12 Habits Writers Should Embrace
Happy New Year! To celebrate the new year, I am reposting an edited list of 12 habits every writer should embrace. It’s a great place to make some resolutions for your writing habit.
Get Inspired by the Season: Books & Films
There is nothing better in December (for me) than curling up with a good Christmas book or watching a classic movie. It reminds me to be more positive and embrace the joy of the season.
I don’t often make lists of books or movies I recommend, but I have decided to make an exception. Here is my list for the holidays that is sure to make you smile.
What does this have to do with writing? Everything. Stories inspire us—those we read and those we watch. I love classic and modern movies. I am addicted to books. Whenever I can share those passions, I will. This seemed a great opportunity.
Writing Is a Strange Career
Writing is a strange career. It’s at once a creative endeavor and a masochistic effort. We stare at a blank page and do our best to spill out our ideas, emotions and past on the page. It’s a personal and vulnerable act that opens us up to criticism and judgement. To rejection. It allows us to explore expression and creation, which is both exhilarating and terrifying, depending on how the words are flowing and the day.
15 Lists for Writers: A Compilation and a Bonus
Over the past five years, I’ve posted 15 lists filled with advice for writers on a wide variety of topics within the industry. Now I’ve pulled them together in one compilation.
Strategies for Submissions
I’m in the last days of polishing my manuscript and am gearing up to jump into research for my next one. It’s been a long haul for this manuscript. I love the characters and story, but struggled with the usual things—self-doubt, length, setting, how to transfer the story I had in my head to paper, getting it right. Writing is never an easy process. We fling words on a page and then rearrange them until they feel right. Sometimes it takes no time at all and other times it takes what seems a lifetime. In the end, all that matters is that we finish.
Hubris, Bravado & Vulnerability: Three Traits of a Writer
Writing is a combination of hubris, bravado and vulnerability. You have to possess all three to succeed. Selling your ideas isn’t easy. Selling yourself is even harder. Showing your work is anxiety-inducing. It takes a tough skin to be in this business where criticism and rejection are as common as commas. But you can’t harden yourself and your emotions if you want to write with honesty and connect with your audience. It’s a balance between self-esteem and vulnerability.
Writing is a tough gig, but a worthwhile one. If you want to write, then you will need to learn how to embrace the big three traits. Let’s break them down:
Platform or Writing…That Is the Question
It is conventional wisdom in the industry that all writers need a platform to succeed. While this isn’t necessarily the case, it is something that most writers will need to understand. The problem with this concept is that it suggests that having a platform is the most important part of publishing and it is not.
Options for Previously Published Works
Last week we talked about what being previously published means. This week we’re looking at options for work that falls into that category and your options for moving forward.
My New Year’s Wish for You
There are so many articles and blogs out there telling writers how to be writers and offering advice and tips; I should know because I write one. But my New Year’s wish to all of you is to step away from that stuff for a moment and offer something else: Trust.
This year, I hope you learn to trust your own counsel, your inner ear and your ideas.
‘Tis the Season: Writer Gifts
I love the end of the year: the holidays, the decorations, the end of year reviews. It’s the perfect culmination of a year well spent. It’s also when I bury myself in holiday classics and stories. Somehow the dark nights and colder temps make reading better. I mean who can argue with reading a book before the fire, a cup of tea in hand and a cat curled up in your lap?
Things You Should Never Do As a Writer
There aren’t rules for being a writer. No requirements to get the job. No employer or client requires a certification, test or degree. But there are things every writer should avoid in order to be successful. Most of them are common sense, or perhaps common business sense. Others are industry specific.
Here are some of the top things you should never do as a professional writer.
Top 15 Tips for Running a Successful Writing Business
No matter what you write, earning money from your writing means you are running a business. If you want to be serious about having a writing career, one that will allow you to pay your mortgage and eat, then you need to know what you are getting into and plan accordingly. Here are 15 tips for setting up a professional freelance writing business.