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 […]
Writing
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 […]
Two Books to Build Your Writing Resilience
You know how sometimes you find just the right book when you need it, as if someone dropped it into your hands for a reason? That happened to me recently with not one, but two books that turned out to be related to each other: Grit by Angela Duckworth, and Known by Mark Schaefer. These books […]
Writing a Book and Thought Leadership
You hear this advice everywhere: If you want to be a thought leader in a subject, write a book about it. It’s not bad advice, although writing a book is not the only option, nor is it right for everyone. It takes stamina to find success with this path. But it may not play out like […]
How Long Will It Take to Write This Thing?
A writer’s magazine published a roundup of profiles of authors with new books out. Each author answered that essential question: How long did it take you to write the book? Their answers ranged from two weeks to five years. Your mileage may vary. We’re fascinated with how long it takes other people to write things. The real question isn’t […]