I've seen a number of debates and blog posts and flow charts on the internet over the last few months about how to tell if you are a "real" writer or not. This is something people struggle a lot...
How to tell if you are a writer, or not
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Blog
Sci-Fi Circuit: Getting a Grip on the Sci-Fi Market
By now you know how fascinated I am in not only how to write a great sci-fi script, but also in what it takes to break into the market as a sci-fi screenwriter.
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When performance anxiety rears its ugly head
I've had three experiences lately that have triggered performance anxiety for me. Two assignments, where I've delivered a project to someone else, and one where I'm sharing my work with other people...
The struggle with creative identity
Last week I met with a group of 13 moms to talk about "Designing Your Writing Life as a Mom". I was struck by the disconnect many of the mothers were experiencing around their creative identity,...
Design your writing life as a mom (or dad!)
If you're a parent, having a regular writing routine takes on an additional layer of complexity -- especially in the early years. It's hard enough to handle being a parent (and even more so if...
Get your ‘But’ in the seat and write
One of my all time favorite quotes about writing comes from Steven Pressfield, author of what has become my bible for writing, The War of Art*. In it, he says: "There's a secret that real writers...
Sci-Fi Circuit: Movies with a Message
One of the primary reasons I love sci-fi is that it provides a powerful vehicle for exploring social issues that might otherwise be too politically incorrect to tackle head on.
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Author Insights: It’s Never Too Late to Finish Your Book Now
Many people have unfinished writing projects that linger for years, but it's never too late to finish your book. And the time to get restarted might just be now. I reached out to Terri Fedonczak, a...
Adventures in publishing with novelist Aaron Cooley
I had the pleasure of meeting Aaron Cooley earlier this year in Los Angeles and I was instantly intrigued by his story of not only how he came to write his first novel, Shaken, Not Stirred*, but...
Find your character’s moral problem with the Enneagram
Today's article is a guest post by story and Enneagram expert Jeff Lyons of StoryGeeks.com. His article touches on a often overlooked aspect of story development that many writers miss and their...
Using the Enneagram to move from character to story
In the third and final session of my interview series with Enneagram and story development expert Jeff Lyons (recordings no longer available), we talked about "Bridging the Gap from Motivation to...
Constructing a powerful premise line as a framework for story structure
In the second class of my interview series with Enneagram and story development expert Jeff Lyons (recordings no longer available), we talked about "The Critical Importance of Premise Line...