When I hear the word outline, I’m back in grade school laboring throughI.A.B.II.III. Is that what comes to mind for you when someone starts talking outlines. But that’s not what you need to do! Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Online Dictionary gives these definitions of outline: “the principal features or general principles of a subject of discussion; a…
Overwhelm can be paralyzing. And as I mentioned in my post “Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes,” fear can be an underlying factor to that overwhelm. Today I’d like to talk about a method that has helped me move through my fear and get things done. It’s called the Next Tiny Step (NTS) and was…
Overwhelm is a frequent topic of discussion among writers, as evidenced by last month’s blog post, “Are you feeling overwhelmed with publishing your book?” Family and job responsibilities can contribute to it. A lot of things have to be done, and we look at it and think, “This is impossible.” But that simply forces us…
Publishing a book can pile on the overwhelm. Let’s face it, there are a lot of things to be done besides writing the book. Actually any project can seem overwhelming when we consider all that must be done and think we need to do it all at the same time. A good method to deal…
I recently started the practice of writing morning pages every day before I begin my work hours. I asked myself a time or two whether they were a useful tool or a waste of time. You’re probably asking, “What are morning pages?” They’re a tool created by author Julia Cameron. She discusses them in her…
I couldn’t let December pass without visiting the topic of setting goals. As I write this, it is still November, but I have set aside December to review my 2023 goals. I’ll figure out where I went wrong with those I didn’t meet, and what I did right with those I accomplished. Goals give us…
Last month, one of my Tuesday tip emails prompted a reader to contact me. She asked if I’d ever written about jealousy. She was referring to the jealousy we might feel when we look at the success of other writers in comparison to our own. When I discovered I’d never touched on the topic, I…
This month we’re hearing from Kristin Noland. Kristin is an internationally renowned professional editor, specializing in developmental, line, and copy editing of speculative fiction. She’s edited over seventy manuscripts, including two bestsellers.