Sometimes I think everything I learned about life I learned from The Andy Griffith Show. For instance, in the episode “Andy Discovers America,” when Andy is incredulous about the new school teacher “starting them awful young for history,” Aunt Bea just sighs, “Well, maybe they have to. There’s more of it these days.” If that idea was […]
December 10, 2018 by 70 Comments How to Become a WriterThe 10-Step Checklist to Writing an Above-Average Novel
“Anybody can write a novel.” Writers sometimes hear that statement from dismissive non–writer family and friends. Rightfully, we dislike the insinuation, since we know full well how much education, talent, skill, effort, and dedication is required for “anybody” to write a novel. Still, there is a certain measure of truth in the idea that “anybody can […]
November 5, 2018 by 55 Comments How to Become a WriterWhen Writing, How Do You Know When Enough Is Enough?
Last month, I invited you to tell me what topics you’d like me to write about. You flooded my inbox and comments section with suggestions. (I scheduled this as an “easy” post that wouldn’t require much maintenance while I was in the midst of the a big move. When I logged on that first day to […]
October 22, 2018 by 22 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Things Writers Can Learn From Making a Movie
I’ve been a book editor and a writer for a number of years now. As an author, I have one published novel in The Listeners; as an editor, I’ve worked on more than seventy. I’ve written screenplays that were optioned but never made, and I’ve sat at book signings to which no one showed up. […]
July 2, 2018 by 94 Comments How to Become a WriterJudge Yourself Less, Trust Yourself More, and Write Better Stories
When we think of creativity, we usually think of light and color, happiness and freedom. That’s the upside of living the creative life of a writer. But there’s a dark side too—one we don’t always like to talk about. And that dark side can be encapsulated in two words: judgment and perfectionism. There’s a controversial […]
May 21, 2018 by 23 Comments How to Become a WriterHow to Grow as a Writer: 5 Logical Steps
Writers are students. Sometimes this is the result of nothing more than sheer necessity: we seek answers for our questions because writing has turned out to be far more difficult than we anticipated. But often, writers are students first and writers second. If this is you, then concentrating on how to grow as a writer […]
May 14, 2018 by 69 Comments How to Become a Writer5 Lies Writers Believe That Are Holding Them Back
There are many lies writers believe that hold them back. When you think about it, this is kind of ironic. After all, aren’t stories stories lies that serve to tell the truth? I think the reason most writers get a perverse chuckle out of that last idea is because, as humans, we are hard-wired to […]
March 26, 2018 by 66 Comments How to Become a Writer7 Frequently Asked Writing Questions
The amazing thing about being a writer is that you get to be part of a writing community. Especially now, in the Internet age, you have access not just to the writings of the great minds who have gone before, but also to the shared wisdom, common sense, commiseration, and encouragement of all your contemporaries. If […]
February 5, 2018 by 73 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Tips for Writing to the Right Audience
Here’s my somewhat radical idea: Writers don’t need to know who their audience is. And, yes, I know this goes entirely against popular advice, which encourages (even insists) that beginning authors must know their audience. I’ve probably even said basically that somewhere or other on this site. You’re supposed to go so far as to write […]
January 29, 2018 by 60 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Ways for Writers to Become Better Readers
Anyone can read a book, right? We all become better readers just by reading, right? Learning to put letters together into words and understand what they say—learning to read—that’s a learned skill. But once you’ve pretty much mastered that by fourth grade, you can read anything. There’s no skill to reading a novel. What is there […]
