Writing Goals 2023

This year, if I’m honest, I had trouble drumming up much enthusiasm for goal setting—writing or otherwise. I’m generally a goal-setting fanatic, so this was unusual for me. I was excited about setting goals last year. I did a whole, five-part series on goal setting in December 2021. You can find it here. Then I … Read More

6 Reasons Writers Should Journal

Like many writers, I’ve kept a diary or journal since I was a teenager. I wish I had my old journals, but after someone read my diary when I was fourteen, I burned it and vowed never to keep a diary again. I kept writing, though, and as is usually the case with young writers, … Read More

A Writer’s Days

It’s still sunny here in California. But the weather is getting cooler—most noticeably when the temperatures drop suddenly and rapidly after the sun sets. During the summer, I get up from my desk, away from my computer, and outdoors at least once a day, sometimes more. I go for walks—I moved here to Pismo Beach … Read More

When Is it Okay to Write for Free?

As a young writer starting out, I didn’t think about getting paid for writing. I wanted a byline, I wanted my work to be published, and I naïvely thought the money would eventually come. Seeing my work in print was payment enough. When I started writing content for websites, I accepted very low pay for … Read More

Sidetracked but Not Derailed

I have a passion for railroad trains. As a child, when I was tucked into bed at my grandparents’ house, I loved to listen to the distant choo choo of passing trains. As an adult, I enjoy living on the wrong side of the tracks, where I can hear the call of the trains’ whistles … Read More

The Calm Before the War

Last week, I wrote about The War of Art, a book by Steven Pressfield, the author of The Legend of Bagger Vance. The book was recommended to me at just the right time in my life. I finished my MFA last year and came out of it tired, but promptly enrolled in two more year-long … Read More

5 Great Keyboard Getaways

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

5 Reasons Not to Enter Writing Contests

Writing contests are fun. I love them, and I enter them often, although I’ve yet to make it past the “finalist” level. But I don’t care! During those weeks or months of waiting for the winners to be announced, it’s exciting thinking that one of the winning stories might be mine. I recently read an … Read More

Late Bloomer

I consider myself a professional writer now, but it took me a long time to get there. And it took me a long time to decide what being a “professional writer” meant or what it looked like to earn the right to call myself a writer at all. In another lifetime, I studied English Literature … Read More