As an oldest daughter who found herself in gifted programs, on the AP track, lauded for her essay writing skills without feeling like I was trying too hard, and told math just wasn’t my subject when I struggled a little more in those classes, imagine my surprise when I got to college and things gotContinue reading “What Do You Need to Learn in 2026?”
Category Archives: Growth Mindset
Is Something Holding You Back In Your Writing Career?
Give yourself permission to dream big this year! I have been holding back on something. I think it’s a big something. It’s no secret I am a woman of a certain age (the kind of age with a big 0 coming after it in January) and all the fun challenges that come with it. IContinue reading “Is Something Holding You Back In Your Writing Career?”
Is it Time to Hire a Book Coach?
If you’ve been following along in this space, hopefully you’ve found some tips to help with your writing project. You may even have purchased the Revision Road Map, the self-paced mini-course to help you triage and organize your revision. But what if you find yourself still struggling with your story? Something is not working, you justContinue reading “Is it Time to Hire a Book Coach?”
Stop Chasing Perfection in Your Writing Career
Stop chasing perfection in your writing career. Seriously. Perfection is elusive and subjective and f*ing impossible to grasp. I’m at my annual writer’s retreat with a couple of friends at the beach this week. The weather? Not perfect. We’ve been battling the wind every time we go for a walk, which we have to slotContinue reading “Stop Chasing Perfection in Your Writing Career”
When Receiving Feedback Be Curious, Not Judgmental
Receiving feedback is often just as hard as a rejection. We send off our work to a friend, critique partner, beta reader, editor, and while we do these things for the constructive feedback these readers can impart, there is a large part of ourselves hoping for a gold star. “I found nothing wrong, it’s perfect!Continue reading “When Receiving Feedback Be Curious, Not Judgmental”
The Question Most Writers Ask Me As a Book Coach
When I first chat with a prospective writer, I will ask a series of questions to get a feel for where they are in the process, what they hope to get out of the coaching relationship, and what experience they have with giving and receiving feedback. This conversation allows us to get to know eachContinue reading “The Question Most Writers Ask Me As a Book Coach”
These Are the Writers I Won’t Work With
I love helping writers. Well, most of them. I learned the hard way that not all writers are created equal. And I don’t mean talent. I mean mindset. I had a client once who won a 20-page critique in a giveaway I did for an organization close to my heart. This client came to meContinue reading “These Are the Writers I Won’t Work With”
Avoiding Rookie Writing Mistakes
Rookie mistakes. We all make them. Mine? Writing a novel without ever studying structure. Surely this was something I’d just know by osmosis from all that reading and those English classes I took. Wrong. Turns out, I hadn’t a clue. I came close. Maybe even serviceably close. But I didn’t know a lot and itContinue reading “Avoiding Rookie Writing Mistakes”
What I Learned About Writing From My Son’s Track Meet
My youngest and a group of his pals decided to try out for the track team this spring. Despite having an uncle for a track coach, my knowledge of the sport is limited to whatever I happen to soak in during the summer Olympics and is quickly forgotten for four years until the next round. Continue reading “What I Learned About Writing From My Son’s Track Meet”
Fail in Order to Create
I saw this amazing clip from Paul McCartney about the song Blackbird, one of my all time favorites. Did you catch what he said? He and John, while messing around with Bach and got some of the song wrong because they didn’t know the scond half.. That bit of “wrong” highlighted the chords he wasContinue reading “Fail in Order to Create”