Sitemap - 2022 - Your Weekly Writing Exercise

Setting New Year's Goals for Your Writing--Tips, Ideas, and Why It's Fun and Helpful

Rest Breaks and Nonproductive Periods--How They Benefit a Book

When to Give Up on a Book Project--and How to Tell

Story Cycles and Essay Collections--How to Think about Order, Flow, and Transitions

What's the Point? Why the Purpose of Each Part of Your Writing Feels So Important to Your Reader

Vision versus Will--Why Both Are So Needed to Create a Good Book

Must-Have's of First and Last Chapters

Writing Tough Material? Five Tools to Create a Stand-Out "Container"

My Favs--A Short List of My Go-To Resources for Craft Skills, Inspiration, and Writing Community

The Submission Game--How to Keep Playing It without Getting Gut Punched

Some Favorite Writing Newsletters--and Sites to Explore--to Boost Your Creativity

Three Aspects to Create Healing via Writing--and an Exercise to Try This Week

Writing the Cross-Genre Book--Some Tips on How to Successfully Straddle Genres

Writing the Unsympathetic Narrator--So What If Your Readers Don't Like Them?

Your Narrator's False Belief--and How It Drives Your Story

The Art of Time in Your Book: Working More Consciously with Flashbacks, Backstory, and Pacing

Rockin' (or Jazzin' or Rappin') Out: Why a Playlist for Your Book Can Help You Write It

Am I Any Good? What to Do with That Question and How to Tell

The Pros and Cons of Workshopping Your Writing--How to Find the Best Feedback to Suit Your Writing Needs and Temperament

How to Discover and Develop Your Own Writing Voice--Your Uniqueness Manifest on the Page

The Famous "Fifty Moves"--The Blunt Instrument's Invaluable Resource for Fiction Writers

Writing Out the Sadness and Anger--How to Get Strong Emotions on the Page Authentically

Creating Your Life So You Can Create Better Writing

John Truby and the British Baking Show: Why Images Are More Powerful Than Words

Expansion/Contraction--Test the Pacing Strength of Your Writing

One of My Favorite Writing Exercises--and a Few Reasons to Try It This Week

Researching Your Characters--Why It's Important to Know as Much as You Can about Them

Reading Voraciously--Why It Matters to Writers

Using the Short Form to Get to the Long Form--Powerful Exercises to Boost Your Creativity This Week

Writing as a Way of Healing Ourselves--via the "Radical Power of Personal Narrative"

Writing Journals, Notebooks, and the "Commonplace Book" as Useful Tools for Book Writers

The Joys and Challenges of Accountability--Figuring Out What Keeps You Writing

Where Do You Dream of Publishing Your Book? And What It Might Take

Finding the Best Writing Class or Conference for Your Book Right Now

A New Take on Storyboards for Your Book

My Love Affair with Scrivener--Software for Both Sides of the Brain

Query Letters That Actually Worked to Catch an Agent or Publisher

Narrative Perspectives--Which Will Serve Your Story Best?

A System for Tracking the "Internals" in Your Fiction or Memoir

Making Your Characters Real Individuals, Making Them Stand Out

Do You Need Quiet or Noise to Do Your Best Writing?

Word Count Goals for the Three Acts of Your Novel, Memoir, or Nonfiction Book

Working with Internal Monologue--When Narrators Think, Remember, or Talk with Themselves on the Page

What's Your Comfort Zone about Promoting Your Book? Thoughts on the Tricky Line We Authors Walk

Getting Your Work Out--How to Choose Your Best Avenue for the Time, Money, and Effort

Tricks to Keep Your Writing Hot Even When, Baby, It's COLD Outside