Kent Sanders 
The writer Matthew Kelly said, “It is important to understand that you are not writing a story or a book, or a sentence or a paragraph. You are writing a body of work. Whatever you are writing today is just one small part of that body of work.” This helps take the pressure off because … Read more
A big challenge that we face in our creative work is simply the fact that we work alone much of the time. Even if you work with a team on projects that include editors, graphic designers, beta readers, maybe co-authors or collaborators, or marketing people, you are still spending a large percentage of your time … Read more
When I became a college professor in 2004, one of the courses I was assigned was Introduction to the Arts. It was a basic survey course covering visual art, architecture, music, theatre, and film from a Christian philosophical viewpoint. The area I knew the least about was architecture. I had always been fascinated by it, … Read more
We all wish for success… but sometimes we forget that it comes at a price. Take Harper Lee, for example. She published the classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960 when she was just 34 years old. Considering that many successful authors don’t get started until their 40s, she was practically a baby … Read more
Most people don’t like the idea of being put in a box. We want to keep our options open and avoid labels. But if you want to be successful in your writing, you have to put yourself in the box of being a writer. You have to talk about it on social media. You have … Read more
It’s tempting as a writer to think that “everyone” is your audience. But the reality is that your message is not for everyone. It’s a paradox that the more you focus on a very specific type of person, the more people will be able to relate to it. Specifically, narrowing down your audience will give … Read more
Every writer understands this basic truth: it’s easy to let one day run into the next one. Then weeks, months and eventually years pass by and you wonder where the time went. The writing life can have a certain monotony to it that makes it hard to feel like each is unique or special. Nothing … Read more
One of the most fascinating characters of Hollywood’s classic film era is Norma Desmond, the lead character of 1950’s Sunset Boulevard. She is a silent film-era actress who lives in a fantasy world where she makes a triumphant return to her glory days. In the final scene, she has completely lost touch with reality as … Read more
For literally thousands of years, readers have enjoyed stories in the form of printed books. Like me, you probably have lots of novels, poetry books, or collections of short stories lying around your house or office. One of the most interesting developments in fiction is taking place in the world of audio—specifically, podcasting. Of course, … Read more
It has been said that the middle of every project feels like a disaster. You’re far enough away from the starting point that you’ve lost some of the enthusiasm you had at the beginning. But you’re too far away from the end to see the finish line. How do you break through the messy middle … Read more