It’s the first weeks into the new year, and a perfect time to make one resolution about your writing practice. Remember, only one. Begin by thinking about your writing. How often do you come to the page? For how long? How many pieces have you …
Driving home after dark last night, I turned onto a block festooned for Christmas. With all the colored lights twinkling at me, I realized that, this year, I wanted to help writers give themselves the gift of writingfor Christmas. It’s actually an easy gift to give–and it’s …
Trusting the writing process is an ongoing practice. Once you’ve learned to trust enough to complete a draft of whatever you set out to write, you then have to practice trusting the revision process, which includes several stages. Most important here, is to remember that …
Have you ever gotten an idea for a story or an essay and dismissed it immediately? Too complicated, too ordinary, uninspired, already been done are some of the condemnations my clients toss at their ideas. “But how do you know without even starting?” I ask. …
Although I’ve led hundreds of writing workshops, I’ve never joined a writing group. The reason: I don’t care what six, or eight, or ten other writers think of what I’ve written. Over the years, I’ve learned that each writer in a workshop will find at …
I’ve just come through a few days of bad writing. Or perhaps it would be better if I said a few bad days of writing. While both are true, approaching the territory of judgment is never a good idea for us writers. We all have …
This week, I offer you a guest post I wrote for the blog “livewritethrive,” which has generated much appreciation. Think Small to Avoid Writer’s Block
Most of us have the wrong idea about inspiration. Popular culture tells us that inspiration is a force that strikes out of the blue, often when we least expect it, energizing us to write, paint, think, make a plan, a decision–even a phone call. And …
Since I am spending a great deal of my time these days working toward promoting my new book, I thought I should tell other writers about my successes and failures. Promotion seems to be a topic that gets a great deal of attention, from writers …
While limiting their writing time to 15 minutes helps many writers face the blank page, it doesn’t work for others. Even if they give themselves permission to write for only five minutes, some writers cannot sit down and begin. Something else—a phone call, a chore, …