The last couple weeks, I’ve heard a chorus of authors struggling with their outlines. “I’ve reluctantly concluded that my outline might need to be split into two books.” “Now that I’ve written most of the draft, I realize that I should narrow the focus.” The same thing happens to me regularly. I love outlines; they are […]
Why Writing Is Good For Your Career
How much writing do you do in your job today? How much of it is seen outside your team or your company? What might happen if you did more? Here are five compelling reasons to stop dodging those writing-related projects and amp up your output. Reason #1: Be a Hero Modern marketing thrives on employee-generated content, and it […]
The Key To Becoming a Better Writer
Want to be a better writer? Inspiration is fickle. Talent is out of our control. What’s left to us? Our effort. Our actions. Those become our process. Process is consistent and reliable. Process brings writing into the world. What’s Your Writing Process? That question surfaces in nearly every author interview: Tell us about your typical day. How […]
Writing Challenges: Focusing on One Project
What’s the hardest part of writing a novel in a month? April is Camp NaNoWriMo – a variation on November’s “write a novel in a month” challenge. The month-long deadline presents many challenges: How will you make the time? Can you generate enough steam to do the work each day? Can you stick to the plan for a […]
What’s Your Biggest Workplace Writing Challenge?
Do you write as part of your job, in a workplace? If so, I need your help. What’s the biggest problem or challenge that you face in the writing you do at work? Is it finding the focus to write? Getting approvals? Working with editors? What do you need help with, or what would you […]
What a Brewer Taught Me about Writing to Explain
If you’re paying attention, you can learn about writing in the most unlikely places. I got a lesson in writing to explain complicated topics in a crowded brew pub. I was on a San Francisco brewery tour, run by Vantigo SF. (Great tour!) One of our stops was Harmonic Brewing, a small, young brewery in the […]