Claude Monet: The Japanese Bridge (Image public domain) I’ve just finished reading Mad Enchantment by Ross King, about the later years of Claude Monet’s life. It covers the many years that Monet slaved over the giant water lily canvases that now grace the Orangerie in Paris. Reading about the Impressionist painters, you might imagine that they worked quickly, capturing the […]
Focusing on the Writing
Grammar and spelling are important, but focus may be your most valuable writing skill. Editors can fix the grammar. Only you can fix your focus. I posed the following question to a group of people who write in a busy corporate environment: “How do you find the focus to get the work done?” These are a few of their […]
Outgrowing Your Outline
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 […]