Narrative Baggage

Narrative Baggage

A Psych Authority Interview with Jesse Cook
Did you know that Anne Rice (Yes, of Interview with the Vampire fame) was born Howard?
Published on Psych Authority • 
How much interiority is too much? (and when it becomes rambling)
Learn what interiority is in writing, how to tell it from rambling, and how much of your character’s thoughts to show when your story picks up speed.
 • Jesse Cook
That blank line is doing more work than you think (a guide to scene transitions)
Ever walk into a room and forget why? Your readers do that between scenes. Learn the 4 types of scene transitions you can use for your book.
 • Jesse Cook
What “start late, leave early” actually means: how to start and end your scenes
What does “start late, leave early” really mean? Learn how to start and end a scene in your book without losing your reader or leaving them clueless.
 • Jesse Cook

September 2026

How to describe setting: why less is almost always more
Describing a setting can easily be too much or too little. What research says about how readers imagine, plus 3 questions to decide what to keep and…
 • Jesse Cook
Why do writers love and hate writing? And how to make peace with it
Why do writers love and hate writing? A look at where the love-hate relationship comes from, why it means you care, and how to write through it anyway.
 • Jesse Cook
How much dialogue is too much in a book? The benchmarks and the real answer
How much dialogue is too much in a book? Here are the benchmarks from three writing software and the actual answer that isn’t just “it depends”.
 • Jesse Cook
My third month on Substack wrapped (August 2026)
142 subscribers, 3.38k views, and one article that skewed all the data. Here's my third month on Substack wrapped, plus a look back at the whole first…
 • Jesse Cook

August 2026

Short story: the greatest swordsman (as submitted for the Cozy Quill Fantasy Writing Competition)
The greatest swordsman alive was on his way to defeat the demon king. What he didn’t know was that he was going to die at the end. A short fantasy…
 • Jesse Cook
A random Substack comment and who gets to call themselves a writer
Someone said I’m not a writer… and of course, I had to write about it! Here’s my take on who gets to call themselves a writer and what the internet…
 • Jesse Cook
How to write banter: why is not just a romance thing and what it does for your story
Banter can compress the backstory of your characters while also making your readers stay between big scenes. Here’s how to write it and what it is not.
 • Jesse Cook
My second month on substack wrapped
From 41 to 94 subscribers in one month. Here's what I posted, what worked, my “strategy” if you want to call it that, and what the data actually means.
 • Jesse Cook
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