BRAID BLOG

First Draft Files

Strange stories and helpful writing strategies—eerily optimized for SEO.

A bizarre collage of three vintage-style illustrations, including handwritten notes, diagrams, and doodles.

An orange bust of Edgar Allen Poe wearing a suit with a bow tie, set against a matching orange background.

“Mysteries force a man to think, and so injure his health.”

— Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia

Paloma 12/28/25 Paloma 12/28/25

Paloma’s Pen: How to Write a Letter

An unrequited lover named Paloma receives a cold and callous message that sparks a furious lecture about the finer points of letter structure, tone, and quality. In this brief but potent rejoinder, letter writing guidance and longing blur as Paloma lays bare the rules of written correspondence—and her heart.

The Cosmic Copywriter: Examining AI Writing Tools

A copywriter who disappeared in the 1950s walks into a modern ad agency and somehow churns out copy at the speed of algorithms. His words are rich, raw, and real—they sell the unsellable and expose the limits of artificial intelligence. Can his otherworldly skills teach today’s writers the true value of human creativity?

Voodoo, Hoodoo, and Maledictions: How to Start a Sentence and Break the Blank-page Curse

Black magic in the bayou. A bestselling novelist literally can’t write a single word. Pens freeze, keyboards fail, even a Ouija board falls silent. With whispers of voodoo and a rival author prowling, the hunt begins for answers—and the best way to start a sentence.