Today is the perfect day to clean your writing desk
Ordinarily I recommend writing first and cleaning later. I stand by that today, too. Do your writing, then clean your writing desk. But today is still a good day to clean your desk. Here's why. As...
What if you treated your writing like a business?
I seem to have a business mindset at the forefront right now (see my post from last week about criteria for bestowing grants), which isn't surprising when you consider that we're going through a...
About this “there’s no such thing as writer’s block” thing
I get kind of pissed off when people say there’s no such thing as writer’s block. People say “you don’t ever hear of plumber’s block, do you?” And, “Writers write. If you’re a writer, write.” Which,...
Sci-Fi Circuit: ‘Time Lapse’ – A Good Script Opens Many Doors
What to do when you come up empty
Note from Jenna: This is a guest post by Naomi Dunford, my friend and business consultant who runs IttyBiz.com. Although she's writing from the perspective of business writing or blogging, her...
Every writing project is an investment
Every project I work on – especially when it's a long-form piece – has begun to feel like an investment: In myself, in my writing, in my future.Each one starts out seeming so simple. Just an idea....
How I rebooted my blogging habit after baby #2
Pre-baby #2 last May, I was blogging on a weekly basis. I had a precision system in place. Every week during one of the 60-minute writing sprints we run for my community, I would knock out about...
Are you writing fast enough?
I'm learning to write faster. With blogging I’m already fairly quick, though my recent writing voice recalibration has slowed me down a bit (more on this in a future installment). But in terms of...
What I really think when you’re not writing
When someone joins my writing community, and doesn’t participate, I am always fascinated to know why. I don’t assume that the person is lazy or just not writing. And sometimes there are real...
The burden of being a writer
My best friend reminded me the other day that I have chosen an artist’s career. Her words hit me over the head like a metal bucket, with all the accompanying reverberations one might expect. Wait. I...
Minding my own business (managing the distractions so I can focus on my life, my kids, and my writing)
In this über-distractified world we live in, minding our own business is becoming increasingly important. I’ve been paying a lot of attention to the way I start my day in this regard. Whose day is...
Writing through exhaustion, sickness, and grief . . . or not?
It's been a rough couple of months. My mother-in-law passed away at the end of January. I've managed to have two colds since then (yes, I know it's only February 20th), and the second one has been a...