It has been a writer’s perfect week. I wish I had a word for it! A perfect storm (of which I’ve experienced many over the years) is a “particularly bad state of affairs, arising from a number of negative factors,” according to the dictionary. But this week was the opposite: a writer’s perfect week. While […]
writing advice
Blasting Off: Reclaiming a Daily Writing Habit
I launched my writing rocket 35 years ago. With a daily writing habit, it took off and kept my career orbiting, despite getting off-course sometimes and necessitating a re-calculation. In theory, a re-launch would never be required. But the last couple of years have wreaked havoc with my writing routine. Breaking my left wrist in […]
A Parent’s (or Grandparent’s) Writing Schedule
With summer vacation upon us, it seemed like a good time to revisit the subject of writing when you are involved with children or grandchildren. When my children were small–and even as they grew older–I struggled to find a writing schedule that worked most days of the week. After much trial and error, I would […]
Perfectionist Writers
Does perfectionism keep you from getting started on your writing? Does trying to write your best create pressure for you? If you, you’ll be encouraged something in Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. It’s about being a perfectionist–and how to deal with the pressure […]
A No-Guilt Writing Life
Does taking time to write make you feel guilty? In her book Writing as a Way of Healing, Louise DeSalvo said, “Many people…have told me that taking time to write seems so, well, self-indulgent, self-involved, frivolous even.” Does that describe you? Do you fight your own guilty feelings that say you should be doing something […]
The Gift of Time
It isn’t my birthday or Christmas or Mother’s Day, but it feels like it today. Why? Because I’ve decided to give myself a wonderful gift now. The gift of time. I’ve been writing and publishing since my kids were babies. They’re in their thirties now, with their own children ranging from toddlers to teenagers. During […]
How the Chunky Method Saved My Life
A couple of months ago, after being sick and traveling and meeting two book deadlines, I stalled when given some unwelcome health news which required tests and more tests. I got really, really behind on an adult mystery, and for hours I would struggle to write, only to throw it all out at the end […]
Jane Austen and Me
I’ve been thinking about Jane Austen a lot since visiting her home in Chawton, England, in September. Another time and another place, but some lessons to learn that apply to me as a writer today. Kinship of Writers Jane’s home in Chawton was where she revised Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice for publication. […]
Writing Momentum: the Unexpected Bonus
During the six weeks so far of running the October-November writing challenges, I have rarely missed writing daily. My goal for putting my writing first each day was to accumulate more pages. Despite a couple of personal setbacks, that has certainly happened. I’ve logged in anywhere from twenty minutes to four hours, depending on the day’s […]
The Completion Stage
The past two weeks, I’ve talked about the stages we go through in our writing projects, including the challenges at each stage and ways to keep from derailing. After we have prepared the work-in-progress, let it germinate, worked on it, then deepened and shaped it, we are ready to complete the work. “There is a completion […]