Transform your writing life.
…The Weird Get Going How’s your writing project going? Do you have one? It’s been a weird time for me lately, what with my mom being diagnosed with dementia (that explains a few things!), my income gradually crawling up from its summer dip in the cold lake of WTF, and a stream of daily small complications …
A theory, with a case study (n=1) Here’s a silly situation! I started A Writer’s Roadmap (AWR) in 2019 as a subtitle for what I pictured as a few nonfiction e-books in the how-to genre, specifically how to write and publish a book. I obtained the URL and made a website for it with no real …
I’m sitting in what feels like the dark (my office / flexspace, which is in fact a large closet), still riding a bit of a high from the International 3-Day Novel contest (3DN for short), which ran over the Labour Day weekend. Everyone I know who’s tried the 3DN either does it once and goes, “not …
I’m not a big fan of artists who complain about parenthood as an obstacle to creating. In a 2009 essay in Poetry magazine entitled “As if Nature Talked Back to Me,” poet Ange Mlinko writes: “…the plethora of conferences and grants and brief residencies by which cvs—and social networks, and reputations—are built, are no less restrictive to the poet-mother who …
The Summer Olympics are on TV! And they’re happening in real life, too, OF COURSE…over in Europe, over in Paris, over where baguettes grow on trees et le fromage, c’est magnifique. I was going to write a bracing postcard about how Olympic athletes get their stuff done. Ability + decision + dedication + support in …
The road leading to a goal does not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it. —Roman Saying, quoted in Charles de Lint, Dreams Underfoot, 1993 Yesterday I met a goal six months in the making–my podcast buddy James Buchanan and I “soft launched” Gifted Underachievers, a podcast for midlevel creatives with delusional ambitions. We “gentle launched” …
…And Why You’d Want To Maybe I should qualify that: How to fake your own death if you’re stifled / frustrated / stuck in your creative life. Here’s a four-stage process I recommend: 1. Before the how, consider the why 2. Rate your days, alien-style 3. Analyze & prioritize 4. Remove & replace Stage 1: Before …
Quote attributed to either John F Kennedy (1917-1963) or Gail Devers (1966-). In the last Postcard I was all over the idea of having a creative ecosystem for yourself, so you can make the thing you want to make. Brace yourself for some possibly weird suggestions on how to set one up! Personally, I used to …
Who do you hang out with, and how do you feel afterward? This is a question I’ve been asking myself after I read a quote attributed to the late great Nipsey Hussle: “If you look at the people in your circle and you don’t get inspired, you don’t have a circle. You have a cage.” The people …
Do you ever go through a phase where something you’re doing feels like it might be a mistake, and you genuinely don’t know if it is or it isn’t? Or even if you’re sure it’s not a mistake…for example, if it’s something you’re lucky to have the opportunity to do…have you ever gotten the feeling that you might be screwing up BIG-TIME? Like you’re driving …
I just found the rough draft of a piece I wrote a piece for a local writer’s magazine . It proposed 8 steps for writing a novel, to wit: #1: Start with Character Plot might seem to be the most important thing in a novel, but consider a plot like “Joe goes to the store for a loaf of …
Let’s blether about the ether. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Writing can be hard.You’re taking little black marks and making an experience for someone you don’t know. You can’t really see it objectively for a long time. In fact you can’t see it, period, for most of its creation. Knitters have wool, sculptors have clay …
Now that we are one-twelfth of the way through 2024 and all the shenanigans about New Year Resolutions is over, it’s time to talk about how to create something you love and send it out into the world. Forty-plus years ago, the band DEVO made an album that took them from near-obscurity to the top of the music charts. In …
I had a writing teacher named Benjamin Percy who, according to Wikipedia, is “an American author of novels and short stories, essayist, comic book writer, and screenwriter.” I am old enough to have been Ben’s babysitter. By that, I mean I was sixteen when he was born. I met him when I was forty-six and he was thirty. …
My friend Doug, whom I met in a writing class about eighteen years ago, asked, “How long can you put aside a story and still return to it, legitimately? 10 20 30 years? When to burn shit?” A brilliant musician and writer, Doug is a very creative guy. Probably quite prolific. I don’t know how many stories he’s got …
Guess what the writer’s #1 roadblock is! It isn’t lack of time. That might be on the list, but it’s not #1. It ain’t lack of resources. Lots of people have written books despite lacking external resources. It’s not lack of money. Money can buy you time, coaches, and feedback, but it can’t help you actually write the book. …
I’m supposed to go somewhere tonight (by “supposed to” I mean I said I would). This morning I diagnosed myself with intercostal muscle strain, which came on suddenly during a weightlifting workout 11 days ago and sent me to emergency with what I (and the ambulance crew! I’m not a hypochondriac!) thought might be heart attack. Even 11 …
Sometimes the fridge in my new domicile oozes water. This fridge is gigantic, I’m not sure how old it is, and I don’t know why it cries in the night. I’m torn between investigating it and replacing it. Both would take time and money. When you’re faced with something that you have to deal with, whether it’s a grieving …
How much time alone are you getting to write? Do you feel sated with solitude? If not, you might be ready to pull your own head off your body and stuff it in a suitcase. I usually avoid blanket statements, but here’s one I believe in: Writers need solitude. So if you didn’t get enough this …
Summer can be a strange time for writing. If you work full time at a desk job or on a screen, the last thing you want is to spend more time at the desk when the flowers are in full bloom, the sun’s beating down, and the fruit is getting ripe. I’m just about finished teaching a …
If you haven’t read the introduction to this series of articles, consider checking it out here. Step 1 is to think about why you are considering hiring an editor now. It begins with a look at why and when other writers work with freelance editors, discusses other options, and introduces some things to consider before …
Thousands of freelancers offer book editing services. This is mostly a good thing, right? After all, many thousands of writers, both traditionally and self-published, rely on professional editing as part of their book’s journey to successful publication. But how does a writer choose which editor to work with on their book? As a writer and …
Writers often have a bunch of tabs open on their internet browsers. Sometimes we go incognito, because we look up some weird, weird stuff. Crime and mystery writers might look up police procedures, stages of putrefaction, how to kill someone, types of poison…but not just that. Car models, flowering shrubs in a particular part of …
My friend X has been trying to write a book for about 8 years now. Not because she WANTS to, but because she knows it will increase the visibility and credibility of her business–she trains people to get comfortable with public speaking in all environments, from business presentations to TED talks. For X, the book …
Here’s a handy quiz to help you figure that out. First, allow me to set the scene (fiction-writing joke). How books get into readers’ hands In a perfect world, our books would spring fully formed from our minds into the bookstores and online emporiums. In the actual world, our books spring in dribbles or fountains …
What are silent writing groups? These are groups that meet online or in person. They start and end at pre-established times. Participants are expected to write in silence for the allotted time. Group size varies, depending on the time and location. Are they really silent? Yes, for the writing portion of the meeting. There will …
Thursday Postcard The Case of George Saunders You might have heard of American writer George Saunders, author of Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the 2017 Booker Prize. Saunders writes a lot of short stories and has published several collections. He’s won a whole bunch of awards for the short fiction as well. His stories are both moving …
Thursday Postcard A Trunk Full of Words Fernando Pessoa was born in Lisbon in 1888. From the outside, his life might have seemed unsuccessful, even small. He worked as a translator, lived alone, and died of hepatitis in 1935. But Pessoa wasn’t alone in his solitude. He invented fictional alter egos he called ‘heteronyms,’ and together they wrote, …
Thursday Postcard The desk contest is over! Sincere thanks to all who entered. As our judges review the entries and tabulate the results (kidding–it’s me!) I bring you one of the entries, with kind permission of its resident writer. This nest is home to the creative labor of JC Keough, creator of the Laramie Harper Chronicles …
Thursday Postcard I’m reading a book by Gretchen Rubin called Outer Order, Inner Calm. I’m finding it hard to read this particular book, mostly because I keep rolling my eyes. It’s like getting advice on quitting alcohol from someone who’s never had a drink. Rubin’s modus operandi is systematic. She’s organized. Every action is considered. A case in point Here’s a …
“The more we learn that each moment has its own intrinsic value, the easier it is for us to let ourselves just be in each moment, however it is manifesting. Then we recognize that where we are is where we are supposed to be.” A.H. Almaas Once when my daughter was worried about being called …
“It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing their imperfections.” Daisaku Ikeda I’d extend this to include ourselves. And that brings us to … Principle #5: Focus on strengths and resources rather than weaknesses and deficits This principle is a game-changer, because it balances you …
Thursday Postcard Remembering Dad Every year as it drew to a close, my dad would invent a motto for the next year. “We’re gonna thrive in ’95!” The mottos made me laugh, and they captured a truth about life that I’m getting more convinced about, which is that you often get what you deep-down expect. …
“True life is lived when tiny changes occur.” Leo Tolstoy Principle #4: Change is Happening All the Time The first time I experienced the idea that change happens all the time was on day 40 of a 40-day meditative process. The guy whose book led me through the process, Michael Brown, had written that I …
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein Principle #3: The Solution and the Problem Are Not Necessarily Related This principle suggests that no solution can be ruled out for any writing problem until the problem can be identified. Let’s say the problem is that you …
“In general, minimally invasive surgery is associated with less pain, a shorter hospital stay and fewer complications.” Mayo Clinic Principle #2: The Simplest and Least Invasive Approach is Frequently the Best Wouldn’t it be great if we could just…write a book. Spray the thoughts or narrative directly from frontal cortex to page or screen and have …
NaNoWriMo bites back! Thursday Postcard Every time I engage with the writing event known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), it goes sideways pretty much immediately. For those who’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo, it’s a massive undertaking by thousands of people who get together online in various ways and attempt to write a novel in the …
“There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” W Somerset Maugham I hope the above quote from Somerset Maugham, who wrote tons of books, has broken the ice and revealed that any article about “6 key principles” should be viewed with suspicion. However. From years of writing books …
Self-publishing is exploding! One bazillion books are being self-published every day! Indie publishers are raking it in! Kidding about the last one. To answer the question above, I must ask YOU a few questions. 1. What’s your goal? Early on, your goal might just be to write the book. But at some point the publishing …
Thursday Postcard I’m in a new writing group. Well, new to me. I was in my previous group for 14 or so years, up until 2019, and it was fantastic. We met in person–at first weekly, then biweekly–and became excellent writing friends to each other. Nothing beats access to writers who want to read your …
Binge writing, that is. Especially for a first draft, or for tricky sections where the ideas are slippery, and the only way to grasp them is to write like a demon until your subconscious is persuaded to loosen its grip on your deepest stuff. “Though proportion is the final secret, to espouse it at the …
Thursday Postcard You can’t make time…can you? *** I’m back in the office after a month away. It was the first vacation in ten years where I haven’t brought work. The break revealed that, in keeping with the spirit of A Writer’s Roadmap, mistakes have been made over the last ten years. This one was …
Thursday Postcard Writers don’t need much…or do they? A pen, some paper…a computer…power…coffee… Shouldn’t writers be able to work anywhere, at any time? In theory, yes. But Mason Currey’s entertaining book Daily Rituals: How Artists Work shows the sheer variety of things writers have relied on to get going. Pipes, cigarettes, nudity, a special bathrobe, apples, sex, …
If you’re anything like me, you like to “learn by doing.” I’m a big reader, but I’m not big on technical manuals or marketing guides. So when I want to do something like create an online writing course, my tendency is to dive right in and assume that I will figure it out as I …
Thursday Postcard July 7, 2023 A: That’s Your Business! Sometimes at parties or on the phone, I talk with people who want to write a book but haven’t started yet. I’m not coaching them or working with them. They’re just people who learn I’m a book editor and a writer, and want to talk about …
Thursday Postcard June 23, 2022 Who in this photo is writing? Nobody, because it’s summertime. If you have a family or friends, or just enjoy being outside, summer can be a hard time to write. This postcard is brought to you by my writing body, which sits for long periods and would sometimes rather be …
What a paradox: the freedom created by restrictions! When I teach fiction, I will do a five-minute timed writing early in the class to get everyone sweating and full of joie de vivre. Shit’s getting real! Is it artificial pressure? Yes. Does it work? Yes. There’s a high in the room afterward and people are …
Thursday Postcard When I was a kid, a librarian drove a bus loaded with books to our neighborhood, which had no library. Every week, she parked the bus a couple of blocks down from our house. Built-in shelves lined the walls, and the librarian checked out our books with the steering wheel at her elbow. The …
John Cleese, who writes, acts and does comedy, says that creativity is not an ability or a talent. It is unrelated to IQ. It is simply an ability to play. It all starts with spending time in what he calls ‘open’ mode, where you enjoy curiosity for its own sake. It’s humor-inclined and playful, with …
Thursday Postcard May 12, 2022 “The writer’s path lies, always, on the road of feeling.” Stephen Harrod BuhnerEnsouling Language: On the Art of Nonfiction and the Writer’s Life Everyone has a body made up of cells, organs, bones, vascular and neural systems, et cetera (my medical training was cut short in kindergarten, so that’s all …