#105: How Much Backstory Is Too Much

Today is the fifth Tuesday of the month, which means that my answer to this heartfelt letter is available exclusively to my Patreon patrons.

#104: Blocked When Switching from Fanfic to Original Fiction

You're not entirely starting from scratch—many of your skills will carry over—but skills aren't methods, and you will have to develop new methods.

#103: Writing Fluffy Stories in Thorny Times

Hi, Story Nurse, I just outlined a romance novella and I'm trying to figure out its setting. It's basically contemporary, with the obvious AU-ness that comes along with a functioning fantasy-genre-style system of magic—but who won in 2016? Has that election even happened yet in this 'verse? Can I write a simple fluffball escapist-fantasy romance …

#102: Writing Sex Negotiations in Polyamory Stories

Your best bet is to put yourself in each character's shoes as much as possible and write them doing what they're inclined to do, with commonalities and clashes arising from that.

#101: Writing Submissions and Competition

Why is your focus on your friend, and not on the people who are reading the submissions and making decisions about which ones to accept?