It's time to say goodbye to a project that I truly enjoyed doing...until I ...

I'm ready to start writing for an audience again (aka YOU) after taking exactly ...

This afternoon my 20-something son Facetimed me. We talk on the phone and text ...

If you're writing a book, at some point, you'll need to research, whether it's ...

When we think of writing a book, we often think of the final product ...

One of the greatest surprises of my mid-life existence is that I've discovered that ...

Whether you're deep into drafting your ninth book or your starting on your first, ...

Every writing teacher or coach ever has had a student ask this question, "Does ...

Writing a book is hard work. It's an investment of time, money, and creative ...

Book coaching involves an investment of time, money, and even emotions and personal growth, ...

Ever felt like you wanted to write, you really really did, but it just felt hard? ...

I'm writing this post because I am over all the BS you read online ...

A Compatibility call is an initial zoom call that I hold with people who ...

I'm sharing this book coaching journey for several reasons: Owning what we're doing, naming ...

Last week while scrolling Instagram, a post popped up that declared, "Reminder that 'writing ...

I love to play in my garden. Every spring I head out around Mother's ...

My eyeballs hurt, a deep ache after finishing the micro-edit on The Fiddler's Son. ...

Dr. Brandolyn Thran is a brilliant woman with a PhD in molecular biology, but ...

I’ve been thinking about this question because as a writing and book coach who ...

A few years ago, my sister sent me a link to a blog on ...

You can listen to this post as a podcast episode here. Lower your writing ...

[originally published May 2015; updated Dec. 2021] This week, I was talking to some ...

Understanding the concept of "voice" in writing can be tough because voice itself can ...

I wanted to share something that I've shared with my students in classes and ...

We live in an Amazon Prime, Netflix, fast food, "I want it NOW" kinda ...

One of my dear friends, who's also a book client & official "thinking partner," ...

Starting a writing session is often the hardest part, the part that takes the ...

Starting a new story or novel is one of the most exciting parts of ...

Guest post by Nicholas Rubright: Writer's block is a common ailment among writers and ...

[originally published 11/2014; updated 5/2021] Starting a new project is often the most exciting ...

If you're a writer you've probably heard the phrase "show don't tell" or add ...

20 Writing Strategies Aspiring Authors can Use to Plan, Write, and Finish their First ...

You've probably heard of "writer's block." It's a common "thing" in the writer's world.  ...

Let's talk about your audience and WHO you create for. I had a big ...

How are you doin' out there? Me? In all honestly, it's been a little ...

Did you know that when it comes to our artistic work there are no ...

Do you watch HGTV? I love the house renovation shows, and they all start ...

How do we come up not only with ideas, but how do we come ...

Years and years ago I wrote a blog post about table runners. I'd been making ...

This week in a writing circle, one of the topics we were discussing was ...

I've spent much of my career teaching writing, whether it was in a formal ...

Here's an encouraging video with Ira Glass' wisdom to keep going on your creative ...

Let's start this post with an easy question since your brain may be quaran-tired. ...

There is not only an epidemic/pandemic of virus out there. There's an epidemic of ...

I got together with some of my biz besties yesterday. We were talking about ...

[Originally posted April 2013; updated Jan. 2020] Before we dive into creative blocks, I ...

November is the month of gratitude in the US. We are to live this ...

Unfortunately in our world, full-grown adults still require permission to en-JOY life or to ...

Last weekend, I BLEW it.  I had the opportunity to travel to Taos, New ...

A few weeks ago, I wrote about letting joy lead after reading the memoir ...

Here's a "funny" for you..."What did the 0 say to the 8?" Read this ...

July has been a month full of adventures, growth, and self-discovery. The first weekend ...

This spring, I started on my newest novel…and have made very little progress. My ...

This happy 4th of July, when we left for a visit to see our ...

This whole idea about NEVER totally finishing my to-do list was an epiphany I ...

Let me start this post by saying that a TA DA list is NOT ...

Starting something new can be terrifying, especially for those of us with, um, some ...

I was listening to one of my fav podcasts this week and the host ...

Have you ever taken yourself on a date, to enjoy your own company, unwind, ...

Focusing on playing and having more fun for the past 40 days has been ...

This is a BIG one for me and it's a habit I have that ...

Last year on my 48th birthday, I went for a run, came home, said ...

Oh, I've been missing you, blog. I started this blog in March of 2011, ...

This past spring, I went to two education conferences where speakers discussed the neuroscience ...

Dialogue is one of the most fun parts of a story to write. We ...

I've been hard at work on my latest novel and am enjoying getting the ...

Every now and again on this blog, I feel pulled to venture into inspirational ...

The book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is a fascinating look at how ...

'Tis the holiday season and many of us wish for the latest in technology: ...

The past few months have been some of the most difficult of my life. ...

I haven't posted on this blog in several weeks because, as some of you ...

I'm not sure why it is that teen writers love the semi-colon, but they ...

There's a myth to long lazy summer days. Because I teach, the school year ...

Great descriptive writing combines all of the senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound. ...

School is all about rote memory, conformity, and following the rules. But when we’re ...

Is a character arc a giant boat for characters that Noah built? Or perhaps ...

We all tend to have our favorite "go to" words that we like to ...

Writing a story, poem, or a novel is a major undertaking. It would be ...

Coming up with great "story worthy" ideas can be tough. In fact, it can ...

We all have tools to help us write: a computer, writing books, and a ...

Your heart races, your hands shake, you want to run, scream, hide! Glancing behind ...

They say that every story has been told. As writers, then, we must somehow ...

Next to your individual word choice, your sentence structure is the basic building block ...

As a writing teacher, I've spent a lot of time helping students improve. Because ...

Do you belong to a "writing group"? Or, if you don't have an "official" ...

It's finals week here which means that I've been reading essay after essay, marking ...

Can you hit your writing goals? This is that time of year when everyone ...

Why does spelling matter? If you spell correctly, readers take you seriously. If you ...

How many new pieces do you start in a year? Can you even answer ...

I’ve been to several writing conferences and read many books and articles on writing. ...

Writers often use writing prompts allow them to find a way in. "In?" you ...

Most every story has dialogue, so its important to punctuate it correctly. Readers expect ...

Passive vs. active voice is something that writers talk about often but what is ...

A wise user of the internet once said “Writing is a funny thing. At ...

We live in the "Information Age," and as writers, we can use this to ...

This was the question on a poll I ran. Most respondents said that you ...

I've been spending quite a bit of time this vacation relaxing, perusing the net, ...

I've been spending quite a bit of time this vacation relaxing, perusing the net, ...

You shared some of your writing with a friend or group. People read it, ...

Getting feedback on your writing is the (sometimes scary) process of sharing your writing ...

This is an interesting question, one that I have been pondering for several months ...

You’ve read a story on WTW. You may think its great or you might ...

When reading one another’s writing, high school students will almost always point out grammatical ...

I got back from Sedona yesterday, and my husband commented on the picture of ...

The idea that every story has already been told or every message has been ...

Last week I pulled out a bunch of fabric to start a new quilt.  ...

I had an interesting conversation with one of my students this past week.  He ...

I’m at the point in my story where I’m no longer glued to my ...

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately as I’ve spent the last two ...

As a lover of books, bookstores, color and design, I fell in love with ...

I’ve been suffering from writer's block, which is really just the feeling that everything ...

My mom started back to college in 1975, the same year that I started ...

I’ve read lots of books on writing over the years, but I’ve always read ...

Earlier this week while my students were working on their final projects, I asked ...

This is an interesting question, one that I have been pondering for several months.  ...

For the last six years or so of my life, I’ve known that I ...