2017 is nearly finished. This has been a year of trials and errors, heartbreak and growth, change and curiosity. It has been full of good times and shitty ones. 2017 hasn't been the perfect year in the history of years–writing-wise, life-wise, or politically. But it was a year, and it deserves some attention and reflection so we can enter 2018 consciously, intentionally, and powerfully. Here's what's happened in my literary world this year, what lessons I learned, and how you can apply these to your own writing life.
Read moreSay hello to The WriteLife Planner!
To live your best writing life, you need to set goals to accomplish your big dreams and tackle them one step at a time. You have to be intentional with your approach, making the time and space for life and the time and space for writing. You have to take consistent baby-steps to actually accomplish your writing goals, experiment with your writing process to perfect your best writing routine, show writing the love and attention it deserves to thrive, and balance writing with your life, so you can be both the human and the writer you hope to be. And I created an AWESOME tool to help you do it. Say hello to The WriteLife Planner – your 3-month guide to conquering one major writing project, strengthening your writing practice, and loving your writing life while you do it.
Read moreHow to Find Your Best Writing Routine
Your writing routine is composed of four ingredients: your when, your where, your how, and your how much. You may already have an idea of how these ingredients are functioning (or not functioning) in your writing life, but we don't want to just pick some aimlessly and assume its perfect for us, because there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to your writing life. You've got to figure out the best routine for you, which is different from me and every other writer. Plus, I've got 86 ways you can experiment with your writing life to discover your own best writing routine.
Read more5 Ways to Balance Writing with the Rest of Life
In theory, we would get more writing done if we had a perfect world where the stars aligned and everything worked in our writing's favor. But we could sit around waiting for this "right" reality for the rest of our lives. The truth is, you're a writer and a human. You do have a day-job and responsibilities and a life. But you can't let the fact that you're human get in the way of the fact that you're a writer. Instead of thinking about your writing and life as an "us" versus "them" war, we have to help them work together. Here are my 5 tips on how to balance writing with the rest of your life.
Read moreWhy You Need to Discover Your Writer's DNA (+12-Day Course!)
You want to be a writer. You want to be a real, and good writer. And so you work your butt off trying to absorb EVERYTHING you can about storytelling in order to be the best writer you can be. But there's one area of research missing in this curriculum: YOURSELF. You can be SO well-versed in storytelling techniques and practices, and that is great and necessary. But it means NOTHING if you don't apply it in a way that makes sense for you. You need to know your Real+Good Writer's DNA. And fortunately, I've got a FREE 12-Day course to help you discover yours.
Read moreWhat I Learned From My DIY Writing Retreat
I decided to realign my energy on my writing with a DIY at-home writing retreat. Lucky for me, I had a four-day weekend from my day-job, and I packed those days with literary happiness. I read, I wrote, I lived the writing life I wanted. And I emerged energized, motivated, and passionate. Take a peek at what my DIY writing retreat looked like, what I learned, and how you can infuse these lessons into your life too.
Read more3 Quick Ways to Fall In Love With Writing Today
You love writing, but how often do you show it? Often, we just get so busy, and then you and your writing life hit a rough patch. But you can turn that around and strengthen your love simply by choosing to invest the time. You're the only one that can strengthen your relationship with writing. It starts by taking small, consistent actions each day. Here's three ways you can get started right now, today. These aren't new ideas you've never heard before. But they are tested and true ideas that work. It's up to you to choose to love writing. Will you do it?
Read moreHow Create Your BEST Reading Life in 3 Steps
A well-read writer is a well-fed writer. We all know that by this point. If you want to write Real+Good Writing, you've got to read Real+Good Books. But how do you choose what to read next? How do you make a plan for your reading so that your writing can flourish? And how the heck do you read more? Let's talk about create your BEST reading life, so you can continue your best writing life.
Read moreHow to Have Your BEST Writing Year Yet!
Its’s time to live your BEST writing life! Whether you’re celebrating the New Year or knee-deep into June, you can ALWAYS take the time to set some strong intentions for the amazing writing life you deserve. I am determined to help you make this your best writing year yet and I've got 17 tips to help you plan your writing year, transform your writing dreams into your reality, and become the writer you were always meant to be. Are you ready?!
Read moreTrue Life: I've Been Rejected
Do you fear failure? Do you hate being rejected? Has rejection derailed your writing life before? In sixth grade, it paralyzed my writing life so bad that I quit writing for nearly four years. But rejection is a normal part of the writing process, and it's never going away. In fact, it's probably going to happen to you a lot (do you know really how hard it is to get published? I've got stats that will scare you). Learn all about my traumatizing experience with rejection, how I solved it, and what you can do when (not if) it happens to you!
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