If a writer makes only one New Year’s resolution, what could it be? A life-altering, career-shaping, path-guiding, joy-bringing resolution.
I have an idea. (And yes, it’s soon time to think about what you plan to do differently in the new …
Authors
Billboard versus Community
Did you know that one of the keywords that pops up more frequently than many other felt needs is community? Relatable, shared-value, safe community is a heart-longing, even if unexpressed or resisted.
A high percentage of writers are introverts, …
Your Publishing Experience Is Not Everyone’s Experience
wWriters talk to writers. Pretty much all the time. They share what each step of the publishing experience is like for them. Other writers listen. And the more renowned an author, the closer newer writers lean in. I’m sure newbies …
Your Publishing Experience Is Not Everyone’s ExperienceRead More
Unbelievable
What makes a reader set a book aside with the comment, “Unbelievable!”? And why should a writer care?
Because an agent or editor might set it side too. An author’s goal is to maintain readers’ attention and interest from the …
Writers’ love-hate relationship with punctuation
Periodically someone will post on Facebook their opinion of a certain punctuation mark. Comments in response unfurl like a long serpent below the post. Neutrality tends not to exist in those comments. In this way I’ve learned that writers, in …
Who Knew for Writers
Who knew not taking time to adjust your privacy settings on social media could create a tangled mess of chaotic, unwanted, unpleasant hairball-like clogs?
Who knew that self-publishing a book is rarely a natural first step to traditional publishing?
“Was …
If All the Writing I Do Today…
If all the writing I do today is sending a note to my English teacher, does that mean it hasn’t been a good day writing?
We often set our word count goals dangerously high, challenging ourselves to push harder than …
Emotional Markers for Writers
What are emotional markers for writers?
There’s a tongue-in-cheek video circulating with the theme “Everybody should write a book.” The farcical theory is that it’s not that hard. You don’t really need skills. Anybody can do it. All authors are …
If You Build Your Audience Too Soon
What can happen if you build your audience too soon?
Nobody knows. It’s never happened in the history of writing.
Worst case scenario is you build your audience too soon:
You reach out to people, serve them with your words, …
Time for Writers to Retire
Yes. It’s time for writers to retire (cough) a few old favorite but now worn-out words, methods, habits, phrases, and punctuation marks.
“But my high school English teacher told me…”
Is your high school teacher in publishing? Makes a difference.…