writing

People have often said to me, “I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but I’ve never tried because … [insert excuse.]” If you’re one of those people, I totally understand where you’re coming from. 100%. For most of my life, I never thought it was possible for someone like me to write anything worth reading [...]

Whenever the topic of favorite books for writers comes up, I always mention the same ones over and over again. But they are timeless must-reads for anyone trying to finish their first manuscript, (or twenty-first,) and for those pursuing publication, either traditionally or through self-publishing. So here I go again with a list of my [...]

Why, exactly, is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, held in November? I mean, there’s Thanksgiving. And ’tis the season to start getting ready for the holidays. Plus for my fellow runDisney addicts, there’s the Wine & Dine Half Marathon in Disney World, so I need all the motivation I can get to finish. Are you [...]

Cross posted on As The Eraser Burns. It’s almost that time of year again, folks: National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, the yearly Olympics for writers where participants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in only 30 days. The fun begins on November 1st, twelve days from now. TWELVE. As in, one-two-three-ten-twelve days, less than [...]

I once gave a presentation where, ten minutes in, I asked attendees to do a writing exercise. Instant awkwardness. I could feel the groans they shifted in their seats, grimacing as though I had offered pickle juice for their tea instead of cream. For a second, I considered saving face by saying, “Just fooling, haha,” even though the exercise was really cute: Write [...]