Welcome to Crystal Crawford's official author blog!

I often receive comments on how I’ve managed to build an online community around my writing. Here's a step-by-step of how I did that...

Don’t have fancier software, but have Microsoft Word? Learn how to make the most of it for your writing process.

What to do when it suddenly feels like writing sucks and you wonder why you ever decided to do this in the first place.

Here are some things to consider before committing to the crunch of 50,000 words in November.

a brief bullet-point list of some of the things I learned from my frenzied first-time NaNoWriMo experience...

A good self-edit can make a huge difference in your writing, but only if you know how to do it well. Here are 7 tips to help you self-edit..

A quick bullet-point list of tips for choosing a title and writing a blurb--these are essentially the notes from a live Writers Chat I did..

Vibrant, memorable characters are the heart of storytelling and the window through which you are able to access your readers’ emotions.

Welcome to the first of a series of “How To” guides I’m going to be writing over the next few weeks!

Writing is solitary, but I have learned how much stronger and better, my writing can be when I have the benefit of a writing community.

Writers have a unique and important challenge: take ideas, experience, language – and assemble them into something altogether different...

How do you overcome the fear of others reading your work? The simplest answer to this is actually the most difficult to execute...

As both a writer and a writing instructor, I read a lot of books on writing.  Here are my top book recommendations for writers.

While my writing is no longer on Wattpad, I still stand by this post--Wattpad really did make me a better writer.

Throw your writing to the wolves. Sure, it may get uncomfortable. You may even get hurt a bit. But you may also find something wonderful...

There are two reasons a reader might cringe while reading a story... The difference between these two reasons can make or break a story.

What is Creative Independence? I’m glad you asked. 😉

So this is my motivational speech to you today, any of you who are writers: GO FAIL. Here's why...

Characters or plot – which matters more? When you’re planning out a story, how do you decide what to focus on?