Today and tomorrow, I want to do something different and share excerpts from a book I published a few years ago. It’s called The Artist’s Suitcase: 26 Essentials for the Creative Journey. It’s a short, fun read that will help you increase your creativity in writing and your other creative work. * * * B … Read more
Have you ever stopped to wonder why we sometimes don’t do the things we really want to do? Maybe you have wanted to write a book, start a business as a writer, or work toward some other goal that’s important to you. We can all think of times when we have shrunk back and didn’t … Read more
Being a writer is a lot like living in The Wizard of Oz. Some days you feel like you’ve lost your brain, most days feel like you’re holding onto your heart, and every day feels like a battle for your courage. That’s how the Cowardly Lion felt just before he and the rest of the … Read more
There are a lot of reasons people give for avoiding the hard work of writing. One of the most common ones is a lack of time. Others include not knowing what to write about, or confusion about processes like blogging or publishing. Another reason exists that is worse than all the others combined. It also … Read more
As a writer, you have to do things sometimes that make you uncomfortable. It might be networking, public speaking, learning self-publishing, joining a writing group, or a hundred other things that seem new and exciting, yet still make you feel anxious. The business leader and author Michael Hyatt said, “The most interesting things happen just … Read more
One of the most famous movies of all time, and what many consider to be the greatest movie of all time, is 1941’s Citizen Kane, starring Orson Welles. While it is certainly a great movie, and one of my personal favorites, it tends to overshadow Welles’ other great movies. One of them is The Third … Read more
We writers often talk about the reasons we write. But what are the reasons we don’t write? What keeps us from writing? Several things probably come to mind: procrastination, not enough time, and not feeling creative, among others. But at the end of the day, there is one main thing that keeps us from writing. … Read more
Think about some of the most important achievements in human history. These would include such feats as Amelia Earhart flying solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbing Mount Everest, Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon, Magellan setting sail around the world, and many thousands of others who faced … Read more
Have you ever stopped to wonder why we sometimes don’t do the things we really want to do? For many years, statistics have shown that at least 8 out of every 10 people want to write a book. Why, then, do so many not follow through on their writing dreams? But the problem is not … Read more
It’s not unusual for writers to remain hidden. There is something about writing that attracts people who don’t want to be on camera, on stage, or behind a microphone. The writing world is also home to many ghostwriters, who by definition are hidden behind someone else’s name. And then there are novelists, who create characters … Read more