Bram Stoker Award(c) / Benjamin Franklin Award winning writer and editor Michael Bailey [a Shirley Jackson Award nominee and founder of Written Backwards] offers an exploration into the madness of writing, editing, and publishing.

Writing is a disease without a cure. Once infected, the virus is in the host for good, until death. Something first sparked a need to create, so what was it? What does it take to survive publishing and continuously improve one's craft?

THE BEGINNING: A straight-to-the-point narrative pushes past impostor syndrome, examining the writer life in detail while defining / dissecting fundamentals required to finish a first draft manuscript: character, dialogue, voice, plot, conflict, theme, and setting.

THE MIDDLE: The journey continues with a look into manuscript revisions, with advice on breaking bad habits and developing healthy skills to improving intrigue, prose, pace, tense, point of view, show vs. tell, imagery, framework, and structure.

THE END: After mastering the art of self-editing, writers will be ready for manuscript presentation, with an understanding of book layout, as well as knowledge of the publishing industry in general, such as with solicitation, rejection, acceptance, promotion, and performance as a professional writer.

A book for those who need to write.