Are you sabotaging your future success before you even begin? I’ve spoken at several writer’s conferences and events over the last few years, which means I’ve talked to a lot of aspiring and experienced writers. Many come to me with questions about one facet or another of their writing careers.Continue Reading
The biggest emotional challenge for me as a writer is guilt. This emotion completely derails my forward momentum. It’s as if I’m sneaking time to write in between day job, laundry, and cooking for a husband and our two boys. Add to that the guilt of leaving my characters inContinue Reading
Are you looking for a caffeine-free energizer? It’s not always easy to fit writing into your busy life. Sometimes, you find yourself staring at the page with your eyelids drooping or your mind blanking out. What do you do when that happens? You may use caffeinated beverages like coffee orContinue Reading
You’ve been working on your latest writing project for a while now, and your motivation is waning. You still believe in it. You still want to take it all the way through to “the end,” but lately the fire has dimmed in your heart. What’s happened, and how can youContinue Reading
Do you have a creative writing sweet spot? You get to choose what to work on, when to work on it, and where and how. With all that freedom, you’d think that finding your creative sweet spot would be easy. Unfortunately, it often isn’t. As ancient Greek philosopher Thales ofContinue Reading
Congratulations Mel and Celia! You are the winners of Jadie’s giveaway. Watch your email for details and thank you to all who entered! by Jadie Jones When Colleen asked me if I would write a post for her about time management… I laughed at the idea that I—a mom ofContinue Reading
If you’re making the commitment to NaNoWriMo this November, you can bet that somewhere along the way, you’re going to hit a wall. We’re talking about 30 days of motivating yourself to write perhaps more than you’ve ever written before. The goal is 50,000 words. That’s about 1,666 words aContinue Reading
Here’s a question I’ve gotten from Writing and Wellness readers recently… How do I take a project from beginning to end without losing it somewhere in the middle? So how do we do that, exactly? Getting to “The End” Means Getting Through the Dreaded Middle I think most writers wouldContinue Reading
The biggest physical challenge of being a writer? The lack of movement. When I am sitting at my desk for hours, especially if I get into a creative zone, I have to literally stop and remind myself to get up and stretch, let alone get a proper workout. For me,Continue Reading
A Valentine’s Letter from Your Writing I’m sorry, but it’s just not working between us anymore. I’ve lost the feeling, and I haven’t been able to get it back. It’s not you, it’s…well, yeah, it’s you. You’ve killed the spark between us. Me? You’re blaming me? Well, whatever. If that’sContinue Reading
I enjoyed Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Great fun! But that’s not what inspired this post. It was actually a PBS special entitled, “The Ape Who Went to College.” In case you haven’t seen it, it told the story of Chantek, a baby orangutan raised as a humanContinue Reading