If your current writing project includes a family history or stories from your life, you might feel overwhelmed sometimes. It may feel like you have so many stories to share and so little time to write. Here’s something that may help: Give yourself permission just to tell the story.
Continue reading “Just Tell the Story”Writing Prompt: The Beauty of Fall
Fall is a beautiful time of year. Leaves in various colors. A harvest cornucopia. Mist in the air. Pumpkins everywhere.
You could say fall is a writer’s dream. It’s a season you experience with all five senses. Beautiful descriptions just wait to be penned.
Our writing prompt this month is simply to describe the beauty and fun of the fall season.
Continue reading “Writing Prompt: The Beauty of Fall”Enjoy Fall Writing Moments
Fall is a beautiful, atmospheric time of year. Fall leaves in hues of red, yellow, orange. The aroma and taste of pumpkin spice. A crisp morning breeze and the warmth of a cozy sweater. It’s a season that makes us want to slow down and savor.
It’s also one of the busiest seasons of the year. So many activities. Places to go, things to do. Rushing around, trying to get it all in. If you’re working on a writing project, you may wonder how you can possibly find time to write, let alone slow down to enjoy the season.
Fall is an opportunity to make those two goals work together. What if you can carve out a few moments, here and there, to enjoy the fall atmosphere and keep your writing project going at the same time?
Continue reading “Enjoy Fall Writing Moments”Start Your Story with a List
As writers, it’s common for us to come up with an idea for the story or chapter we want to write. But then writer’s block sets in, and we’re not sure how to get those ideas on paper. That’s where a list can really help.
Continue reading “Start Your Story with a List”Keeping Your Writing in Front of You
When you’re working on a big writing project, like a book, sometimes it’s hard to find time to write. Days are busy, weeks roll by, and pages sit unwritten.
This happens to all of us in one season or another. It can feel discouraging because you want to keep that project moving forward.
But there is a way to keep your writing project in front of you, even on busy days. Just make a commitment to think about your writing project once a day. That’s right: no writing, just thinking.
Continue reading “Keeping Your Writing in Front of You”What Wisdom Would You Share?
Writing a book can feel like a big endeavor. It seems overwhelming. What do I write about? What stories do I tell? Where do I start?
A simpler way to start might be this: Sharing wisdom.
Continue reading “What Wisdom Would You Share?”Writing Prompt: The Places that Shape Us
Throughout our lives, certain places have a lasting impact on us. In some way, those places shape us. At the time, we don’t always realize the role a place has played in our life.
Some places influence how we see the world. Other places shape how we see ourselves. A place might help us grow in confidence. It might underscore our beliefs. A place might even change how we see ourselves.
It’s often easier to recognize the impact of a particular place in later years. Hindsight shows us the ways that place influenced our life. Our writing prompt this month is an invitation to reflect on place that shaped or even changed you in some way.
Continue reading “Writing Prompt: The Places that Shape Us”Treat Your Writing Project Like a Spa, Not Boot Camp
The fall season is approaching. Cooler mornings, cozy sweaters, pumpkin spice tea, settling into a routine.
As writers, it’s easy to miss the beautiful atmosphere and push ourselves on our project: I have to get this section done. I really want to knock out one more chapter. I need to push my daily word count higher.
That sounds more like boot camp than a cozy fall morning.
What if you treat your writing project like a soothing spa visit instead?
Continue reading “Treat Your Writing Project Like a Spa, Not Boot Camp”Writing a Book? Beta Readers Can Help
As you write your book manuscript, you might wonder how readers will respond. Will they understand this section? Will they like that example? Will they find the book helpful? That’s where beta readers can be a big help.
Continue reading “Writing a Book? Beta Readers Can Help”When Every Sentence Sounds the Same: A Simple Self-Editing Tip
Have you ever read a section of your manuscript, only to realize clusters of sentences sound the same?
“I remember this. I remember that. I remember those. I remember these.”
It’s what I call the singsong pattern, where the same structure and even the same wording repeats itself.
That’s a perfectly normal way to write a first draft, and it’s okay. That’s what first drafts are for. You’re trying to get your creative thoughts and memories on paper without editing as you go along. I encourage that!
But after you finish your first draft, when it’s time to read through and self-edit, you might notice that singsong pattern in certain paragraphs. That’s where self-editing helps to break up the rhythm.
Continue reading “When Every Sentence Sounds the Same: A Simple Self-Editing Tip”
