This is a challenging time to be a writer. To paraphrase A Tale of Two Cities, it is the best of times, and the worst of times. (Why refer to Charles Dickens? He was successful in his own lifetime, and his works have stood the test of time. As a bonus, he published his first works as serial […]
writing
What Singing Taught Me About Writing
Have you ever learned lessons in one area of your life, only to find that they apply quite well to another domain? I’ve had that experience, with singing and writing. As a quick background, I sing classical choral and solo works. All through college I performed in musical theater, recitals, and chorus concerts. Although I was […]
The True Costs of Self-Publishing
Quick quiz: What does it cost to self-publish a book? a) $1000 b) $10,000 c) $100,000 d) None of the above People will claim each of these numbers. (I’ve seen a proposal for north of $100,000.) The answer is D, because the other responses are in the wrong currency. At the very least, they are incomplete. […]
Writing and the Growth Mindset
Nearly every day I see promises of a foolproof strategy for writing a book: write and publish your book in 90 days. Become a published author within the year. Formulaic approaches do have value, giving people the impetus to get started. But the formula needs to leave room for discovery and growth. In writing a book, as in other aspects of life, […]
Step Away from the Writing Desk
One of my favorite writing productivity tools: the rowing machine. Writing Productivity Tip: Write When You’re Not Writing When people speak about writing productivity, they usually talk about the drafting phase of writing. How many words can you write in an hour? How many pages per day? More relevant, of course, is the question of how quickly you […]
Do Not Save Your Best Writing for Later
Share the Marshmallows In the 1960s, Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel and his students conducted studies on self-discipline in preschoolers. In what has now become known as The Marshmallow Test, toddlers were given the choice of eating one marshmallow immediately, or waiting a few minutes and getting two marshmallows. Those who were able to successfully delay the gratification of […]