I didn’t know whether to puke or sit down and have a good cry or both. I was going through some old boxes, and I found manuscripts for a couple of the first articles I wrote over 50 years ago. Gosh, they were bad! It took a couple of minutes to realize that those articles illustrated something very good. They » Read More
Tag: Writing Tips
You’ve got a book in you. Now what?

“Everyone has a book inside them and, in most cases, that’s where it should stay.” That quote, or something very much like it, has been attributed to many writers. There’s Christopher Hitchens, Shelby Foote, Winston Churchill, Somerset Maugham, and a bevy of others. The truth is, if you can read a book » Read More
Creativity for Nonfiction Authors

If you want to write a great book, you need to be creative. “Creative nonfiction” is a style of writing where you use fiction writing techniques to make nonfiction more interesting. That’s a powerful way to make your book better. Stories are the way human beings have been sharing ideas since we first crawled out » Read More
Your Processes Will Set You Free

Writing a book is hard work that extends over a year or more. You have a choice in how you will work. Some writers essentially reinvent their writing process every time. Other writers develop systems and processes that they use again and again. When you develop systems and processes you do two things. First, you free » Read More
Writing Tips My Clients Love

One benefit of working as a ghostwriter and author coach is that I get to spend time with intelligent people who have deep knowledge of their subject. Of course, they’re all different. They vary in age, professional background, and writing experience. Some have toddlers at home while others have grown children. Some » Read More