The picnic was great. Lots of fun, food and family hit the spot. But now you have to do some cleaning. Don’t you just love a clean house with everything in its place? Peace settles over you as you inhale the freshness of a fresh home. Just as it took time to scrub the tub and take out the trash, your success as a writer requires the same attention. Just like you really don’t need to hang onto the phone bill from 1972, you really could clean out some things in your own emotions. Things you didn’t remember were there until you begin cleaning house. Here are just a few. When you find them, toss them! Past rejections. Perhaps there was a time you could and should have worn those […]
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Endless Summer, Part One: The Picnic
Many of you are preparing your works—in—progress to present at the fall writers conferences. This month, we’ll be looking at the fun and the responsibilities of being a writer at this time of year. So hang on and squeeze the last moments out of summer! Let me guess. By now you’ve probably had at least two family picnics, visited a theme park, met distant family members you forgot you had at a reunion. You’ve eaten enough potato salad to rid Idaho of its potato crop and have swatted enough flies to power the space shuttle. Ahhhh… summer time! You may also be in the picnicking phase of your work in progress. You remember it, don’t you? Yes, that one you’re dreaming will hit the New York Times Best Seller List. […]
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Declaration of Independence Part 3: When Freedom is Threatened
During the last two weeks, you have learned a lot about your freedom to pursue your dream of being an author. I would love to be able to tell you that your newfound freedom will never be challenged. I’d be lying and you’d be unprepared. Just as our nation faces enemies who hate our freedom, you will have those who are jealous of you. When they see you moving forward, pounding the keyboard, pitching your story and landing a contract, they will target you as the recipient if their emotional bombshells. Expect it. Prepare for it. Survive it and in spite of those attacks, keep living your dream. Just as our great nation has survived—and thrived—every threat and attack against it, you have what it takes to do the same. […]
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Declaration of Independence Part 2: Leave Off the Shackles
When President Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, all slaves in America were given their freedom. They could go anywhere and do anything. Interestingly, not many left the plantations where they had been enslaved. Why? They didn’t know how to be free. These free black Americans had become so accustomed to living in literal or virtual shackles, when they were removed, they didn’t have a clue about what to do. They opted to place themselves back into the shackles they’d been set free from. Last week, we learned about our freedom as writers American writers. Hopefully that was an eye opener for you. But now what do you do with that newly discovered freedom? Here are a few facts about being free. It’s not always comfortable. Before you were liberated, […]
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