Joy
The Writer's Life
Blog
All writers need to thrive: craft,
business, personal finance, and joy.
business, personal finance, and joy.
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The Gift of Dreaming Big
Now is the perfect moment to unwrap the gift of boundless ambition.
The Best Thing I Read This Week
I have a list of general questions I start with in most interviews, but often just let my curiosity lead me. This NYT opinion piece added so many more to my list.
Writing on Vacation
When I take any type of vacation, I try to leave all the “shoulds” of my writing life behind. Then the biggest question is, “Should I write at all on vacation?”
Put the Spirit of Summer in Your Writing
How often do you write something just for the joy of writing?
How to Get Your Writing Joy Back
Take your writing life from striving to thriving with the ultimate life hack: remembering we’re all going to die anyway.
Beat the Summer Writing Slump
We don’t want to look back in the fall and think, “Bleh, I have to start all over again!” Inertia is a b-word.
Have You Ever Considered Writing Satire?
Writing parody and satire is so fun, so refreshing, I think more writers would do it if they felt permission.
Die, Procrastination!
There is just something magical about starting your writing with a short mindfulness practice.
Julia Cameron Taught Me to Pray
In my spiritual life, an attempt at still openness has been central. I never prayed into that openness, until my conversation with Julia Cameron.
Belting “You Won’t Break My Soul” as a Freelance Writer
If you work now as a freelance writer, or dream of working as a freelance writer, I implore you today to pump the volume to irresponsible, and blast Beyoncé’s Break My Soul.
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.
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?
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.
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
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.
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
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