Do you feel like most days you are losing your marbles? If you are like me, you end the day wondering why you didn’t get as much writing done as you’d intended. There isn’t one right or wrong answer to how our daily energy should be spent. We all need to prepare food, take care… Read more »
Dedication to your writing is important, but at times it can go too far. I’ve often found myself so absorbed in my work that I ignored my own basic needs. Which, if kept up, not only jeopardizes my health and sanity but can also negatively affect my writing. To avoid burning myself out I have… Read more »
Over a decade ago, in one of my first college writing workshops, I commented that a story’s eclectic vocabulary jarred me out of its narrative. The author’s suave, privately-schooled best friend was in our class, and he volleyed my critique back: “It would’ve taken seconds to look up aquiline on your iPhone.” I had a… Read more »
What makes your writing life productive? Maybe you’re following the advice to “write every day,” and you’re hitting a daily word count, but you’re not sure if it’s your best work. Or you eschew that advice and only write when you feel inspired, and then a great story pours out of you—but you wish you… Read more »
