Explore eight stories with emotional resonance, cultural and historical significance, and timeless lessons for every generation. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

CONTENTS:

• Why should we read tear jerkers?
• How I compiled this book list
• 8 timeless books that will make you cry

Why should we read tear jerkers? 

Reading tear jerkers offers a unique kind of catharsis, a deep emotional release that we often need but may not get during the course of everyday life. Tear jerkers take us on carefully crafted emotional journeys, as we follow characters through their struggles and triumphs. They help us process our own emotions and contemplate more deeply what it means to be human. 

Beyond the emotional release and life lessons, tear jerkers help us connect with others. In seeing the world through the eyes of fictional characters, we learn to feel empathy and compassion, not only for people who exist only on paper, but also for each other. 

How I compiled this...

Discover an empowering process for requesting writing feedback, receiving it with grace, and implementing it to unlock your full writing potential. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

CONTENTS:

• How to ask for feedback
• How to receive feedback with grace
• How to implement feedback with confidence 

Requesting writing feedback is unique opportunity to gather diverse responses to your work-in-progress, find out what inspires people, and discover opportunities to develop your work further. A good critique partner, editor, or book coach can help you peer into your blind spots and uncover the hidden potential in your writing.

There's no thrill quite like finding out what someone has to say about your writing. To navigate this moment with ease, you have to be vulnerable and humble, adopt a growth mindset, and remain open to both praise and constructive suggestions.

Hear from a member of my writing community, the Author Exchange: "Receiving feedback about...

Discover the qualities of a good critique letter and explore an example to elevate your critique process.

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

CONTENTS:

• What is a critique letter?
• How to write a critique letter
• Critique letter example
• Additional resources  

What is a critique letter?

A critique letter is a type of writing feedback you compose to help a writer improve a piece of creative, professional, or academic writing. Critique letters are used by many people in the writing world, including developmental editors, literary agents, book coaches, critique partners, and beta readers to communicate writing advice.

Their unique format is part of what makes them particularly useful. Unlike delivering verbal feedback or marking up a manuscript with comments, writing a critique letter means you can deliver a polished, structured message to a fellow writer about their work's strengths and opportunities for improvement. 

How to write a critique...

Explore writing feedback examples from real writers and get inspired for your next critique.

By Julie Tyler Ruiz 

CONTENTS:

• Overview
• Women's fiction feedback example
• Philosophy essay feedback example
• Historical fiction feedback example
• Nutrition nonfiction feedback example
• Final tips

Overview

Exchanging feedback with other writers offers you a valuable opportunity to improve your work and support others in their writing process. Gathering a range of opinions provides insight into how readers might respond to your work and helps you make informed decisions about how to revise. Crafting useful feedback on others' work raises your own awareness of craft and strengthens your relationships in the writing world.  

In conjunction with my article, "How to Give Writing Feedback Authors Crave," I've put together four writing feedback examples to help you recognize what good feedback looks and sounds like. With permission...

Explore the craft of giving writing feedback and how this process can elevate your writing and the work of others. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

CONTENTS:

• What is writing feedback?
• What are the benefits of giving feedback?
• Elements of a good writing critique 
• How to give writing feedback: 7 steps
• Love giving feedback? Here's how to do it more often 

What is writing feedback?

Writing feedback is the art and craft of reviewing a written work-in-progress (WIP) to identify what works and what doesn't and then delivering your impressions in a way that helps the author improve their work. As we'll explore in more detail, writing feedback can take the form of verbal or written commentary addressing a WIP's strengths and areas for improvement. For example, when reviewing a piece of creative writing, such as a novel or short story, you might praise the author's compelling cast of characters, while alerting the author to plot points that need development. 

Critique vs...

Discover a simple process for outlining a novel, explore popular outlining tools, and get additional outlining tips to use throughout your writing journey.  

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

CONTENTS:

• What is an outline?
• How to outline a novel: 5 steps
• Additional tips for outlining a novel

What is an outline?

An outline is a document that describes and organizes all the components of a writing project. For writing a novel, an outline would show the framework of the plot and the events in chronological order. 

The main purpose of a novel outline is to streamline the work you do to write a book-length story. In the early stages of the process, an outline can help orient you to the storyline. Who are the characters and what is their predicament? Later in the process, you can use an outline to refine and tighten the plot. Where do you see opportunities to add or delete scenes, improve the pacing, or put characters in more dynamic situations?

As we'll explore...

Is writing a novel outline for you? Review the purpose and benefits of an outline, as well as common challenges and frustrations writers experience, to decide. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

In going about the process of writing a novel, you come to a point when it's time to consider creating an outline. How do you write one? Should you create one? Do you need one? Will it actually help? How far can you get without one?

The answers to these questions aren't always straightforward. We all take different approaches to writing a novel. We all think differently. And we all draw upon different gifts and abilities to tell stories. For example:

• Planners take a meticulous approach, using the early phases of a project to research their topic, explore ideas, and discover possibilities before committing actual scenes to paper. They write detailed outlines, character profiles, and other documents to guide their process. 
• Pantsers take a more relaxed and spontaneous...

Launch your writing career with these 7 steps and get answers to the top questions aspiring writers are asking about their career prospects. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

Contents:

• How to become a professional writer: 7 steps
• Additional strategies for launching your writing career
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ) 

How to become a professional writer: 7 steps

Professional writing is a diverse and competitive field, with many opportunities to make a living doing what you love. There are many paths you could take. Some people start in another career and then transition into writing, while others train for a writing career from the start and then upgrade their skills, job titles, and income over time. 

For more background on what it means to write professionally, including essential skills, industry trends, and career paths, read my article, "Your 2024 Quick Guide to Professional Writing." 

Let's explore the main steps for launching a writing...

Get your start in professional writing or advance your writing career with this 2024 quick guide!

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

Contents:

• What is professional writing?

• What are the genres of professional writing?

• What is a professional writer?

• What sets professional writers apart? 

• Writing professionally: what to know in 2024

What is professional writing? 

Professional writing refers to any type of writing that you compose in the professional world to earn a living. As we'll explore in more depth below, professional writing encompasses a broad range of content for academic, business, and creative purposes. 

To be effective, a piece of professional writing should do the following: 

• Meet the needs of a specific audience. 
• Exhibit clarity and credibility. 
• Inspire action, effect change, or enable specific outcomes. 

What are the genres of professional writing? 

Professional writing comes in many forms. In...

Discover the truth about writing a novel in 2024, the most effective strategies for developing a solid first draft, and tips for novel writing success. 

By Julie Tyler Ruiz

Novel writing process: what you should know in 2024

Writing a novel offers many rewards. By going through the process, you build important writing skills and see yourself in a new light, as someone with the vision and stamina to complete a large project. When you reach the end of the process, you get to see your work in print and offer readers an engaging reading experience.  

Now that you're at the outset of your novel project, you have the opportunity to take ownership of the entire process, every word, every sentence, and write from your heart and soul. This endeavor is especially important in the age of AI, a watershed moment for all content creators, when tools like ChatGPT and Copilot can generate pages of text on command. As a storyteller, your...