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”
Category Archives: writing
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”
Spring Into Writing!
Spring is springing where I live in central NC. The daffodils and tulips have come and gone. The pear trees are snowing down on street corners–beautiful despite their dead fish aroma. And the pine pollen is fit to bursting (we’re at slight dusting right now but I imagine we’ll be at full on yellow cloudContinue reading “Spring Into Writing!”
Writing a Novel is a Marathon Not a Sprint: How a Book Coach Can Help
As a writer, I often wish for a magic wand that will make all the things happen faster. The drafting. The revising. The proofing. The pitching. The querying. The response time. The submissions. The wait time again. The publishing process. But the fact of the matter is, it takes what it takes. And there isContinue reading “Writing a Novel is a Marathon Not a Sprint: How a Book Coach Can Help”
What’s Clicking and Clunking in Your Manuscript?
Back in the fall, during my 8th grade son’s middle school walk the schedule night, I was eagerly anticipating talking to his English teacher. It’s no surprise that English was my favorite subject in school. I’m probably not alone here, right? The reading. The essay writing. I loved all of it. Don’t get me wrong,Continue reading “What’s Clicking and Clunking in Your Manuscript?”
Twas the Night Before Writing
It’s officially that weird week where, if you are like me, you’re trying to hold down regular routines while your to-do list of non-work tasks continues to grow and the clock is ticking and it makes you feel like nothing is actually getting accomplished. So first, I want to offer you all permission to handleContinue reading “Twas the Night Before Writing”
Fail to Succeed to Advance Your Writing Career
A friend posted this Michael Jordan quote on her LinkedIn profile recently: “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why IContinue reading “Fail to Succeed to Advance Your Writing Career”
Finding New Story Ideas
Are you the kind of writer brimming with new ideas? Do you have journals full of starts or slips of ideas in your phone’s notes app? Do you have a stack of post-its with interesting what ifs? When it’s time to start writing is it just a matter of picking one of these ideas andContinue reading “Finding New Story Ideas”
When the Work of Writing Isn’t Writing
I am heading to the beach for a writing retreat with some dear writing friends next week. I am excited and desperately looking forward to it. Beach. Words. Writers. What’s not to love? I’m querying my most recent project and have had enough distance from it to know that it’s time for something new. ThisContinue reading “When the Work of Writing Isn’t Writing”
Write What You Know
This week is a tough one in my world. My father passed away unexpectedly on October 2, 2018. Exactly one week before his 70th birthday on October 9th. Each year, we get to relive that awful, horrible week. Even if we make it through the first anniversary day relatively unscathed (which I have yet toContinue reading “Write What You Know”