If you’re writing creativity has stalled a little bit, Halloween is the perfect time to jumpstart it again! Insert some fun into your writing life, and you may be surprised at what it does for your story! Writing Creativity Tip #1. Dress up as one of your characters. When IContinue Reading
My biggest emotional challenge related to writing coincided with the pandemic. I had previously spent a couple years writing a three-book fiction series, Prisoners of Hope, and released the first two in October and November of 2019. The third released in late January 2020. The books totaled more than 1,100Continue Reading
You know it’s a good idea to spring clean your house, but have you ever tried to spring clean your mind? Research shows that spring cleaning your space can help reduce stress, boost immunity, improve your mood, prevent injuries, and lead to more relaxing sleep. Spring cleaning your mind canContinue Reading
When I lost my job, got cancer and my mom died, it finally pushed me to pursue my dream of writing, but I had no idea if I was any good. I think that was one of my biggest emotional challenges as a writer. I know a lot of writersContinue Reading
Being in any of the arts—writing, theatre, painting, dance—is not for the timid. Because of the nature of the work, these pursuits are among the lowest paid unless you become a star in the field. So, emotionally, I didn’t consider making writing an occupation until I retired early from myContinue Reading
In the beginning – and I’m talking some 30 years ago – I basked in the attention of a literary agent and the advice from Cornerstones Editorial Services. Both of these institutions assured me I could write, but my early work needed tweaking. I learnt lots. I was always hopefulContinue Reading
I’ve talked about the benefits of writing retreats in other posts. Check them out: “Serious Writers Permit Themselves to Go On Writers’ Retreats” “How to Get the Best Creativity-Boosting Results from Your Writing Retreat. Because they help reduce stress, nourish creativity, promote reflection, and sustain motivation, retreats are essential toContinue Reading
It takes a certain kind of person to slave over something very personal for a long time and then hurl it out the door for every aspiring critic in the universe to have a shot at. You trust your editor, your spouse, and your friends to give you helpful advice,Continue Reading
The poet Robert Frost once said, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” This sums up the emotional challenge of writing for me, which is to place myself so entirely in the world of my characters that readers experience their joy and sadness. A recent example fromContinue Reading
How do you start your writing day? If you’re like most people, you might begin by firing up your computer and hopping onto the Internet. Your purpose may range from interacting on your social media feeds to reading the news to conducting research for a writing project. Sounds innocuous enough,Continue Reading
I’m not sure if perfectionism is the biggest emotional challenge to being a writer, but it ranks in the top ten. Perfectionism and its evil step-sisters—judgment, comparison, envy, and self-doub—all have the power to do me in if I let them. Based on my unrealistic perfectionist writer ideals, I sufferContinue Reading
I’m not really the type to get super-emotional about things. I will say that the year and a half we were fostering our 2 1/2 year old (now our adopted daughter 🙂 ) was an extremely difficult time to balance writing and family issues. I’d also say there’s a levelContinue Reading