Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published
Change slapped me in the face a few weeks ago. More accurately, it slugged me so hard it knocked me down.
Has that ever happened to you?
For most of us life ushers in change. Getting married, having a baby, a child heads off to college. Or losing a loved one, a devastating illness, getting laid off.
When you’re in business for yourself—and yes, writers fit into that category—changes often include [Read more…] about To Embrace Change or Not
When a task intimidates you, are you inclined to procrastinate doing it?
I admit, I do.
Usually it’s fear that stops me from taking action. Fear of the technology or the complexity of the task and so I procrastinate (for days, months, and yes, even years).
Invariably when I finally get to a point of [Read more…] about Don’t let intimidating tasks force you to procrastinate.
Mondays.
The hardest day of the week for me and many others. For most because they face getting up and going to the 9-5 job. Yes, I have to get up, but I only have to walk 6 feet from my bed to my office desk. How great is that!
Whether you leave home for work or not, Mondays are about motivation. I look at my weekly calendar of scheduled work and can too easily feel overwhelmed. Especially if I’m not seeing any results with the work I’ve been doing.
For writers working a day job and writing at night (or in the early hours before work), it’s finding motivation to [Read more…] about My Top 3 Tips for Self-Motivation
Rejection in publishing is inevitable.
In fact, if a writer told me he/she had never received a rejection letter, then I’d say he/she had never submitted any work.
Yes, rejection is hard. Yes, it hurts. As writers, we must develop a tough skin so rejections don’t readily wound us. Further, we can’t let that rejection stop us from submitting our work somewhere else.
In addition to a tough skin, our attitude affects whether we handle rejection in a way that promotes our growth as a writer. We need a persevering attitude so we can overcome and reach our goals.
We all know our attitude [Read more…] about Editors, Rejection, and Attitude
This past weekend I was at the 2016 Wordsowers Christian Writers’ Conference where I taught on Scrivener, and also heard pitches from authors.
During the opening session, the conference director, Kat Crawford, asked how many were attending their first writers conference. I was pleasantly surprised to see nearly half the attendees raise their hands.
Kudos to you for taking that first major step toward honing your craft and getting your words out into the world.
Now that you’re back home, you might be wondering what to do now. [Read more…] about The Conference Is Over, What Now?
I’ve been reading an excellent blog series by Erin Buterbaugh found in the archives of Chip MacGregor’s blog. It’s about voice—something that seems to elude writers, beginning writers especially.
To quote Erin, voice is
“the personality of the author as revealed through the writing.”
When I first started writing with the intention of earning money for it, I read Finding Your Voice by Les Edgerton (btw Ane Mulligan recommends this book on a guest post she did for MacGregor’s blog). [Read more…] about Has fear sabotaged your voice?
Rejection letters from magazine editors, book publishers, and agents.
Book sales? They’re flat lining.
It’s all too easy for writers to get discouraged.
I’ve received my share of rejection letters, and at present my book sales are dismal. Between the day job and my freelance work, marketing my books and writing my newest book get pushed to the very bottom of the to-do list.
Generally speaking, I find discouragement happens because we are… [Read more…] about Learning How to Encourage Yourself