So I’m working on this short story I started for some Glimmer Train contest or other. But it grew like a weed all unwieldy, and now it’s burst through its word count limit and its deadline. And I wish that was this story’s biggest problem. Its biggest problem is that I’m still struggling to balance ye old show versus […]
Writing Process
How to Trust Your Writing: 3 Helpful Tips from 3 Renowned Novelists
You’ve heard this one before, I bet. Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. -E.L. Doctorow But if this quote from E.L. Doctorow on writing is new to you, you can probably already tell why it’s […]
How to Write More with Less Stress: The No-Gimmick Productivity Tool for Writers That Actually Works
In which I repent my foolish ways and embrace the dark side (where writing is stupid easy). I thought it was a gimmick. The way I think most productivity tools are gimmicks. So I ignored everyone who said it was great. I wish I’d tried it sooner. Enter the Pomodoro Technique. The oh-so-simple way to […]
How Writing To a Daily Word Count Can Sabotage Your Success + 7 Reasons To Try This Writing Goal Tracker Instead
She made me feel like an idiot. It wasn’t her fault, this blogger. But when she mentioned in a post that she’d written only a “measly 2.8k words today” I felt about two feet tall. Mostly because 2.8k words would be a solid writing day for me. And most of the time I don’t write […]
17 Signs Perfectionism Is Killing Your Writing Dreams
It would be funny if it didn’t hurt so much. You strive for that perfect story or the perfectly realized character. You exhaust yourself studying plot techniques and character development. But when the time comes to write, you freeze. Why? Because the writing didn’t live up to your expectations. You know it isn’t quite there yet. And you think […]