Book Coaching & Editing Services for Writers of Fiction & Creative Nonfiction
So, I’m aware of the fact that I often seem to be advising writers not to write. But it only seems that way–all the things I encourage you to do as a writer will ultimately feed your writing, even if that means taking a break from writing so your subconscious brain can do its share of … Read More
I’ve written stories and poems and essays since I first learned to write in first grade. If you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’ve written all your life, too. I wrote throughout elementary school and throughout my teens. I slowed a little but kept writing throughout my twenties. I wrote sporadically in my thirties and early … Read More
It seems I’m always trying to either keep myself in my chair or get myself out of my chair. When it’s time to put words to paper, and the words don’t come easily, I can suddenly think of a million things I need to do. Things that require me to get up out of my … Read More
Feature art and image courtesy of Christopher Wiley. Leo Tolstoy played chess. Madeleine L’Engle played the piano. Jane Austen played cards. Mark Twain was into scrapbooking and inventing–he combined these two hobbies to invent the scrapbook with adhesive pages. This week, I want to encourage you to get away from your desk and out of … Read More
Please enjoy this guest post by writer and runner Collin Mitchell. Much has been written about the relationship between running and the successful writing life: there are the obvious comparisons between the slog of marathon training and producing a novel, the way fresh air and exertion clears fog from the brain, and the age-old idea … Read More
Feature image courtesy of Mackenzie Kram. Sylvia Plath kept bees. Madeleine L’Engle played the piano. Flannery O’Connor raised peacocks. Emily Dickinson was an award-winning baker. Franz Kafka collected porn. I can’t remember what triggered it. I think it may have been a book I was reading, The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp. Whatever it was, … Read More
Feature image of writer & aerialist Chih Wang courtesy of Brandi Cooper. I got such a great response to my request for the ways my writer friends’ pastimes inform their writing that I thought I’d share a half dozen more this week … and a half dozen more next week! Here’s part two of writers … Read More
Feature image “Morning Star” courtesy of Trey Burnette. I’ve been fascinated lately with the way our creative interests and hobbies play into or support our writing. Nearly all of my writer friends have other interests. Some are creative, some are just for fun, some are more grounding. I asked a half dozen writers to tell … Read More
In my teens, I thought writing was agony. I read The Bell Jar and emptied my broken heart into reams of bad, hand-scrawled poetry about the boys who didn’t love me back. In my twenties, I thought writing was detached, hard-rock glamour. It meant jeans and a band T-shirt, dark shades to block out my … Read More
This morning, I gathered some resources on self-care for writers. I’m definitely a “do as I say, not as I do” sort of person, so these resources were a good reminder to me to get up from my computer once in a while. First, I’m including two videos. Below the videos, I’ve included links to … Read More