Welcome to The Caffeinated Writer
Essays and inspiration on writing and publishing from New York Times bestselling novelist Michelle Richmond.
Hi, I’m Michelle Richmond, author of six novels and two story collections. I’ve been writing for my “entire adult life,” although it’s also true that I’ve been writing for as long as I remember. Writing was always the one thing I could do, the one thing I loved to do, the one thing I couldn’t live without. I also taught writing in MFA programs for I began teaching online.
What you’ll find here: In The Caffeinated Writer, I share with you inspiration, craft lessons, guided writing prompts, and lessons learned from a two-decade writing career. If you want to start or finish a novel or memoir, if you want to devote a few more minutes each week to your writing, if you want to get inspired and stay motivated, I hope you will find something of value here. And if you want to use Substack as an author platform, you’ll find plenty of inspiration and practical advice in my Substack Author Studio.
Ask me anything: I am always open to answering subscriber questions about writing, publishing, and the many ways the writing life can both drive you crazy and sustain you for the long haul. I love reading much, much more than I love writing, so I share books with your here too.
How old is this newsletter? I started The Caffeinated Writer as a Salon Blog (remember those?) about a million years ago, and then it became a Wordpress blog and in 2010, and then it became a Mailchimp newsletter, and then I migrated the newsletter to Substack in 2022. Which is to say this newsletter has been around the block.
A note on subscription types
Free subscribers get one or two posts per month.
Paid subscribers get
inspiring posts to help you write
practical posts on publishing
Spilled Beans (things I don’t say out loud)
audio posts
the full archives
commenting privileges on paid posts so you can join the conversation
a complimentary download of my workbook Novel Starter: 50 Days to Get Your Novel Off the Ground
$75 off Substack for Authors
SUBSTACK AUTHOR STUDIO subscribers get
everything in the paid plan
a year of access to my course SUBSTACK FOR AUTHORS, to help you reach new, engaged readers. Featuring seven hours (and counting) of videos, written lessons, writing assignments, ongoing discussion forums, and updates to stay on top of Substack’s new features. I created this course for traditionally and independently published authors and aspiring authors based on lessons learned when I moved my own newsletter and literary magazine to Substack.
complimentary access to my 6-Week Writing Reboot, to help you get inspired to write again
Why is it called The Caffeinated Writer?
Because I can’t get enough coffee.
My Other Hat
I've published six novels and two story collections. My most recent novel is THE WONDER TEST, about a high-stakes suburban education system on steroids. My 2017 Sunday Times bestseller THE MARRIAGE PACT is about an exclusive, secretive organization that promises couples a lasting, happy marriage..if they follow the rules. My “breakout book” was the New York Times bestseller The Year of Fog, published way back in 2007. You’ll find my books on Bookshop.org. And another hat: back in 2005 I founded Fiction Attic Press, which is still publishing flash fiction and memoir by new and established writers.
Teaching
I have taught in the Masters of Fine Arts programs in Creative Writing at the University of San Francisco, California College of the Arts, and Bowling Green State University, and have served as Distinguished Visiting Writer at St. Mary’s College of Moraga and Notre Dame de Namur University. I have also designed and taught novel writing courses for Stanford Continuing Studies. I currently help writers complete their first novels through Novel in Nine, and I help authors build their Substacks through Substack Author Studio.
For more news and notes on writing as a profession, you can also follow me on LinkedIn.
