In a world flooded with stories—books, shows, films, and endless social content—it’s easy to fall into passive consumption. But as writers and creatives, what we take in matters just as much as what we put out. To write with depth, clarity, and resonance, we must first learn to read more intentionally and watch with greater […]
December 16, 2024 by 31 Comments Writing LifeTop 10 Books I Read in 2024
I wasn’t sure how my reading was going to fare in 2024. This year was a such a different year for me. I spent the first half cramming a year’s worth of work into a few months, and the second half settling into a new house. But, not surprisingly, reading remained my anchor throughout all […]
December 27, 2021 by 87 Comments Writing LifeMy Top Books of 2021
Every year is a new reading adventure. This year, happily, was one of the best fiction-reading years I’ve had in a long time. I followed my heart a bit more than my head in choosing titles and ended up with some new favorites, as well as re-reading an old favorite that makes the list again […]
December 28, 2020 by 107 Comments Writing LifeMy Top Books of 2020
There’s a great quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson that I love: I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me. And so each year’s tally of books read make up my year as well. I’m always excited to look back and remember what […]
April 27, 2020 by 69 Comments Writing Life15 Productive Tasks You Can Still Do Even When You Don’t Feel Like Writing
Don’t feel like writing right now? Or maybe you don’t have the time? Or maybe you’re just blocked as all get out at the moment? Whatever the case, there’s no reason you can’t still use what time and motivation you do have to feel productive about your writing—because “writing” is really about a whole lot […]
January 6, 2020 by 57 Comments Writing LifeMy Top Books of 2019
I had such a good reading year this year. It was hard to narrow my top books of 2019 into a manageable list. For as long as I can remember, my favorite part of my day has been the part when I get to curl up for an hour or so with a pile of books. […]
May 27, 2019 by 95 Comments How to Become a Writer4 Challenges of Writing for a Modern Audience
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 17, 2018 by 48 Comments Writing LifeMy Top Books of 2018
As we close out another year of reading, I find myself with a renewed appreciation and vigor for the importance and the blessing of reading. Having devoured books at the hungry pace of 100+ a year for at least fifteen years (I didn’t start keeping track until 2002), I’ve been feeling increasingly uncomfortable and even […]
February 5, 2018 by 74 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 61 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 […]
