This One Simple Hack Will Double the Pace of Your Online Learning

I took my first online course almost a decade ago. I had decided I wanted to learn how to cook. In the process, I swiftly become obsessed with all things gastronomy. I read books about food, nutrition, and cooking. I subscribed to Food and Wine magazine, and I religiously watched the Food Network. It was my love…

Continue Reading →

Only One Way to Find Out — An Alternative to Annual Goal Setting

It’s the first week of 2018. When I opened my email inbox this morning, there were half-a-dozen emails promoting goal-setting programs for the coming year. I’m sure it was the same with you. I mean, it makes sense, right? The end of the year and the start of a new one is the perfect time…

Continue Reading →

Goodbye, Catherine Brunelle — The Writing Coach 058

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In episode #58 of The Writing Coach podcast, I say goodbye to my friend and collaborator, Catherine Brunelle. The Writing Coach is brought to you by: Click…

Continue Reading →

Alexa Bigwarfe on Women in Publishing — The Writing Coach 057

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In episode #57 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Alexa Bigwarfe. Alexa is an author, a coach, publisher, and digital publishing strategist. She is…

Continue Reading →

Joanna Penn of The Creative Penn — The Writing Coach 056

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In episode #56 of The Writing Coach podcast, I speak with Joanna Penn. Joanna is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of…

Continue Reading →

Joan Dempsey Discusses Her Debut Novel — The Writing Coach 055

Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors who help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In ep. #55 of The Writing Coach podcast, writing instructor Joan Dempsey, who previously appeared in episode 38, returns to the show to discuss the launch…

Continue Reading →

Active Voice: The Easiest Way to Improve Your Writing

Using “active voice” is one of the easiest ways to improve the quality of your writing. Sentences written in active voice organize words so that the subject of the sentence is doing the action, not the object. For example, here’s a sentence written in active voice: Kevin ate the bananas. In this example, our protagonist…

Continue Reading →

The Secret to Getting Fit, Writing a Novel, and Achieving All Your Life’s Goals … FAST!

Recently, a client of mine grew frustrated. Her novel writing wasn’t moving along as swiftly as she would have liked. She’s a mom with a full-time job who just moved into a new home. She’s currently focusing on getting fit and healthy in addition to writing a novel, prepping a short story for a competition submission, and participating…

Continue Reading →

Your Book is Not Your Legacy

When the aspiring authors I work with are faced with a bout of writer’s block, I find it’s often the result of an intense stress they’re experiencing related to writing. Where does this stress come from? NOT from contractually obligated deadlines – most of the writers I work with are first-time authors who have not yet signed a…

Continue Reading →

FAQs for Aspiring Authors

Writing a novel requires authors to make thousands of decisions on a daily basis. Every time a writer sits down to draft, they have to make choices about what’s going to happen, the words they’re going to use, and a dozen other factors that will impact how the story is told. Unfortunately, many aspiring authors never get around to making…

Continue Reading →