One of the best gifts you can give someone is a book that will change their lives. And do you know who really loves getting books as gifts? People who write. I carry bits and pieces of the writing advice I’ve heard around in my head. Sometimes, I bring back up an image from Elizabeth […]
Be Generous and Strategic in Book Marketing
I often speak about book marketing to various groups of writers. Sometimes the writers all belong to a single genre (like Sisters in Crime). Sometimes everyone is self-publishing, but writing in different genres. And sometimes, as at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference, people write in all genres, following various paths to publication. Here’s the catch […]
Short-Term, Intentional Obsession
To finish a major project like a book, you often have to put aside everything else for a period of time: Close the door. Stop responding to emails. Put aside the books you want to read, courses you want to take, and meetings you should attend. Delay other activities—even projects you should be doing. It’s […]
Making Revision a Habit with WordRake
Most of us understand that great writing happens through revision. We realize that revision is important, but we’re in a hurry. As long as we think of revision as an ‘extra’ process outside of writing, we’re tempted to skip it. So we send out our work with imperfections, excess words, remnants of messy thought processes—small […]
Finding Your Ideal Creative Environment
Want to spend time procrastinating from writing, yet still feel like a “writer?” Do a Google Image or Pinterest search for writing space. You’ll find a mouth-watering assortment of home offices, libraries, cozy nooks overlooking forests, you name it. We all dream of having the perfect space for crafting our works, but maybe that’s […]
What’s In Your Writing Baggage?
Every time you sit down to write, you bring extra baggage with you. And, just as with the airlines, that extra baggage can cost you dearly. Your writing baggage might be filled with past experiences in the educational system: college, high school, or before. Perhaps you struggled with language mechanics or diagramming sentences, and now […]