The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

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Scaling the Cliff aka Starting Again

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Starting again
Image by Aravind kumar from Pixabay

Last year while I was stumbling around in the midst of having my blog shifted to a new domain, my blog fell off the cliff.

In early 2020, I decided to shift my writing website from one domain to another. I hired Marta Goertzen (Trail Guide Webworks) to do all the migrating and such, and just as she got started the world went into COVID lock down.

Long story short, Marta hit some snags, and it took months to resolve because of the lock down. During this migration time, I got out of the habit of writing 2-3 posts a month and failed at starting again.

[Read more…] about Scaling the Cliff aka Starting Again

Writing the Heart of Your Story: a book review

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book cover Writing the Heart of Your Story by CS LakinI rarely do a straight-out book review. In fact, I think this might the first one. I often recommend a book, especially those that have had a tremendous impact on my writing career in some way whether in skills learned or motivationally.

But today, I feel compelled to talk about Writing the Heart of Your Story by C.S. Lakin.

As I read, I’m highlighting paragraph after paragraph. I plan to reference this book again and again as I write my own novels.

Just as important, what I’m reading is impacting me as [Read more…] about Writing the Heart of Your Story: a book review

5 Lessons I learned from 2016 that can help you in 2017

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fireworks

In many places around the world, the New Year is celebrated by shooting off fireworks. Though I didn’t shoot off fireworks on Jan. 1, 2016, the year has been filled with fireworks.

What do I mean by fireworks? Stepping outside my comfort zone. Here’s what that looked like for me:

  • Taught workshops at 4 writer’s conferences
  • Held my first Facebook live videos
  • Held my first webinar
  • Learned new software for book design
  • Learned and instituted new technology on my website in an effort to better meet my readers needs

Has your year included some fireworks? [Read more…] about 5 Lessons I learned from 2016 that can help you in 2017

Should Leap Day Be a Holiday?

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Down what road could leap day lead you?
Down what road could leap day lead you?

It’s Leap Day! That weird day that happens once every 4 years. That alone qualifies it as a holiday in my book. What about you?

Because it’s leap day and the 5th Monday of the month, I thought I’d have a little fun.

What’s the deal with February anyway? I mean, all the other months have 30 or 31 days. Why did the calendar makers only give 28 to February? Why not steal a day [Read more…] about Should Leap Day Be a Holiday?

Help! How do you stay organized?

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messy officeDo you consider yourself as being organized?

I am. At least, I think I am.

After all, the spices in my kitchen cabinet are alphabetized, and so are the DVDs in my entertainment center. Look in my closet and you’ll find all my short sleeve shirts in one spot and then long sleeve and all sorted by color. My books are shelved by topic.

I suppose many would call that being OCD, but I call it [Read more…] about Help! How do you stay organized?

5 Benefits to Taking a Break from Writing

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Authors Elaine Marie Cooper and Debra L. Butterfield
Elaine Marie Cooper and me.

We all know it’s important to take a break now and then no matter what line of work we do. But it’s even more important to refresh and re-energize ourselves when we’ve completed a big project.

I recently completed the final draft of a manuscript and sent it off to writers and readers for feedback. In the meantime, I needed some rest, both physically and mentally. Two weeks vacationing with my kids is my ideal, but that’s just not in the budget right now. So I started looking for alternatives — a day trip or some place to visit for the weekend.

When I saw that author Elaine Marie Cooper was speaking in northern Missouri, I quickly mapped the event to find out how close it was to me. I read her newest book Fields of the Fatherless and was excited at a chance to meet her. [Read more…] about 5 Benefits to Taking a Break from Writing