Janet Eriksson

November 24, 2025January 13, 2026

Savor the Moment: Thanksgiving Encouragement for Every Writer

Thanksgiving can feel like a busy season. Whether you are going to a family or friend gathering or hanging out in the town square, it may feel like you’re watching a river of people rush by. As writers, we are often curious about observing people, listening to dialogue, paying attention to the setting. Those are all good writing practices, and you can certainly pick up a lot of inspiration.

But this season, try something a little different. Be fully present. Don’t worry about taking notes or trying to notice things. Just live the experience. Feel the inspiration. Don’t try to figure out how to capture it in words. Just be.

November 17, 2025November 16, 2025

Writing Prompt: Thankfulness

It’s that time of year when we’re reminded of things we are thankful for. Thankfulness lasts all year long and is a wonderful habit to cultivate. But the beauty of Thanksgiving is that thankfulness sits in front of us. That makes thankfulness a great writing prompt for this season.

November 10, 2025November 6, 2025

When Progress Isn’t Planned

I had 25 minutes before heading to a meeting. I wanted to brainstorm a few ideas for my writing project. My goal wasn’t to finish anything or even to start. Just to jot down a few thoughts, to jumpstart my next writing session.

As I started making notes, one idea led to another. By the time 25 minutes had passed, two whole sections were outlined in detail. I was reminded that we can make great progress when we don’t pressure ourselves to make any progress.

November 3, 2025October 29, 2025

Gathering Stories Like a Thanksgiving Table

Picture a Thanksgiving table—a beautiful blend of colorful dishes, familiar recipes, appetizing aromas. Each dish adds to the beauty of the table and offers a variety of ways to enjoy the meal.

Writing a book creates a similar experience. As the writer, you bring a variety of stories, examples, dialogue, explanations, and memories to your book. That richness creates a wonderful feast for your reader to enjoy.

October 27, 2025October 25, 2025

Writing on Busy or Low-Energy Days

You may have had this experience. You’re making steady progress on your writing project. Something happens, whether it’s family, work, tiredness, illness, or something else that causes you to skip a day. That’s okay. It happens.

You’re eager to get back to writing after the missed day. But then something else happens, and before you know it, two weeks have gone by. You have time again, but now it’s hard to start back. You feel like you’ve lost momentum. How do you get it back?

October 20, 2025October 18, 2025

Telling Family Stories without the Perfect Photos

One of the challenges when writing a family history or life story is the missing photos. We write about a big moment and realize we don’t have the photos to show our readers. Maybe when the event happened, we didn’t get pictures because we were fully present in the moment. Or maybe we had photos that disappeared over the years. The good news is your story will still shine even without the original photos.

October 13, 2025October 12, 2025

Write with All Five Senses

An awesome way to keep your readers engaged is to write with all five senses. Autumn is a wonderful time of year to practice. The colorful, crunchy leaves and spicy aromas of fall are sure to prompt you to write with all your senses.

October 6, 2025October 6, 2025

Cozy, Creative Autumn Writing Time

Autumn is a wonderful time to focus on your writing project. Carve out some time for creative brainstorming or writing—a little time goes a long way, especially if you stay consistent. Think of it like a series of mini autumn retreats for working on your project—even if your retreat takes place over several 15-minute sessions throughout the coming weeks.

September 29, 2025September 29, 2025

Messy Beats the Blank Screen

Writers often struggle when facing a blank screen. How should they begin writing? What are the right opening words? How should they tell a story?

The blank screen seems like a roadblock. How do you get around it or move through it?

There is one simple way that works every time: Write messy.

September 22, 2025September 15, 2025

Try a Photo Writing Prompt

Whether you’ve started writing a book or are preparing to start soon, you might find writing prompts a helpful exercise. You can do journal prompts, where you write in response to a phrase. You can do memory prompts, where you describe a particular memory. You can also write in response to a photo prompt, which is what we will try this week.