A couple of years ago my wife gave me an awesome toolbox as a birthday present.

It has a sturdy handle and it’s filled with all kinds of tools: electric drills, adjustable wrenches, hammers, nails, and screws galore. It’s always exciting to dig down inside and pull out the exact tool I need when confronted with a home fix-it project.

As great as it is, most of the time my toolbox sits in my storage room, unused and untouched. I only pull it out when a new cabinet needs construction, a screw in a door handle could use some tightening, or a kitchen drawer requires repair. When those fix-it jobs arise, the toolbox is invaluable. The rest of the time, I put it away and forget about.

For authors, the tools in our toolbox are the essential elements of writer’s craft. Grammar, story structure, genre conventions, tenses, point of view, character arcs, and literary styles are the hammers and wrenches we can use to fix our story when we run into a problem.

For many aspiring authors, writer’s craft can be extremely intimidating. When presented with the complexity of storytelling craft, many succumb to analysis paralysis. Ignoring writer’s craft is a surefire road to ruin, but too much educational information can be overwhelming and even discouraging.

What’s a first-time author to do?

My advice is to use the toolbox method.

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Your pal in writing,

Kevin T. Johns, writing coach

P.S. I'm hosting my live training, "How to Find the Time to Write" at 7 pm Eastern time TONIGHT. To join me on this live training, just register here.