I have to admit finding motivation to write every day can be a struggle. On many days, it is a matter of self-discipline to sit down and write. So today I’d like to offer some suggestions that can help move us (I’m talking to myself here too) from the arena of self-discipline to being truly…
A lot of publishing options for getting your book baby out into the world exist in today’s market. What are those options? How does one learn about all the ins and outs? How does one decide which option is best? Finding the answers can be time-consuming, confusing, and paralyzing. To help you navigate these troublesome…
I’m as guilty as the next writer in that I include redundancies in my draft manuscript. When I’m writing my draft, I focus on getting the story out of my head and into the computer. I look for redundancies when I revise my story. And I revise it more times than I want to count!…
Motivation is a consistent issue with many writers. I write about it on my blog and hear about it at writers’ conferences I attend. Guess what? even yours truly has issues at times. Let’s start by setting the foundation with what motivation really is.
Most writers are also avid readers. It’s a part of how we learn the craft of writing. For me it’s also a part of how I enjoy life. Right now I’ve got 6 books going, 4 nonfiction, and 2 fiction. The fiction are strictly for entertainment. The nonfiction for my own education—for my business and…
All great fiction writing has more than 4 important elements; however, in my opinion, there are 4 that are the driving force behind your story. Any avid reader can quickly identify when a book is going to be great or not. They may not be able to tell you the elements that are or aren’t…
Writing goals is easy. Achieving them isn’t. By now I expect many who made resolutions in January have already faltered in keeping them or have completely forgotten them. Personally, because I am employing the new principles I talked about last month, I am experiencing some push back from my brain. Mostly thoughts like “How am…
Last summer I interviewed children’s book author Melody Schaefer here on the blog. She was in the process of preparing for the 2017 total solar eclipse that was to occur, and St. Joseph was a major city for viewing. Using her Penny the Parakeet children’s book series, Melody created a book specifically for and about…