This two-part post discusses the two phases of book building.  If you missed part 1, just scroll down. How do you know you are in th...

Writers who have published books know that there are two phases in the book-writing journey. They cycle back and forth during the time y...

Michelle from New Zealand watched my video  on story structure and sent some questions about how to begin a story.   Although Michelle ...

A novel in a month?  A memoir in six?  I never believed those promises, tooted by many writing books.  Not until I came across the conce...

Simone de Beauvoir once wrote, "Every time I start on a new book, I am a beginner again. I doubt myself, I grow discouraged...

Poems, articles, columns, and short stories are all creative commitments, to be sure, but even if they linger unfinished for a while, they ...

Some writers think writing a book is just this:  sit down, write, and hope for the best.  Goals are a waste of time, because in a purely ...

Winter can be a bluesy or beneficial time for writers--depends how much you enjoy holing up with your words and ideas.  Sometimes it help...

One of my workshop students with her image board. Flummoxed by the main character in my novel-in-progress, I got the idea to browse in...

Writing is unexpected therapy--more and more studies are finding this true.  We get healthier the more we write.   How can that happe...