“Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name.” ~ Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil.” Over the centuries, the devil has gone by many names....
If You Want To Write a Great Book, Interruptions Are the Devil
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Better Writing
How To Get the Most Writing Bang for Your Walking Buck
Walking is one of the best things you can do to improve your writing. Walking helps you keep fit. It keeps the blood flowing, and it helps you get...
The Magic of Creativity
It's a funny thing about creativity. The very things that make you successful in other areas can be the things that stifle the spirit of discovery....
Using Poetry To Improve Your Nonfiction Writing
“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful." ~ Rita Dove Good news! You don’t have to let poets have all the fun. You can use...
Yes, you’re creative! Now what?
You’re creative. It doesn’t matter what your mother said. It doesn’t matter what some art teacher told you. It doesn’t matter what you think. You’re...
Write drunk. Edit Sober.
“Write drunk. Edit sober.” Whether Ernest Hemingway ever said those words or not, there’s wisdom in that quote. It just doesn’t have anything to do...
3 Ways Keeping a Journal Will Help You Write Better
Call it a journal, a writer’s notebook, or an idea file. It doesn’t matter what you call it. Keep it on a computer, loose sheets of paper, or in a...
How to Get the Most from Your Writing Talent
In 1989, Daniel Chambliss wrote about the making of Olympic swimmers. He coined the phrase “The mundanity of excellence” to describe how the best...
Let your brain play!
Dog walking time. It’s good for me. It’s good for my dog, Toto. And it’s good for my brain. When you’re writing, you may be tempted to bear down and...
2 Simple Writing Momentum Hacks
My clients are what I call “semi-pro writers.” Writing isn’t their day job. Instead, they need to squeeze it into a calendar that’s already stuffed...