Fostering Gratitude for Your Writing in Uncertain Times

Two of my private clients emailed me this week, saying they hated their books. I don't usually hear such strong statements, especially from experienced writers as these. But life, not just the books, had worn these two writers out. Family illness, the spread of covid, exhausting politics, and dread of winter combined with difficult revision tasks put them over the edge.

It wasn't that they really hated their books--I knew that, I'd read both manuscripts, and they were good ones.

Wordsmithing the Heck out of Your Revision--Ten Steps to Make It Shine

After the gathering stage, after the storyboarding and brainstorming your book's flow, after the first and tenth drafts are created, comes wordsmithing.

Wordsmithing is the final craft we book writers need to have in our toolbox. It's what makes the actual writing shine and sparkle.

Without the other steps, though, it's a wasted effort. I often think of it like putting curtains up on a framed house--window holes but no walls. The framing needs sheet rock, mudding and taping, sanding and painting, and glass in those windows, before the curtains go up.