Writing Wisdom to Inspire Your Writing in 2025

How do the bestselling authors of recent times write their books? Is there a secret formula to success? Or a perfect writing routine that defeats procrastination and minimizes disruption? 

The only way to know is to hear from bestselling authors themselves. From our program of live writing classes this year, we learned the myriad methods that authors use to write their award-winning novels. From Tayari Jones to Julia Quinn, one thing was glaringly clear: each writer took the time—significant time—to discover what worked for them. Their perseverance through writing slumps and roadblocks developed their individual practice, leading them to write the books we know and love today. What was also clear was that writers learn from other writers, and often, writers find a community to support them through what tends to be a lonely pursuit. It’s important to remember: you are not in this alone. Learning from other writers will grant you a foundation to explore and develop your unique style.

In this article, we share the best pieces of wisdom from some of our guest authors this year in the hope that it will inspire your year of writing ahead. Whether you’re continuing the novel that’s been in your drafts for years or running with a brand new shiny idea, you’ll relate to the insights shared by these bestselling authors who have been exactly where you are now. From writing hooks to memorable characters, these tips cover the essentials of any writer’s practice.

If you’re looking for a writing community to offer support, accountability, and friendship this year, sign up for any class at The Novelry: the home for writers. For a taste of the live writing classes we offer, here’s a review of some of the bestselling authors that hosted live writing classes with The Novelry this year, including Tayari Jones, Hannah Kaner, Bonnie Garmus, Talia Hibbert, and Tami Hoag. 

Happy New Year, writers, and if it applies, Happy New Novel!

1. Tayari Jones

The things that eat up our time are the things that make our writing meaningful

We were delighted to welcome Tayari Jones to The Novelry in early 2024 for a discussion hosted by The Novelry’s founder, Louise Dean.

Tayari Jones is the New York Times bestselling author of four novels. Tayari’s most recent novel, An American Marriage, published in 2018, was an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and also appeared on Barack Obama’s summer reading list. The novel was awarded the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize), the Aspen Words Prize, and an NAACP Image Award.

During this incredibly compelling discussion, Tayari encouraged us to embrace the imperfect writing life because what you have to say as a person under real-life pressure is more valuable than that of a person without the complexities of our lives.

There are a lot of things going on in our lives, particularly at our ages. You know, we’ve got kids, we have elderly parents, we have jobs, we have bills, we have all kinds of things that are going on in our lives, and we feel like these things are keeping us from writing, and they do eat up our time.

However, these things that eat up our time are the things that give us insight and make our writing meaningful.
—Tayari Jones

Embracing the imperfect, messy realities of our lives is what imbues our writing with meaning. Coining the phrase ‘pajama insights’ (which we will now use devotedly), Tayari continued: 

And so, I don’t want to read a book by someone who just stays in their pajamas all day working on the book. I don’t want their pajama insights. I want to read literature that reflects the way that real people live in the world, the way that real people with real responsibilities, the way we understand the culture. The majority of people do not stay in their pajamas all day. And if our literature is only written by the pajama people, then our literature is not an accurate reflection of what our lives are like.

These things that annoy you and distract you and take away from your writing time, try to view them less as your enemy, but really as your superpower.
—Tayari Jones

2. Hannah Kaner

The more straightforward a concept, the easier it is to discuss—don’t give them a reason to say no

How often have you heard about the importance of a good hook? As writers, we know our readers are looking for a captivating pitch to convince them to pick up our book—but sometimes, trying to fit your plot into a pithy sentence can feel compressive to your story. Understanding this, Hannah Kaner dismissed the idea that a novel’s quality is based on how easy it is to describe while clarifying exactly why writers need a powerful hook.

Hannah Kaner is the debut author of the number one Sunday Times bestselling and USA Today bestselling Godkiller, the first part of the Fallen Gods trilogy. Hannah’s novels have been shortlisted for the Hugos, the Locus Awards, the British Book Awards, and the British Fantasy Awards, and longlisted for the Glass Bell Award. At The Novelry, our fantasy writers often use Godkiller as their hero book to guide their own writing journey.

In her live session, Hannah explained:

If you don’t have a good hook, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your book is of poor quality. The quality of a book is not determined by how easy it is to describe. However, its saleability and ability for an agent to go to an editor and say, you know, this is where I see it on the shelf, especially for a debut, makes it a lot easier for an editor to say yes. Give them a reason not to say no.

I think that worked well with Godkiller because it was such a straightforward concept that it made it easy to sell, easy to talk about, easy to discuss.
—Hannah Kaner

For more on Hannah Kaner’s writing process, see her blog on finding resilience for writers.

3. Bonnie Garmus

Keep character descriptions thin and allow characters to speak in their own voices

One of the most frequently asked questions at The Novelry is how to create living, breathing characters that are both memorable and realistic. Readers of Lessons in Chemistry can attest to Bonnie Garmus’s talent for creating characters that never leave your mind. Thankfully, Bonnie deconstructed her approach to writing characters in a live class earlier this year.

Bonnie Garmus is the New York Times and Sunday Times number one bestselling author of Lessons in Chemistry, which has been translated into 42 languages and was adapted into a television series starring Brie Larson, which aired on Apple TV. Among the prizes garnered by the novel, Bonnie has won the British Book Awards Author of the Year 2023, Waterstones Author of the Year 2022, and the Paul Torday Memorial Prize (for a first novel by an author over 60), and was selected for Forbes magazine’s EMEA 50 Over 50 2024. 

When it came to writing characters like Elizabeth Zott and Calvin Evans, Bonnie explained:

I had very thin descriptions of everyone physically. And that was on purpose. I wanted other people to imagine these characters in their head. And the way you do that is to allow these characters to speak in their own voices and also put them in difficult situations where all their flaws come out, where they start behaving badly. And then, suddenly, you have very distinct people.
—Bonnie Garmus

For more insights from Bonnie Garmus, see this blog on five lessons we learned from her live writing class.

4. Talia Hibbert

If your story is dragging, raise the stakes

It’s natural for writers to feel like they’ve hit a slump in their story—we even have a podcast episode dedicated to the dreaded 30k slump. If you find that your story is slowing, or if you start to feel disengaged from your plot, it’s worth taking a closer look at the stakes in your novel. 

Talia Hibbert tackled the problem of stakes in her live writing class with The Novelry. Talia is an award-winning and bestselling author of contemporary romance. Her novel Get a Life, Chloe Brown was a USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller and won the Ripped Bodice Award for Excellence in Romantic Fiction in 2019. Having penned more than 17 books, Talia is a leading voice of diverse and sexy romances, with several titles optioned for TV and film. 

In her live writing class, Talia shared that:

Generally, if there’s not enough stakes, it feels like the story is dragging. You don’t have enough story because nothing is happening, and nothing matters. And then, in terms of making sure that I don’t have too much going on, I think that’s very much a personal thing.

You know, every reader wants something different and every writer wants something different. I try to think, what would I love to read? So, I tend to work at the story until it feels compelling enough for me personally to enjoy, which often requires more stakes than I enjoy writing.
—Talia Hibbert

For more insights on writing romances, including writing spice and diverse, complex characters, see this blog on how to write spicy romcoms.

5. Tami Hoag

You have to find your own way 

While we love to share the methods of bestselling authors who have hosted writing classes with us, we also find it important to stress one of our mottos here at The Novelry: tools not rules. What this means is that you don’t need to apply rigid frameworks to your writing practice merely because a published author advised you to. Rather, treat these tips as tools; some to incorporate into your writing, others to leave aside. 

One of the best proponents of finding your own way is Tami Hoag. Tami is the bestselling author of almost 40 books, with some 40 million copies in circulation. After several successful years in the romance genre, Tami made the move to suspense and went on to have 13 New York Times bestsellers in a row, including Night Sins, Ashes to Ashes, and Bad Liar. 

When asked if she is the kind of writer that needs to hit a thousand words a day, Tami responded: 

I’m much freer than that. I’ll go through phases, too. You know, there’s no one way to write a book and your process might change from book to book, or from day to day. I think you have to kind of find your own way and what is comfortable to you and what makes sense to you.
—Tami Hoag

‘There’s no one way to write a book’ is a tidbit we hear frequently from our guest authors, and our team at The Novelry agrees. With The Novelry’s combination of courses and coaching, we offer you the guidance and support to find your own way to write, ensuring that—above all—you are writing happy.

How to attend writing classes with bestselling authors at The Novelry 

Members of The Novelry can access a library of recorded writing classes from all our guest authors. Sign up for a writing class today and gain access to over 40 monthly events, including genre workshops, editorial Q&As, writing classes with bestselling authors, and well-being sessions to inspire your creativity and support your writing lifestyle. 

We’re anticipating a fantastic season of events this year, with even more live writing classes with bestselling authors from an array of genres. Our members can look forward to more wisdom and knowledge shared by celebrated authors in the year ahead. 

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