Escaping Attack of the To Do List
Overwhelmed by all your to do’s? Calm yourself! Here’s how to take a step back and figure out what’s actually important.
Blog
The Writer's Life
Blog
All writers need to thrive: craft,
business, personal finance, and joy.
business, personal finance, and joy.
LEARN ABOUT
For Writers Feeling Helpless in the Darkness
What’s the opposite of a terrorist? An artist.
How to Get a Free Writing Retreat (Or Almost Anything)
If you’ve ever been a child, you know intuitively how to barter. Like early man, children have no money. They use what they do have to get what they want.
A Secret Weapon for Cutting Your Word Count
Writing, to me, has long been a practice of cutting.
My darlings!
Tending the Fire of Your Writing Life
It felt like the days when I’d first fallen in love with writing. During a long morning stretch on a comfy chair with a coffee,
To Thrive as a Freelancer, Enter the Writing Matrix
When you write for the love and as a way to support yourself, the question of why you write can get murky.
Let’s distill it.
The Ultimate Guide to Making New Year’s Resolutions During a Pandemic
Five million people have died. How will you now live?
You’re (Probably) Undercharging. Now is the Time to Change That
Why should you raise your fees? Let me count the ways.
Do You Know Your Writer Stats?
The joy in record-keeping is the ability to see your life and business more clearly.
How I Stopped Fighting About Cooking on Thanksgiving
How do we write the story of our lives and our families?
Why You Have a Shelf of Unread Books (and What to Do About It)
Join us here in the Bookshelf Shame Club.
The Olympics, “Success,” Suicide, and Self-Care
Success and well-being are two entirely different things.
5 Things You Might Not Know About Thriving If You Grew Up Broke
Last week I went to LA, rented a convertible, and had a vacation during which I couldn’t shake a hum of anxiety. Would I make
Health Insurance: This Country Will Leave You for Dead
The system is messy, confusing, unfair, and hard to deal with, but you need health insurance.
How to Find the Perfect Writing Coach for You
Shopping for a writing coach can be exhausting. Here’s how to find the perfect one for you.
Overcome the Quarantine Slump in Your Writing with a Powerful New Story
What Is It You Plan to Do with Your One Wild and Precious Quarantine? You do not have to say “I should…” You do not
What I Learned Reading The Best Women’s Travel Writing Slush Pile
Reading a slush pile can be your best education in how to write a particular genre.
The 5 Joys of Kickass Clients (Aside from the Money)
Sure, great clients pay well, but there are so many other reasons to work for getting them as well.
Don’t Let Your Feelings Go to Waste
Ever wish there was a writing resource where you could house emotions to draw from? Enter the Feelings File.
3 Reasons I Write About Pain
One day last year, I was nearly doubled over in emotional pain, feeling directionless, asking what I should even do with all this pain. A
Craft Lessons from Sad Songs
What is it about sad songs that makes us crave them? Do we want to be sadder? Are we trying to prolong the pain? Or, just maybe, is there a glint of healing in sharing someone else’s sadness?
How to Become a Writer Even If You’re Broke
The ultimate guide on how to get an education, network, and become a successful writer on a shoestring.
Gritty Travel, Persistence, and Writing Old Memories
Read or watch my conversation with Pam Mandel, author of the travel memoir The Same River Twice.
What Happens When You Stop Hating Yourself
When you start from a place of acceptance, you’re more likely to find a way to stop disappointing yourself.
Focus, Productivity, and Community in One
In the middle of my wallowing and feeling like crap when the Pandemic began, I took a dance class with Ryan Heffington, which zapped me