Lantern Literary

Note to Authors and Editors:

Remember that editing is a collaborative process, a team effort. It’s every bit about the synergy of working together as it is about the final product.

You won’t agree on everything (sometimes bot much at all) but you should be able to respect each other and each other’s part in the group project.

Every story starts with a moment of possibility—a character, a shift, a spark—and what determines its length isn’t the size of the idea, but how deeply you develop it.

If your story keeps expanding through tension, consequence, and discovery, you’re already shaping a novel.
When your world grows wider, your characters evolve, and every choice creates new ripples, that’s the mark of long-form storytelling.

So don’t shrink the story—follow its reach.
Let it show you how much space it needs.

✍🏽 What are you exploring right now? Drop the idea below for feedback.

Most ideas don’t start out “book-sized”—they become that way when you build them out.

The real question isn’t whether your topic feels big enough. It’s whether you can develop it into something that teaches, transforms, and connects.

If your idea can take readers from one understanding to another, if it can layer stories with insight and link personal experience to broader cultural or systemic patterns—you’re already holding the foundation of a book.

A powerful nonfiction concept grows through depth: teaching what you know, examining what you’ve learned, and connecting it to what readers need next. That’s where the book begins.

🔍 What are you thinking up now? Drop your idea below for feedback.

I don't know what you've been waiting for, but just in case you need to hear it, you have permission to...

✨ Forgive yourself for not finishing it yet.
✨ Take one small step at a time.
✨ Write things you will never share.
✨ Let whatever you write be imperfect.
✨ Follow your own process.
✨ Write at your own pace.
✨ Join a community or ask for help.
✨ Not have it all figured out yet.
✨ Break the rules til you find your voice.

We're coming up on another new year, and as cliché as it sounds, that's another chance to start new goals or revive the ones you haven't met yet.

If writing more is one of those goals, this is my invitation for you to get back to it.

I know you can, and once you start, you'll know too.

Happy scribbling. ✍️ 😉

If you are reading this, I’m talking to you.

Every writer I’ve ever met has struggled with confidence, doubt, or imposter at one point or another.

And most of them had the same hope/wish: just finish their story, beginning, middle, and end

Some have dreamed of publishing from the very beginning, but most just wanted to tell their stories.

All of them to figure it out, I fully trust that you can too.

Reminder: Thinking is writing.

If you’ve been circling an idea for days—or weeks—without getting words on the page, don’t discount that process. Reflection is part of the work. Every note, daydream, and question is compost for your story’s growth.

But remember: thought only becomes art once it’s written. At some point, the thinking has to meet the page.

Do you consider think as part of writing?

"When I started getting feedback from my college peers, I felt like they were hell-bent on removing every ounce of character and flavor from my voice. ⁣
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Finally, I gave in and started taking some advice. The impact was immediate..."⁣
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I saw a video recently where a "writing coach" said you can't teach (or apparently learn) writing. You either have it or you don't.⁣
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Really? And this person called themself a coach? In what world does a coach start by NOT believing in their potential clients? 😤 ⁣
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Here's the thing, we all have our gifts and natural talents, sure, but that doesn't mean we can't learn new skills or build on what we have. ⁣
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The opening quote of this post comes from an article I wrote back in 2022 sharing a small snippet from my writing journey and few crucial things I needed to learn along the way. (Click here to read the full thing -> https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/the-simple-key-to-instantly-improving-any-piece-of-writing )⁣
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You CAN learn to write well if you really want to.

The Simple Key to Instantly Improving Any Piece Of Writing Written by: Andrae Smith, Jr., Executive ContributorExecutive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.I entered college certain I was a "prolific" writer. When I landed in that new ocean,....