Author: Ozzy
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Metrics That Matter
“Words Per Day” vs. “Days of Words” Writers love to count. Word counts. Writing streaks. Minutes in the chair. Hours spent “researching” (an overly generous term, sometimes). And don’t get me wrong—metrics can be useful. But some of them do more harm than good. Take one of the most common: Words per day. The Trouble with…
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12 Hard Truths Writers Don’t Want to Hear
1. You’re not owed an audience. Writing something doesn’t entitle you to readers. Or feedback. Or fans. Or book deals. Readers are earned—through craft, consistency, and clarity. Publishing is easy. Building trust? That’s the hard part. 2. Your first draft is worse than you think. Even when it feels good. Even when you’re “in the zone.” The…
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Inspiration Strikes at 9am
Writing Needs Routine More Than Romance W. Somerset Maugham famously said: It’s a joke, of course. But like many good jokes, it lands because it’s true. Most people misunderstand how creative work actually gets done. They imagine writers waiting for a flash of brilliance, for the muse to appear with a smirk and a cigarette…
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Do You Need a Sensitivity Reader? (And How to Find One If You Do)
How do you know if your story would benefit from a sensitivity reader? Not to censor it. Not to sanitise it. To make sure it lands the way you mean it to. To make sure that you’re not misrepresenting a group of people. Here’s the thing: if you’re writing outside your own experience—and most of…
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Your Day Job is a Stepping Stone
If you’re a writer with a day job, it’s easy to feel trapped. Every hour you give to someone else can feel like an hour stolen from your own words. You clock out tired, stare at the page, and wonder if you’re ever going to have enough time or energy left to make this writing…
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Mood Boards for Writers
Mood boards aren’t just for artists or designers. They help you make consistent choices in your writing. The way you describe a street, the colour of the light in a scene, the kind of clothes your characters wear—it all flows better when you’ve set the mood for yourself first.
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You Don’t Find Your Voice, You Build It
Writers talk a lot about “finding your voice,” like it’s some lost object waiting under the couch cushions. As if one day you’ll stumble across it fully formed—Ah, there it is! My voice!—and from then on, the words will flow perfectly. It doesn’t work like that. Your voice isn’t something you find. It’s something you build.
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No One Will Love Your Book Like You Do
Readers can care deeply about your story. They can love it, be moved by it, recommend it to friends, reread it a dozen times. But their relationship will always be different from yours. For them, it’s a story. For you, it’s part of your life.
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How Do I… (You Do The Work)
A lot of writers get stuck waiting for someone to give them the right tip, the perfect answer that will fix their story instantly. That doesn’t exist.