share your experiences in the comments!   If you‘re interested in the publishing pad, here is our website for more info: https://lnkd.in/e6G8esFu #PublshingIndustry #WritingCommunity #BookEditing #AuthorTips #AmEditing #ThePublishingPad #ThoughtLeadership

WHY EVERY WRITER NEEDS AN EDITOR... One thing this editing journey has taught me is this: Being a good writer does not automatically mean you can spot every weakness in your own manuscript. And that’s okay. Because when you’ve spent weeks or months writing a book, your brain already “understands” what you meant to say—even when the sentence is unclear. That’s where an editor comes in. I’ve read books with powerful messages but: – repeated words everywhere – weak paragraph arrangement – inconsistent tenses – punctuation errors – overexplained ideas – chapters that ended abruptly And the painful part? Most of those issues could have been fixed before publishing. I remember while editing a manuscript, there was a scene where the writer simply wrote: “She was nervous.” Now, that sentence is not wrong but editing helped transform it into: “Her grip tightened around the envelope as she avoided his eyes.” Same emotion. Better experience. That’s what editing does. It doesn’t kill your voice. It strengthens your message. Even the best authors in the world work with editors because writing and editing are two different skills. A writer creates. An editor refines. And sometimes, the difference between an average book and a memorable one is proper editing. At The Authors’ Lab, we help authors refine their manuscripts through: 📌 Editing 📌 Proofreading 📌 Professional Formatting Because your message deserves clarity, structure, and excellence. Excellence sets me apart. #EvelynWritesAcademy #Theauthorslab

Revision isn’t something we talk about much in the writing world–we just expect that writers will know how to do it. This can be especially difficult on your first few manuscripts, especially if you’re working on your own without a mentor or an editor. Revision is NOT checking your spelling, grammar, and punctuation and calling it a day. Those elements are more in line with copy editing, which is the final stage your book would go through before publication. And while there’s no harm in going through and making corrections to these things, doing this level of editing on a first or second draft might not be the best use of your time because the chapter or section you so lovingly correct could end up being cut. Revision is the process of looking at all the parts of your story and making them clearer, more focused, and more streamlined. This is a huge process. Many early stage authors will think they can do a comprehensive edit in under a month. And while it’s not impossible, it is very difficult to do a good job in that short of a time frame. I suggest you plan on six to eight months to revise your manuscript. And now, Scribblers, you’re ready to do the actual revision! We offer a self-paced course that covers the process of revision. You can get 15% off by using code YOUTUBE15. Click on the link in the description and enroll today. You’ll get life time access to the course. We also run revision cohorts periodically throughout the year. This is a three month program that provides small groups of 4-6 writers with personalized guidance through the revision course. We meet virtually twice a month and you’ll get a weekly email checking on your progress and offering accountability. This is a great way to learn and practice the skills necessary for revision and have a built-in coach and brainstorming partner. Participants will receive access to the revision course and receive a developmental edit of their first 15 pages. #amrevising #manuscriptrevisions #amwriting #writingcommunity #writingworkshop

Strong research can still get rejected if the writing creates friction for reviewers. Some of the most common warning signs include: – awkward sentence structure – inconsistent tone – unclear arguments – citation issues – formatting inconsistencies Many authors become too familiar with their own writing to notice these problems before submission. We broke down 7 signs your paper may need professional editing before submission 👇 https://lnkd.in/eqngBtDy #AcademicWriting #Research #AcademicEditing #PhDLife

Have you ever compared your writing progress to another writer's and felt like you weren't keeping up? Maybe someone wrote 3,000 words in a day while you spent the same amount of time working through a single scene. Maybe a friend finished a draft in three months while you're still navigating the middle of your manuscript. It's easy to assume that writing faster automatically means writing better. But those are not the same thing. Writing speed is simply one part of a writer's process. It is not a reliable measurement of creativity, skill, storytelling ability, or future success. Different writers spend their time differently. Some writers draft quickly and revise extensively later. Others spend more time thinking through character motivations, scene progression, emotional dynamics, or worldbuilding before moving forward. Neither approach is inherently better. They are simply solving different problems at different stages of the process. For example, imagine two writers working on the same chapter. One writer finishes the chapter in a single afternoon and plans to refine it later during revision. Another writer spends several days working through the same chapter because they are experimenting with dialogue, strengthening emotional beats, and figuring out how the scene fits into the larger character arc. Both writers are making progress. The progress just looks different from the outside. This is one reason comparing your pace to someone else's can become frustrating. You rarely see the full process behind the result. You just see the word count. You don't always see the planning, outlining, brainstorming, revising, deleting, restructuring, or problem-solving that happened before the book your reading got published. At The Manuscript Editor, we help writers strengthen pacing, characterization, emotional progression, dialogue, clarity, and reader immersion through line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. We also offer a free 800-word sample edit so writers can experience the process firsthand before committing to a full service. Start here: https://lnkd.in/daWZMqV5 #WritingTips #AmWriting #BookEditing #WritingCommunity #Writer #ProofreadingServices #PublishingSupport #BookEditor