It happens to all of us: we hear “Do you have a minute?” “Can you help with this?” or “What are you doing there?” Our writing gets interrupted. We have cats and small children climbing on top of our keyboards. Holiday events that are planned during our writing hours. There are things to do and […]
Let’s be real. We’re not always going to “feel” like writing. We’re going to be tired. We’ll be busy and have other things to do. If you’re like me, you’ll realize it’s suddenly really important to wash the dishes and maybe reorganize something while you’re at it. (I’m never so motivated to do housework than […]
Life is busy and writing is hard, yet we have words to write and stories inside of us. So what do we do? Beyond learning the rules and craft of writing itself, these are several key writing beliefs that can help us succeed in our work. These mindsets can shape our attitude and approach to […]
It’s too easy to be busy. We have meetings, commutes, chores, errands, classes, and bills to pay. We have families and coffee dates. And somewhere in there we should probably shower, eat, and sleep. Now these aren’t bad things. In fact, they’re important and good. (Please don’t give up showering! 😉 ) The problem is […]
School season is upon us! This is a great time for all of us to be looking for ways we can learn and grow. As writers, one way to grow and improve our craft is by reading books for writers. Writing is often hard. There is a lot to learn. The good news is, we […]
As writers, we want to have writing habits that consistently produce results. We want all our days to be good days. (I mean, who wouldn’t??) However, life rarely is quite that orderly. Much like the changing weather here in New England, our lives are constantly changing. We have seasons of our lives that are marked with […]
There are endless writing lessons for us to learn. As writers we are constantly practicing our writing, improving our stories, and honing our craft. The entire world is our teacher if we allow it to be! As Sivananda Saraswati said: “This world is your best teacher. There is a lesson in everything.” It can certainly […]
There are a lot of good, great, and fabulous things we could be doing and sometimes it’s hard to decide just where to invest our time. We could be playing frisbee! Learning French! Cuddling puppies! Volunteering! Making new friends! It can be a slippery slope between being engaged and being exhausted. It’s tricky to know […]
There’s something so exciting about writing a first draft. New things being created, new words being put down on the page, new character developments and ideas. In short, everything is new 🙂 That’s not to say the first draft isn’t without its own set of problems and trials! A huge amount of first drafts get […]
Steps to Success is a series walking us through the process of writing a novel from beginning to end. As always, personal preferences and experiences differ. This guide is based in part on my own experiences as well as from authors I have worked with and/or learned from along the way. Today we’re talking about […]