Work, Rest, Success, and the In-Between
Feeling soft brushes of distant sea breezes against my face and through my hair, I am thinking about all the work I have to do after a few back-to-back conferences and a business trip. On this dream-like, cloudy day in perpetually sunny Florida, I’m attempting to get back to the daily grind after succumbing to involuntary pressure to allow a few days to recoup from the last few weeks.
Read, Learn, Write, Revise: 10 Assignments for the First-Time or Aspiring Author
Writing coaches and professional editors and writers often give the necessary and hopefully paralysis-breaking advice to writers: “Sit down and write,” "Get those words on the page," "Just write.” And just writing is sometimes the scariest and toughest part, but then what? We’ve bled all over the page. The words are there. What’s next?
You Finished Your Manuscript—Now It's Time to Revise
Revising (or self-editing) is the next step in the process after you’ve gotten the first draft of your manuscript written. It can involve several levels, which all begin with you.
Bloom and Grow: Lessons from Houseplants on the Writing Life
For months, I watched my giant peace lily sensation push out leaf after leaf. I was amazed, of course, at her rich foliage, but I knew that these plants produce beautiful blooms. Yet, after so long and no hint of a bloom, I had resigned that mine, while healthy and growing, may not be in the ideal conditions to flower.
Being: Pentecost Sunday, James Baldwin, and a Cup of Coffee
Two years ago, my Pentecost Sunday started with a cup of coffee and a James Baldwin essay on a stony terrace behind a lakeside apartment in Minnesota.
Are Writers More Prone to Depression and Anxiety?
Did you know…? “…writers are around eight times as likely to suffer from mental illness than those who don’t pursue writing as a career, according to Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychology professor at Johns Hopkins who wrote Touched with Fire.”
National Book Writing Month: Join the Challenge!
November is National Book Writing Month. It is our chance to make good on our book writing goal for the year. So much has happened in 2020—from a pandemic and social distancing angst to protests, a national election, and virtual learning/work-from-home adjustments for many of our families. It’s been tough, but we are tougher. We are resilient.
Compassion + Empathy: the superpowers of writing that resonates
While many first-time writers begin with wanting to tell their story, it’s not so much the story that is needed, but the connection to the story that informs a sense of awareness for one’s own needs, desires, and motivations are what connects them to others’ needs. This is what makes good writing…
What Is a Literary Agent, and How Can You Get One?
Literary agents can be an author’s best friend. Like traditional publishing in-house editors, they are professionals who know the book publishing industry well, and they are solely the author’s advocate. Bringing an agent on to be your partner in finding the right publisher for your manuscript could be the best thing you do for your writing career.
It's Your Move: Respond. Recover. Reimagine.
Trends that were up just before the crisis are down during and coming out of it. Categories that were performing at a low or average rate before the crisis are soaring in the midst of it. The big questions for you, writer, is how do you pivot if what you were writing fit a category that was in demand but now is not as we all mend from the COVID chaos?