Writers misdiagnose their books all the time, and when they do, they often start fixing the wrong problem. Imagine somebody is seeing a doctor because of chest pain. First the doctor says it’s just stress. Then maybe acid reflux. Later on, anxiety. The patient is told to get more sleep,Continue Reading
If you quit books too soon, or feel tempted to abandon them somewhere around chapter two or three, it usually doesn’t mean the idea has failed. Instead, it means the writing process has changed, and your brain needs something different now than it did at the start. A lot ofContinue Reading
by Ian Smith Setting: A courtroom. Dimly lit. One defendant in the dock; not a person, but a Brain. Charge: Theft…not of money, but of life. BRAIN: (In the defendant’s stand, looking round and sneering at IAN SMITH, a man on the opposite side in the witness stand.) JUDGE: (whoContinue Reading
The writing life can mess with your head if you let it. I was reading the comments on one of my recent videos, and though many of them were very positive, there were some that just sounded completely defeated. Writers were saying things like, “Nobody reads. Nobody helps writers. PublishersContinue Reading
Self-doubt can feel like just another miserable part of writing, but in my experience, it often becomes far more dangerous than that. That’s because it tends to show up at the exact moments that matter most in your writing life. And if you don’t recognize it for what it is,Continue Reading
Why do writers quit? Years ago, I attended a writing workshop. The writers in that room were all good. I read their work. About a year later, I followed up with them, and here’s what got me. Almost all of them had stopped writing. I found that really heartbreaking becauseContinue Reading
If you’re making writing career mistakes, I want to spare you some of the years I lost. Picture this: Years of your life wasted, stuck in your first book, completely invisible to readers. And why? Because you ignored four simple pieces of advice. I know because I ignored them, andContinue Reading
Most of us have this fantasy around famous author confidence. We think, One day I’ll sign that contract, I’ll see my book in bookstores, and then I’ll finally feel like a real writer. We think success creates the confidence. But brain science suggests it often works the other way around.Continue Reading
How do we handle too many story ideas when every one of them feels urgent, exciting, and somehow more promising than the one already sitting in front of us? Let me ask you something. How many story ideas are sitting on your laptop or in your notes right now? BeContinue Reading
Do you ever have that sinking fear that you’re going to pour years of your life into your writing only to get absolutely nothing in return? No sales. No awards. No readers. Just wasted time. Maybe you worry that the publishing industry is just too saturated right now, or thatContinue Reading
How great writers improve—do they really need to, or do they just have the talent to begin with? When you sit down to write and it’s just not working, do you secretly worry that maybe you just don’t have it? That natural-born genius that the great writers seem to have?Continue Reading
Are you desperate to finish your novel? You know the one. You love the characters and the concept, but every time you try to get back to it, something more important comes up. You tell yourself you’re just busy. And that’s probably true. But deep down, you know that’s notContinue Reading