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The Word Cave

The Word Cave

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What Is a Novel?
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New scholarship and deadline extension!
$600 off my upcoming Essay Collection Incubator
 • Lilly Dancyger
The Jelly Donut Theory of Thrillers
In 2025, I read 25 books that I would classify as thrillers or mysteries, and this post is basically me thinking out loud (on the page) about what made…
 • Lilly Dancyger
Mapping the interior (of a novel)
I’d written myself into a dead-end because I wasn’t keeping close enough tabs on the shifting inner landscape of each character.
 • Lilly Dancyger
I want to read your manuscript!
upcoming editorial availability and writing classes
 • Lilly Dancyger
What To Do When the Words Won't Come
writing advice from Ask Lilly
 • Lilly Dancyger
Ask Me Anything (About Writing)
Paid subscriptions make it possible for me to devote time to writing What Is a Novel?, Museum Pages, and other Word Cave essays—and this Ask Lilly…
 • Lilly Dancyger
What Happens When You Actually Put Writing First?
reflections on a Paris fellowship
 • Lilly Dancyger
The “20k-Word Rule” of Drafting
I’ve started and restarted my novel draft from the beginning six times now. This is the “wrong” way to write a first draft, I know.
 • Lilly Dancyger
The Word Cave
The Word Cave
Short essays and missives about writing, reading, and art from Lilly Dancyger, author of First Love and Negative Space. Plus occasional writing course listings.
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