Kelsey Allagood
@kelseyallagood.bsky.social
I write books, climb rocks, and say things online. Birds > billionaires.
More at kelseyallagood.com
More at kelseyallagood.com
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
Are you a neurodiverse writer, or suspect that you are? Author Kim Bullock bravely shares her recent (but overdue) diagnosis, and offers hope to others, today at WU.
Confessions of a Neurodiverse Writer: Encouragement and a Spoonful of Hope
This post may appear to have little to do with the craft or business of writing, but the lived experience of what I suspect to be a great many of us creative types deserves attention, too. Kelsey A…
writerunboxed.com
October 27, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Are you a neurodiverse writer, or suspect that you are? Author Kim Bullock bravely shares her recent (but overdue) diagnosis, and offers hope to others, today at WU.
I had Even More Thoughts about writing while neurodivergent 👇
No matter how weirdly different our methods, our brains do something AI will never accomplish. Author Kelsey Allagood unravels the awesome weirdness, today at WU.
Your Brain Is a Story Machine
Note: When I wrote about being a neurodivergent writer last time, many of you told me it was the first time you felt truly seen. That meant so much to me. I realized I had more thoughts about it, s…
writerunboxed.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:54 PM
I had Even More Thoughts about writing while neurodivergent 👇
forgot this existed for a second HI Y'ALL 👋
September 18, 2025 at 2:08 AM
forgot this existed for a second HI Y'ALL 👋
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
Are you in it for the long haul? Writers endure long years of uncertainty as they persevere. Editor Dave King has watched writers in various stages of their careers for decades. He provides tips and encouragement, today at WU.
In it for the Long Haul
Every New Year I send out cards to former clients to find out how they’re doing and remind them that someone out there remembers they’re writers and wants to see them keep writing. I think t…
writerunboxed.com
February 18, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Are you in it for the long haul? Writers endure long years of uncertainty as they persevere. Editor Dave King has watched writers in various stages of their careers for decades. He provides tips and encouragement, today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
Selecting a title for your book is obviously a vital decision. As is changing one. Author Barbara Linn Probst explores titles, and when and why they end up being changed, today at WU.
Naming and Renaming Your Book: How Authors Do It
Titles matter. That’s why a good title is so important. However, unlike Tolstoy’s famous (and incorrect) declaration about happy families, all good titles are not alike. There are many effective t…
writerunboxed.com
February 19, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Selecting a title for your book is obviously a vital decision. As is changing one. Author Barbara Linn Probst explores titles, and when and why they end up being changed, today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
For Valentine’s Day, author David Corbett seeks to “broaden our understanding of love as it pertains to the stories we write, and why we write them.” Today at WU.
Loneliness, Love, and Literature
Among the many powerful things I’ve read recently, the one that struck deepest as a writer of fiction came from Robert Stone’s piece in Paths of Resistance: The Art and Craft of the Political Novel…
writerunboxed.com
February 14, 2025 at 1:46 PM
For Valentine’s Day, author David Corbett seeks to “broaden our understanding of love as it pertains to the stories we write, and why we write them.” Today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
When it comes to word count goals, we have to be realistic while still challenging ourselves. Author Greer Macallister provides helpful tips, today at WU.
How to Set a Daily Word Count Goal That Works
Unfortunately, in word count as in life, there is no magic number. This applies both to the overall number of words in your manuscript (How many does it take? Enough to tell the story) and the dail…
writerunboxed.com
February 13, 2025 at 1:02 PM
When it comes to word count goals, we have to be realistic while still challenging ourselves. Author Greer Macallister provides helpful tips, today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
We all know that openings are tricky, that a lot is riding on them. Author Kathleen McCleary says we “have to EARN [our] opening.” Stop by and find out how, today at WU.
In the Beginning
I’ve spent the past two months—that’s not an exaggeration—working on three pages of my novel. I’m in the revision stage, and the pages I’m wrestling with are the first three pages of the book and e…
writerunboxed.com
February 12, 2025 at 1:59 PM
We all know that openings are tricky, that a lot is riding on them. Author Kathleen McCleary says we “have to EARN [our] opening.” Stop by and find out how, today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
If you’re not a plotter, but don’t feel like pantsing is what you do, either, perhaps there’s another term that best describes you. After 8 years of struggling to define her style, Author Densie Webb found the perfect fit. Stop by and see. Who knows? You might discover yourself, today at WU.
Discovering I’m a “Discovery Writer”
The other day, while sharing pages with my critique group, I had a scene where a character finds a camera loaded with film in her dead friend’s apartment. The response from my crit partners: “Oooh,…
writerunboxed.com
February 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
If you’re not a plotter, but don’t feel like pantsing is what you do, either, perhaps there’s another term that best describes you. After 8 years of struggling to define her style, Author Densie Webb found the perfect fit. Stop by and see. Who knows? You might discover yourself, today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
Coming March 18! The final edition of The Sundered Nation Trilogy. Have you started the series? Book 1, The Severing Son, is just 99¢! That's less than your last cuppa takeout coffee.
P.S. A pre-order link for book 3 is now available on my website. Paperback link is coming soon.
P.S. A pre-order link for book 3 is now available on my website. Paperback link is coming soon.
February 10, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Coming March 18! The final edition of The Sundered Nation Trilogy. Have you started the series? Book 1, The Severing Son, is just 99¢! That's less than your last cuppa takeout coffee.
P.S. A pre-order link for book 3 is now available on my website. Paperback link is coming soon.
P.S. A pre-order link for book 3 is now available on my website. Paperback link is coming soon.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
“Readers may recognize threads that run through an author work. Do writers recognize those same threads when they look back over their work? Do writers necessarily repeat themselves in a long career? Is that a strength or a weakness?” Author Virginia Pye muses about how we change, today at WU.
Writing Through the Years
The other morning at my desk, fifty pages into writing a new novel, I found myself inventing a scene set in Central Park in the mid-1980s, a time when I had lived in New York with my boyfriend (now…
writerunboxed.com
February 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
“Readers may recognize threads that run through an author work. Do writers recognize those same threads when they look back over their work? Do writers necessarily repeat themselves in a long career? Is that a strength or a weakness?” Author Virginia Pye muses about how we change, today at WU.
really happy to be back at WU 😊 this is such a kind way of saying "Kelsey complains about Kids These Days but Kids These Days is the publishing industry"
Has the publishing industry pushed a trend of ever-heightening pace? If so, is it due to declining attention spans? Is it merely a trend? Returning contributor Kelsey Allagood explores the issue, today at WU.
I Finally Figured Out My Decade-Long Reading Slump
WU community, I have a confession: I’ve been in a “reading slump” for the last decade. By “reading slump,” I mean that the novels I’ve finished belong to a highly exclusive club. I’ve accidentally …
writerunboxed.com
February 6, 2025 at 9:34 PM
really happy to be back at WU 😊 this is such a kind way of saying "Kelsey complains about Kids These Days but Kids These Days is the publishing industry"
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
“[A] hazy blending of good and bad, right and wrong, weak and strong, may feel realistic to the writer, but for the reader the result is low impact. What can help?…lt starts with understanding the [story’s] primary purpose.”—Don Maass
Do you know your intent? Stop by and make sure, today at WU.
Do you know your intent? Stop by and make sure, today at WU.
What to Write Now: Nailing Purpose and Effect
[Note: This post is occasioned in part by a discussion of “what to write now” begun here in January by Rachel Toalson and David Corbett.] Last month I suggested that any work of fiction has one of …
writerunboxed.com
February 5, 2025 at 1:14 PM
“[A] hazy blending of good and bad, right and wrong, weak and strong, may feel realistic to the writer, but for the reader the result is low impact. What can help?…lt starts with understanding the [story’s] primary purpose.”—Don Maass
Do you know your intent? Stop by and make sure, today at WU.
Do you know your intent? Stop by and make sure, today at WU.
Reposted by Kelsey Allagood
So much is expected of writers these days. Writing can among the least stressful of them. Author and writing coach Cathy Yardley says we’re all too vulnerable to a sly and subversive threat: burnout. She diagnoses and offers remedies, today at WU.
Beware of Burnout
Are you burned out? We live in an age of hyper-productivity. If you’re not doing a million things (presumably well) you are somehow failing. The only acceptable excuse for lack of productivity is “…
writerunboxed.com
February 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
So much is expected of writers these days. Writing can among the least stressful of them. Author and writing coach Cathy Yardley says we’re all too vulnerable to a sly and subversive threat: burnout. She diagnoses and offers remedies, today at WU.