Believe it or not, a writer staring off into space is hard at work! Writing requires thinking time. Time to formulate new, original thoughts. Time to roll them around and massage them before we bring them forward into the world. Thinking Creates Balance There is a yin and yang to creativity. We spend much of our daily lives taking in …
It’s not easy to decide who gets the first look at your book. It’s bad enough to have an inner critic doubting our ability and message’s worth; you do not need to add another real-life outer critic to the mix. How do you choose your initial readers who invariably become your initial commentators? Ideal Readers I teach that one of …
Writers and aspirational authors don’t usually need much convincing on the value of reading books. Most of us choose writing as a form of expression because we fell in love with a good book, usually at a young age. But here’s the kicker. If you want to write children’s books and haven’t read one since your adult son was in …
“I’m not famous. I’m not writing a memoir!” I hear it all the time. Most often it is from women raised in the self-effacing era where we were told not to think too highly about ourselves. However, once I define memoir for them, they are completely on board. So, what is a memoir and how is it different than an …
I have spent the last four months being coached by a developmental editor who used to work for a publishing house. It is very humbling to go from coach to coached, from the expert to the person asking for help. I have learned more than I could have imagined and not all of it relating to writing. Here are some …
Many of my clients have the ultimate desire to rank #1 Bestseller on Amazon when they launch their books (knowing that the NYT Bestseller title is almost always held by a traditionally published book). They think it will give them more credibility or clout and single them out as the best of the best in a sea of 800,000 other …
It can be difficult to know when you’re done with a writing project. Have you used the right words? Have you said enough or too much? And there’s always that question about perfect grammar (say yes to the Oxford comma!). Whether it’s a book or a blog post, sometimes writing The End can be the hardest part. This blog post …
Publishing a book can boost a career, establish your authority, differentiate yourself, and heal emotional wounds. But before you put any words on paper, it is important to understand why you want to write a book. What is the purpose of the book? What is the story you are going to tell and are you ready to emotionally and physically …
This past weekend I moderated a panel for Airdrie Pride Society with five brilliant panelists on the topic of what works and what needs improvement in the LGBTQ community in our small city. The question of representation was not on my cue cards but it came up naturally through the conversation, and it got me wondering… how many of us …
Patience is not a virtue I have in abundance. So, take my impatient nature into account when I stress how important it is to take our time when writing and publishing a full book. For example, my first book, though filled with great takeaways, was rushed because of my impatience and will eventually need a rewrite. It was rushed, and …
