Catapult | Don't Write Alone

Cover Photo: This photographs looks at a road driving through a desert and toward some low mountains. The sky has been put through a long exposure, so we see the stars spinning in concentric circles, like waves moving out from where a stone was dropped in a still pool of water.

So You’re Writing an Essay. But What Is It Really About?

To get from a pile of ideas to one essay, I ask myself three questions: What is this essay about? What’s it really about? What is it really, really about?

Anna Held

Feb 09, 2023

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Little Lessons from Writing Newsletters

Sometimes you just need to claw out a few paragraphs on the page and hit publish. A newsletter can teach you how.

The Editors

Jan 19, 2023

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This photograph shows a woman sitting up in bed inside a cabin. She has a huge window next to the bed that looks out into a snowy forest.

How to Set Yourself Up for Success at Your Writing Residency

This guide is meant for writers who are dreaming of getting away to write—and addresses the anxiety many of us feel when we finally get that treasured chunk of time.

Nancy Reddy

Jan 12, 2023

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This photograph shows a black notebook lying on a yellow background. Next to the notebook is a white pen, and written on the blank first page is the word "plan"

New Year’s Resolutions for Writers (That Aren’t About Writing)

This year, rather than making resolutions about how or when you write, consider focusing on the skills and habits that will help you maintain a career in the ever-changing world of publishing.

Elizabeth Blackwell

Jan 09, 2023

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This photograph shows a man covered with sticky notes, as if he is being attacked my messages about his life: some say take a break, some say breathe, others have drawings of houses and dollar signs.

How to Track If You’re Writing “Enough”

I call my instincts to organize and categorize a project that feels out of control the Religion of Office Supplies.

Danielle Lazarin

Jan 03, 2023

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This is a photograph of a person's face. They are resting their head on their hand and look dejected. They are in the dark but their face is lit by a blueish light that suggests they are looking at a computer screen.

How to Be a Writer When You’re Highly Sensitive to Rejection

Throughout my writing journey, I’ve been working hard to cope with the inevitability of rejection in ways that work for me. I hope that what I’ve learned can help others.

Aisling Walsh

Dec 19, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: A photograph of the actor Cate Blanchett sitting across from . . . herself

Writer’s Block? Try Talking to Yourself

The self-interview is a way to ask myself real questions about whatever I’m working on without it feeling like work.

Brennan Kilbane

Dec 08, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: A woman with long dark hair sits on a bed in front of a laptop and surrounded by books. She is writing by hand in a notebook.

How to Get a Literary Agent

Query smarter, not harder, to find the right agent for you.

Lisa Bubert

Dec 01, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This is an illustration of a table at night with a burning candle and finger food on dishes in the middle. Around the table there are hands holding glasses. The illustration has a blue tint except where the candle casts a warm light.

The Dinner Table Problem

When you’re ready to pitch or publish your work, a good question to ask yourself is: Why does this need to be an essay rather than a story you tell to friends over the dinner table?

Stella Cabot Wilson

Nov 17, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: Two people sit across from each other at a small table, discussing something.

How to Workshop Stories About Trauma

Not all feedback, even from a reader you hold in high esteem, will be appropriate for the story you’re trying to tell.

Anjali Enjeti

Nov 14, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This header image is a black and white outline illustration of two people sitting and writing. Each of them have a speech bubble above their heads; one bubble is a scribbled mess and the other shows neatly scribbled lines, like imagined text.

How to Write a Novel (Or Anything, Really) with ADHD

Instead of fighting myself tooth and nail to subscribe to a neurotypical writing lifestyle, I’m choosing to expand upon my weird brain’s strengths and abilities.

Tessa Flattum

Nov 10, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: The silhouette of a hand against a fogged up glass window

Tiny Writing Tips from the Writers of ‘Tiny Nightmares’

“Write about the terrifying by writing about the alluring.”

The Editors

Oct 26, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: A photograph of a pen resting atop a pile of lined paper. On the paper, in handwritten cursive, is the word "Dear."

How to Write Yourself an Edit Letter

Approaching your book as a reader rather than the author helps separate you from the emotional experience of putting your work on the page.

Lyz Mancini

Oct 06, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This image shows phases of the moon, a full moon on the left moving through six distinct phases, with a fingernail of a moon on the far right. The moons all share the same yellowish orange glow against a black starless background, as if in the dead of night.

I’m Living in the Poems I Can’t Yet Write

How does one translate life into poetry, especially in seasons of total depletion?

Natasha Oladokun

Sep 26, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: A side-by-side collage of four photos of a notepad tracking the number of words written per day and the total number of words in the manuscript. The numbers run down the notepads in a single column in blue pen.

How to Write a Novel In a Month

The fear that I might never write a book led me to develop a practical system of writing by numbers.

Fawn Parker

Sep 19, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This is a close-up photograph of word fridge magnets piled on top of each other. Some of the words include "sorrow," "the," "to," "you," "believe," and "explore."

What We Talk About When We Talk About Book Titles

When a writing project has a good title, everyone can feel it. But getting there can be a struggle—for both the author and the publishing team, if your project happens to be a book.

Kate McKean

Sep 06, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This photograph shows a row of students in a classroom, all masked, all rapt with attention.

So You Want to Apply for an MFA

For our Application Week series, MFA directors and professors discuss common misconceptions, how they support students, and answer that ubiquitous question: Is getting an MFA worth it?

The Editors

Aug 15, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: This photograph is of a flower that is just beginning to blossom from a tight bud. Its petals are white, streaked with pink, and it has a few dew drops decorating them like small crystals.

Using Impatience to Help Your Writing

In this exercise, classes instructor Chaya Bhuvaneswar asks you to consider your impatience with not yet being where you want to be in your writing career and helps you use that as momentum.

Chaya Bhuvaneswar

Jul 25, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: Photograph by Timothy Dykes/Unsplash

How to Pivot from Writing Short Stories to Novels

If you’ve written short stories and are figuring how to get started on a novel, Erin Flanagan has some tips to help you get started.

Erin Flanagan

May 23, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Cover Photo: Photograph by gerlos/Flicker

In Praise of the Pomodoro, or Finding Writing Freedom Through Constraints

You might surprise yourself at how much you’re able to accomplish in short, focused periods of twenty-five minutes.

Jill Witty

May 09, 2022

Don’t Write Alone | Toolkit

Don’t Write Alone: Toolkit