Do you want to appear smart? Of course, you do! We all do! I hate looking dumb or searching for my words, especially when it comes to my area of expertise. Yet, I am always compassionate for others when they make a mistake. We are much more understanding of others’ mistakes than we allow for ourselves. I had the pleasure …
As the mother of four children, I have seen the whole gamut of efforts made towards a task. A couple of them give up way too easily, one tends to last a lot longer in what I would consider an average amount of tenacity, and one of them I worry at times will kill themselves from their persistent, never-say-die pigheadedness. …
You would think that someone who makes a living off helping people write books wouldn’t turn business away, but I do. There are certain situations when people should not be focusing their time and energy on writing a book. Here are some times when you should not write a book: Your expertise is in a constantly changing subject Who has …
Writing a good book takes a long time. And, the longer we work at any one project, the more we get tired and bored of it. Add to that the feeling of utter overwhelm that I see in entrepreneurs and professionals. Not only do you need to come up with new words on a blank page to meet word counts …
It is often said that writing is a solitary pursuit. We picture the great authors of our day hunched over a typewriter alone in an office facing a window overlooking a stunning view. Well, that’s what I imagine at least. It’s not completely false. I tend to do most of my writing alone in my office, but that’s only one …
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 …
