Pantsers, Planners, Principles, and Tactics
Being a fiction author has got to be just about the only profession in the entire world where people honestly believe you can find success by making things up as you go along. These writers (often the same group who believe success is all about natural talent alone) declare themselves proud “pantsers.” Their confidence is propped-up by people in the…
The World Doesn’t Need Your Book
When aspiring authors ask writing coaches and successful creatives advice on how to get motivated and break through blocks, the response is inevitably the inspiring reassurance: “The world needs your book.” This is, of course, not just a platitude, but straight-up bullshit. The world doesn’t need your book. The world has enough books. Think of the people…
15 Incredible Movies about Writers and Writing — The Writing Coach 076
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. Writing is often solitary work. The most exciting moments in the process of drafting a book or screenplay are largely internal moments that take…
How to Spot a Publishing Scam — The Writing Coach 68
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 #68 of The Writing Coach podcast, I discuss how to spot a publishing scam. It takes passion, dedications, and a massive amount of…
The Path to Success, or This is a Lie
People often ask me how I got to be so successful. I’m the author of seven books and I run a profitable coaching business, so folks are naturally curious to know my path to success. Here’s the answer… I’m successful because I was born into a wealthy and highly regarded family. I was raised by a…
You Aren’t a Genius
You aren’t a genius. You weren’t born more talented or more intelligent than other writers out there. Words don’t flow from your pen magically. You aren’t a once-in-a-generation wunderkind. That’s okay. You know what the geniuses do? They kill themselves. Seriously. Like all the time. You and I weren’t born with the gifts of the…
How to Get the Reader Feedback You Really Want
When seeking feedback on your manuscript, it’s extremely important to be honest with yourself regarding exactly what type of feedback you want. Whether you’re providing the piece of writing to a spouse, a critique group, or beta readers, you’ll need to let the reader know specifically what you require from them in return. The worst possible…
Do you want it BAD enough?
I know so many aspiring authors who are paralyzed by fear they aren’t good enough. They spend their time worrying their prose style just doesn’t hack it, their story-telling chops are weak, they’ve chosen the wrong point of view, they should have gone with the other story idea, etc. etc. They’re so worried they aren’t…
Who Said it Would Be Easy?
Aspiring authors will say things to me like, “My writing isn’t coming along as easily as it should be.” They’ll say, “Something’s wrong: I’m just not having fun working on this book anymore.” Sometimes they’ll even take the lack of productivity or the absence of fun to mean they should stop writing. Stop writing? Woah,…
What’s Your “Voice of Fire”?
I’m lucky to live in Ottawa, Ontario, home of Canada’s National Art Gallery. In 1989 the newly opened Art Gallery purchased a work by abstract painter Barnett Newman titled, “Voice of Fire”. Originally created as a commission for Expo 67, a celebration of Canada’s centennial, the painting is 18 feet long and consists of three…
