A Critique from My Tech Geek At ten years old, I put my Easy Bake oven to rest when I discovered my mother’s Kenmore sewing machine. By the time I was in junior high I spent most of my days pouring over McCall’s pattern books. I wish I had a picture of the denim skirt…
Want to learn how to overcome writer’s block? Chris and Gena share three tips for helping any writer conquer it.
2021. A year many of us longed for as 2020 dragged on and on and on. Now it’s here, and I suspect some of us are not all that thrilled with the way it’s started out. And it’s too late to reboot. We’re stuck with it. But that doesn’t mean we’re stuck with our lives….
Writers must be disciplined. The world begs for our attention and—let’s face it—at any given moment, anything can be more compelling than the manuscript in front of us. I’d like to blame this on the digital age, on the Internet but I’ve read Walden and even Thoreau was distracted by more than one squirrel during…
“Pay yourself first.” That was the financial planner’s advice. My husband and I were tuning in to a virtual conference about vision and how to create our dream life. We had sat down, me with a notebook and colored pens in hand, my husband with his laptop propped open. We listened to speakers teach us…
I’ve always wanted to be a self-disciplined writer. You know – one of those people who get up every morning at 5:00 a.m. so they can write for an hour before the rest of the household stirs. Or one of those people who firmly says “no thank you” to the spontaneous pizza invite received while…
I asked my daughter Ali how she saw self-discipline operating in my writing life since she was along for the ride, and here’s what she said: “Even if it was close to the deadline, you just did it. Your main method was—no matter what, you worked and worked and finished the manuscript by the deadline….
I still remember the spring day years ago when I pulled up to the equestrian center where we boarded our flashy Belgian Draft horse. My two daughters scrambled out of the car and rushed to their riding lesson. The girls rode Hunter Jumper, complete with an English saddle, tight breeches and tall black boots. I…
Adverbs play an important role in the English language, but when are they appropriate and when should they be edited out? Find out here.
How would you feel if you were assigned to write a blog about self-discipline? Me? I’m thinking about chocolate right now. Or cookies hot out of the oven. If you’d asked me to write about celebrating in December, I’d be your girl. But self-discipline in January? I systematically purged my pantry and refrigerator after our…