An online writers’ group I belong to recently had a discussion about saying no — how to do it, how to mean it, how to deal with people who try to negotiate after you’ve already said no, and so on. That got me thinking about the other side of the coin — when people say no…
Tag: The Writing Craft
No such thing as failure?
A theme I hear a lot from writers (not necessarily my clients, but colleagues and acquaintances) is something along the lines of “I need to be published” and “I have to sell this project.” A little poking (gently done) reveals that these writers think if this project doesn’t sell or they’re not published this year, they will be…
How to get feedback
In my inbox: The feedback I have received over the last couple of years from publishers is the following: Your book needs some editing but not much so just send us between $6000.00 and $20,000.00 to do a full edit of your book and begin publishing, marketing and printing. What I am looking for is someone…
Yes, you can
The other day, Jessica came home from school with exciting news. “Someone is going to win a prize for their essay!” she told me, beyond thrilled. I looked at her big smile, her shining brown eyes, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. Someone was going to win a prize, and it might even…
“Inspiration is for amateurs.”
Or so says the artist Chuck Close. And even though I spent half the morning staring out the coffee shop window, hoping the divine spark would fall out of the sky and land on my head so that I could figure out how to write the scene I’m working on in my newest novel, I absolutely agree with…
Perfect practice
Writers are often encouraged to get in the habit of writing every day, whether it’s a journal entry, a blog post, a response to a random writing prompt — or actual work on a work-in-progress. The idea behind this is that by getting into a habit, you’ll accomplish something: you’ll become a better writer, you’ll…