This amateur painting I made hangs above my desk, reminding me of the wisdom my aunt uses to get through the highs and lows of creating. Read the full story here.
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Welcoming the New Year with Curiosity
I’ve always liked New Year’s Eve. It’s probably my favorite holiday behind Halloween. Though I haven’t been faithful about choosing resolutions every year, nor sticking to every one of them, the ones I’ve done have led to some of the best decisions of my life, such as reading the Bible all the way through or writing a short story every month, which led to the birth of my first novel. This year, I’m still pondering my specific resolutions. But I did want to greet 2024 in style. It’s how I roll when I want to see big changes. The last time I went this hard for a new year was…
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My Top 5 Tips to Optimize Your Writing Process
Every writer wants to know new ways to help them write more, better, or more often. I’ll let you in on my own routine for kicks and giggles, but remember it always comes down to what works for you. It’s really a matter of trial and error. So what works for me might leave you stymied, and what works for you might end in me scrolling Pinterest instead of typing words.So without further ado… My Top Writing Process Tips: Routine and Habitat 1. Make playlists. If you’re like me, music can be a double-edged sword: rife with inspiration, but a sucker for your attention if you’re not careful. Some writers…
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An Argument for Cross-Genre Fiction
There’s no denying that categorization can be useful. It can help us find what we want. But I have to be honest: I hate book genres. In some ways, I can appreciate knowing what to expect in the form of parameters. If you know you love romance and require a happy ending, you know where to look. If your favorite thing is clever world-building, sci-fi is probably your friend. Trust me, it’s a lot easier than searching the whole bookstore for something you’ll like. (Take it from somebody who generally ends up doing just that.) But no matter how you cut it, I’ve got beef with genres in general, and…
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What does it cost to self-publish?
Plenty of variables will impact your bottom line, but I’m going to give you a quick run-down of the basics you’ll need to budget in order to self-publish your book. These are what I consider the absolute non-negotiables. Once you start marketing your book, you’ll be looking at other expenses, including buying ads and whatever other methods you choose, but this list will get you to where your book is available for purchase. Once I’ve done more marketing of my own, I may add those expenses to this list or write another just for marketing. Professional editing – Expect to pay at least $1,000 and then make sure you have…
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Why You Should Write That Thing
The only thing writers are better at doing than writing is making excuses. (Admit it! You know it’s true.) And one of our favorite things to excuse ourselves for is, ironically, not writing. Now, if you’re a writer, this is not news to you. Probably you’re reading this article about why you should Write That Thing so that you don’t have to actually open the document and write it. I see you. (And I’m here preaching to you instead of hashing out my latest novel. So we’re even.) But I’m not here to talk about procrastination. I’m talking about stifling a story. I don’t know how inspiration comes to other…
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The Big Question: Why Self Publish?
What do you think when you hear the words “self publishing”? It’s okay, you can be honest here, if only with yourself. If you’re like many people, your first thought might have been, “Were they not good enough to get published traditionally?” Like it or not, self publishing has had quite a stigma attached, and while its image is improving, there are still negative connotations to fight through, not to mention a major lack of knowledge on the subject. That’s why I thought I would take a few minutes to talk about what led me to the decision to self publish and let you in on the questions I asked…
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The Writer’s Toolkit: 5 Ways to Bait Your Muse
Typewriters, laptops, and notebooks all have two things in common: they serve writers and they can smell fear. You’re trucking along, writing like a pro, and then chapter six rolls around and suddenly you have the urge to clean the apartment from top to bottom. In fact, every little task you’ve been ignoring suddenly seems like a great idea because for some reason, you’ve lost the ability to put one word after another. This quasi-productivity is accompanied by feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt, and internal stagnation. You’re afraid to even say those fated words, “writer’s block,” because they feel like a life sentence. Honey, have a tissue. We’ve all been there.…