Why Writers Need to be Tightrope Walkers
I’ve never been a fan of “balance”. When I gave up on the government-recommended “balanced diet” and instead ate an unbalanced diet that consisted primarily of vegetables and meet, I lost weight, gained muscle, felt healthier, and performed athletically at a higher level. That’s just one example of why I’ve always believed obsessive focus and dedication is…
Why It’s NOT Too Late for You to Become an Author
A coaching client of mine recently confessed she fears she might be too old to launch her writing career. She’s in her early 30’s. I assured her that she was not too old. And neither are you. A career as an author isn’t like professional sports, or modeling, or becoming a pop star. You’re chances of…
Intro to Microsoft Word Styles for Authors (Video)
Lets face it: MS Word was NOT built with authors writing long manuscripts in mind. None-the-less, many of us use it to write our books and novels (myself included!). If you are going to be writing a manuscript in Word, learning to use the cool feature known as “Styles” is essential. In the following video,…
Joanna Wiebe on Copy Hacking – The Writing Coach 025
Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors that help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In episode 25 of The Writing Coach, I speak with copywriter and author Joanna Wiebe. Joanna is the brilliant mind behind Copy Hackers,…
8 Simple Ways to Beef Up a Lean Manuscript (Without Adding Filler or Fluff)
You’ve completed the first draft of your novel and it has come in at around 50K words. But you were shooting for 80K. Now what? How do you beef up a lean manuscript? Where do you find 30,000 more words without just adding filler or fluff? Despair not my friend! Here’s 8 simple methods for…
How to Pivot with Jenny Blake – The Writing Coach 022
Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors that help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In episode 22 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author Jenny Blake. Jenny is a speaker, career coach, author and business strategist…
It depends…
There are a lot of “rules” when it comes to good writing. As a writing coach, I get asked questions about these rules a lot. “Should I cut my book’s prologue?” “Should I always avoid adverbs?” “Should all my sentences be in active voice?” “Should I never edit while drafting?” Here is the reality folks:…
What I Read in Q4 (Oct.-Dec. 2015)
Every quarter I like to share with you my reading list. If you’re curious what I read earlier this year, you can check out my posts on Q1, Q2, and Q3. As for Q4, let’s dive right in! (Note: I’ve included affiliate links to all the books below, so if you decide to purchase any of…
Weekly Webinars for Writers ALL January Long
I want to help make 2016 your best writing year ever… So to kick things off, I’m going to be hosting a webinar each week for ALL of January! I love hosting webinars, not only because it’s an opportunity to provide aspiring authors and writers with valuable free training, but also because it’s one of…
Amber Andrian on Turning Emotion into Art – The Writing Coach 021
Welcome to The Writing Coach. On this podcast, I speak with the instructors, editors, coaches, and mentors that help writers and authors create their art, build their audience, and sell their work. In episode 21 of The Writing Coach, I speak with author and mentor Amber Adrian. Amber believes we’re all bigger and brighter than we…
