(1 min read.) I’m not writing today. This blog post was written and scheduled days ago. Today, I’m with my loved ones and I’m eating snacks and taking naps. My projects are languishing on a hard drive, no new words are getting written, and nothing… Read More »I’m not writing.
(1 min read) These are simple ideas but I love to repeat them. To myself. Because sometimes I forget. When my focus drifts, I bring it back here. These are a North Star that takes me back to my page. 1) Tell the truth. You… Read More »Three quick fundamentals to write more and write better.
(4 min read.) Here’s my honest mantra for writer’s block. It’s factual, helpful, and based in neuroscience. I’m a trained deep work facilitator and award-winning author who writes a million words a year. Borrow this. Your Mantra for Writer’s Block Your mantra for writer’s block… Read More »Need a Mantra for Writer’s Block? (My Actual Solution)
(5 min read) If you’re a perfectionist writer, I want to tell you right now that it doesn’t have to f*ckin’ matter. You can keep all your perfectionist tendencies and still be productive, make work that’s beloved, and (like me) even have a professional writing… Read More »Practical Tips for the Perfectionist Writer (I really live this way.)
(2 min read.) Like many of the writing techniques here on my blog, this oddball creative writing tip is backed by science. For better creative performance, you can leverage the phenomenon of “enclothed cognition.” If you want to write better or differently, try changing how… Read More »Oddball Writing Tip (Backed by Science): Change your Clothes
(5 min read.) Writing a first draft is a thrill. I’ve written thousands of first drafts in my 20+ year career as a creative writer. Some were easy, some were hard. I’ve learned STUFF. I hope my sweat and mistakes can save you some time.… Read More »Writing a First Draft: How to Do It, Y’all (5 Tips & What to Avoid)
(2 min read.) You don’t have to write every day. I promise this is better. It helped me build a writing habit without burnout, and now I write a million words a year. Plus, I always have a “just tough enough” level of challenge. This… Read More »How to Build a Writing Habit Without Burnout (My “Four Easy” Rule)
(3 min read.) You can use this set of guided journaling prompts for creative writers as a writing warm-up, or as a standalone exercise if you’re feeling blocked or stuck and need some fresh energy and vision. If you want to ask personal questions, you… Read More »Guided Journaling for Writers: 21-min Exercise with Writing Prompts
(5 min read.) Unfinished draft? Half-finished draft? Abandoned draft of a writing project that has been untouched for so long that it’s covered in moss and lichen? “Work in progress” where there hasn’t been any f*ckin’ progress in… a while? Writer, it happens. Unfinished writing… Read More »5 Writing Tips to Restart an Unfinished Draft: How to Finish a Half-Finished or Abandoned “Work-in-Progress” (WIP)
(5 min read.) This is the truth about how I write, plus something at the end that might help you write, too. “What’s your creative process like? What’s your creative writing process?” The creative writing process is not the same for everyone, but we can… Read More »How I Write (Oops, my actual creative writing process.)
(2 mins) Don’t give up. If you’re writing and you don’t love what’s on the page, don’t give up. (If you feel like you might, read this writing pep talk instead.) Keep going until you love what you’ve made. Writing is a process. Sometimes it… Read More »don’t give up (writing pep talk)
one-minute poem (quick writing prompt) (4 min read) I’ll take a few minutes to explain this quick writing prompt, but it takes less than a minute to do. The speed and precision make this a fast warmup for a group (a favorite icebreaker for classes… Read More »one-minute poem (quick writing prompt)