In “Thirty Recommendations for Good Writing Habits,” an essay published in 2013, the writer and translator Lydia Davis offers a cardinal rule: “work on your character.” (She happened on a variation of ...

This is part of Help! Wanted, a special series from Slate advice. In the advising biz, there are certain eternal dilemmas that bedevil letter writers and columnists alike. This week, we’re taking them ...

If you open up a Twitter thread or an advice column for graduate writing, you’ll probably see advice such as “Just write.” “You can’t edit a blank page.” “Put words on paper—even if they’re terrible, ...

The thinking seemed to be that the more fancy words and complex sentence structures they could shoehorn into an essay, the greater their likelihood of getting an A. Much of my job consisted of ...

Writing can feel like both a thrilling adventure and an uphill climb. Whether you’re staring at a blank page, wrestling with self-doubt, or juggling too many ideas to count, the process of creating ...

Every time I turn around, Jami Attenberg has published another novel or memoir. But I do not begrudge her this, because I know how she does it. For years, Jami has enlisted conspirators in writing a ...

Editor’s note: Poynter announced that the newly renamed 2024 Poynter Journalism Prizes will feature a category honoring longtime writing coach Roy Peter Clark and recognizing compelling short writing ...

I recently left my legal career of nearly 12 years to pursue my writing. Things began decently enough, but slowly backslid into a general apathy and laziness that I can’t seem to snap out of. Without ...