As you all know, I teach writing, and I coach writers and I write about writing on this here blog. There's seven years worth of posts here–over a thousand of them last time I looked–and they all have something to do with writing. In truth, I don't write a whole lot about the actual mechanics […]
Please welcome Angie Dixon to the blog today. We share a last name and also a passion for writing and creativity! I know you'll enjoy her post. (And be sure to check out the free report she's offering here.) Being a Writer is More Than It’s Cracked Up to Be by Angie Dixon I’ve been a […]
You are allowed to get so engrossed in your writing you forget to cook dinner (but set an alarm so you don't forget and leave children stranded in odd places). You are allowed to follow the peaks and valleys of the creative process. You are allowed to passionately practice your writing every day. And, you […]
Note: I grew up in the printing plant my father owned, and he had a whole stack of pads titled While You Were Out, with check boxes and lines to fill in about things that happened in his absence. I am going to be out for a few days at a wedding, so I thought […]
Okay, are you ready? I'm about to reveal it all. The one and only thing you need to do to be a writer, that will guarantee you success on some level. And that is… Drum roll, please…. The one thing you need to do to be a successful writer is to write. You need to […]
My business partner Debbie and I have volunteered to take over the organization of a local reading series. It was begun last year by a mystery writer and when he moved away, one of our local writing groups, the Oregon Writer's Colony, took it over. The series is held at a coffee shop close […]
This is you, with all your ideas aglow in your head. It's a shiny new year and many of us have worked hard to note goals and dreams for 2014. No matter what your writing goals, they are all dependent on one thing: a plethora of ideas. So I thought it might be a good […]
The other day I was looking for something on my computer. (I spend a fair amount of time doing this. I probably need to get my files a bit better organized.) And I ran across an old guest post I wrote a few years ago, the title of which was something to the effect of, […]
By guest blogger Milli Thornton 10,000 words in a day? Impossible! That's what I said in 2006 when my friend Jenny Turner asked me to do a "10K Day." To be accurate, I didn't say it was impossible for Jenny. I already knew she could do it. I said it was impossible for me. I […]
I've spent the summer writing book proposals as well as reviewing them. Call it synchronicity, or serendipity, or whatever you want, but I have been immersed in book proposals. And I've learned a lot. I thought I knew a lot about writing book proposals before (she said modestly), but now I know even more. So […]
