When you’re not sure your story will work, it’s easy to assume that uncertainty means something is wrong with the story. There’s a moment in almost every book where the writer gets scared for a very good reason. They’re not sure it’s going to work. And that’s a moment whenContinue Reading
Is your inner critic holding you back? Picture this. There’s a baby in the living room. She’s a little unsteady, but she does that brave baby thing. She pulls herself up, takes two wobbly steps, and then — boom — falls right back down. Now, imagine this. Instead of everybodyContinue Reading
Writers misdiagnose their books all the time, and when they do, they often start fixing the wrong problem. Imagine somebody is seeing a doctor because of chest pain. First the doctor says it’s just stress. Then maybe acid reflux. Later on, anxiety. The patient is told to get more sleep,Continue Reading
If you quit books too soon, or feel tempted to abandon them somewhere around chapter two or three, it usually doesn’t mean the idea has failed. Instead, it means the writing process has changed, and your brain needs something different now than it did at the start. A lot ofContinue Reading
The writing life can mess with your head if you let it. I was reading the comments on one of my recent videos, and though many of them were very positive, there were some that just sounded completely defeated. Writers were saying things like, “Nobody reads. Nobody helps writers. PublishersContinue Reading
Why do writers quit? Years ago, I attended a writing workshop. The writers in that room were all good. I read their work. About a year later, I followed up with them, and here’s what got me. Almost all of them had stopped writing. I found that really heartbreaking becauseContinue Reading
How great writers improve—do they really need to, or do they just have the talent to begin with? When you sit down to write and it’s just not working, do you secretly worry that maybe you just don’t have it? That natural-born genius that the great writers seem to have?Continue Reading
Still not where you want to be with writing? Don’t be too hard on yourself. Here’s what I learned. A couple of years ago, I posted my very first YouTube video, and I thought it was okay. But when I watch it now? Yikes! It’s hard not to cringe. AndContinue Reading
When you’re struggling to write, try this simple shift. Have you ever thought to yourself, This whole writing life is just way more complicated than I thought it was going to be. Not only is there learning how to write a good story, novel, or poem, but then there’s theContinue Reading
Is writing worth it? If you’ve been working on your book for a long time, or maybe you’ve written and published several books already, you’re probably starting to wonder if all the time and effort you’re putting into this thing called the writing life is actually worth it. Most ofContinue Reading
It’s not easy to recover from a writing setback. An email pops up. You open it, and yes, it’s a form rejection. Or maybe it’s a bad review of your newly launched book. Dang it. You thought this was the one that would succeed. How you handle this moment couldContinue Reading
Do you fear your writing isn’t good enough? Writing fear is like the monster under the bed—except it lives under your writing desk, emerging to breathe down your neck every time you type a sentence. It growls things like, “Who do you think you are? A real writer? Ha!” andContinue Reading