This book is a short, actionable guide to increasing your writing efficiency. Though at times a bit inelegant, “2,000 to 10,000” offers powerful productivity strategies that will increase the rate at which you plan, draft, and edit new creative projects.

While some writers struggle to restrain their novels to a standard length — always brimming with ideas for new conflicts and scenarios their characters might encounter — this isn’t the case for every writer. In fact, it’s not uncommon for novelists to struggle to write full-length books.

Sure, they might know what events will occur at all their story’s major beats (e.g., the midpoint, the inciting incident, the climactic sequence). But what about all the little scenes in between? How can novelists fill the gaps in their stories without writing filler and fluff?

One strategy is to give your characters a side quest. Not familiar with the term?

In a world where there’s so much noise and everyone sounds the same, writer, your unique story is needed more than ever.

Now, I don’t mean the idea that’s been watered down because you’ve been too busy comparing yourself to every other writer on the planet and convincing yourself what you’ve got isn’t good enough. I certainly don’t mean meshing those wondrous threads of imagination with what you assume to be dominating the bestsellers lists.

A story with no secondary characters is like a play without an ensemble. Without a strong supporting cast bringing the plot to life, the main characters would wander around aimlessly with no direction or conflict to spur them on. The best kind of books have a strong selection of secondary characters that readers fall in love with and want to see succeed in their endeavors, even more than the protagonist sometimes. But it is equally important not to let them take over the story or become so complicated that they overshadow the main character.

You don’t have to remain trapped in this endless cycle of unsatisfying writing sessions forever. In fact, you can break free in as little as three simple steps.

These steps aren’t designed to help you optimize your writing sessions. There are plenty of strategies for achieving that goal, such as writing when your creative energy peaks and recreating the environment in which you write best.

Creative are knowledge workers who rely upon information and ideas to create fantastic work. So it’s no wonder that our heads are often chaotic or in the clouds, brimming with all sorts of thoughts that we struggle to organize and employ.

That's where a second brain comes into play. By taking the time to create a unified system for knowledge management, we can organize our creative work and get serious about writing with clarity and focus.

In today's article, Kristen breaks down her preferred knowledge management system, why she loves it, and how you can set up your own!

Storytelling is both an art and a craft — and like any craft, the skills required to write great stories can be taught and learned.

What are some of the other steps you can take to improve your skills and stories beyond simply consuming how-to content? And how can you best apply what you learn to truly level up in your craft?

In today's article, Kristen breaks down the six essential strategies you can put into practice to pave the way for incredible growth in your writing life!

Can you visualize an ideal day in your writing life?

If you’re like most writers, then I imagine that day looks something like this: You sit down with your beverage of choice, crack open your manuscript, and slip into an easy creative flow. Words fly from your fingertips as you lose yourself for hours in a deeply fulfilling, highly productive writing session.

Isn’t this how you imagine your writing practice should unfold? It’s certainly the image that society has sold us concerning what a “real” writer’s creative work should look like.

But if that’s the case, then what happens when you don’t crank out words with ease? When writing proves painstakingly difficult? When you turn to avoidance and procrastination rather than doing the damn hard work? There must be something wrong with you. Right?

Every writing journey has its bumps in the road. Sometimes those setbacks are of our own making, while other times they aren't our fault in the slightest.

Either way, there’s no doubt that setbacks can drain your mental and emotional energy.

Thankfully, there are steps that every writer can take to not only minimize the number of setbacks they experience but to weather creative turbulence with resilience and strength. What must you do to begin cultivating a little of this creative fortitude?

As writers, we doubtless spend a lot of time and effort making our stories the best that they can be.

Unfortunately, all of that hard work lends to such an intimate familiarity with our manuscripts that we often to fail to see some of our stories’ biggest (and tiniest!) issues — anything from major plot holes and off-kilter pacing to spelling and grammar mistakes and inconsistencies in the text.

To succeed in the business of writing and selling books, you’ll need an online headquarters — a place that readers can visit to learn everything they need to know about who you are, what you write, and where they can purchase your books. In other words, you’ll need an author website.

What information should an author website include? How does one go about creating an author website, exactly? When is the right time to create and launch your online headquarters?

Creative comparison often gets a bad rap. Like self-doubt, comparison can be a lens through which writers can identify the strengths and weaknesses in their work, ultimately helping them improve the quality of their skills and stories with intention.

But without the right attitude in place, ego and insecurity can blind writers to the insights that comparison can provide, warping constructive comparison into a dangerously destructive act.

So, how can you overcome unhealthy creative comparison?