I have a friend who has enjoyed a long successful career as a published novelist. More than once we took part in the same panel at a writer’s conference. Whenever it came time to field questions from the audience I came to expect — actually anticipate — that some bright-eyed, eager novice would direct a [...]

I rarely suffer from what writer’s complain about the most and that is: writer’s block. Oh, sure, if I must write on a subject that I am not familiar with, then a certain amount of trepidation and the occasional blankness will set in. Still, if I accept a project I do so believing that I [...]

One of the biggest misconceptions about getting a book published is that the publishing company will take care of the marketing. Generally speaking, that’s not true. There are basically three different ways to get your book published. You can self-publish your own book. You can use a small independent publisher or if you’re an established [...]

1. Don’t set yourself a writing routine or stick to it.
2. Always make sure that doing your writing is at the bottom of your list of priorities, and even when you are writing, if something else you have to do that day springs to mind, then go and do that instead.
3. If [...]

In an editorial several years ago, I described a tree house in the backyard of a local restaurant. I wrote, “The entire structure has been pieced together from recycled lumber, much of which still bears the paint, logos or posters of the original walls from whence it came. The generous platform is ringed by a [...]

Many struggling writers come to me asking what they can do to improve their writing. They continually face problems with sentence and paragraph structure as well as surface errors such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation. They know the basic rules of English and can often be very effective helping other writers revise their work but [...]

One of the most powerful tools in my creative arsenal is what I call unconscious creativity.
No, I do not ask someone to brain me with a hammer and I don’t even need to be actually unconscious. This is when I simply allow my unconscious to do all the heavy lifting for me creatively. It is [...]

Are you a freelance writer or interested in freelance writing? Then you should consider starting a blog to publish your writing. While it is difficult for many freelance writers to think about publishing their writing for free, consider the three different methods you can utilize to profit from with a blog.
First, you can simply focus [...]

There are basically three options for getting your book published. You can try to get your book proposal accepted by one of the industry giants like Penguin or Random House but that’s a tough road. Those companies only work with proven authors or those who already have huge platforms and salivating audiences. [...]