Write Now Coach! Blog by Rochelle Melander

If you change nothing, nothing will change. It still feels like summer, the hot and humid air leaves me breathless, desiring only to sit on the porch, drink lemonade, and read books. But the calendar reminds me that Labor Day weekend is coming up and with it, the start of... Read More

19 Aug 2014

Write Now! Weekly Writing Tip

Three Tools to Boost Your Creativity by Rochelle Melander

Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere. —Albert Einstein In 2006, I launched Dream Keepers, a writing program for at risk children and teens in Milwaukee. Since then, I’ve taught at dozens of libraries, schools, and churches. In the past year, I’ve noticed that... Read More

12 Aug 2014

Write Now! Weekly Writing Tip

Make Interruptions Work for You by Rochelle Melander

People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it. —George Bernard Shaw I don’t know about you, but I’m addicted to finishing tasks and crossing them off my to-do list. Even when I’m writing a book, I like to cross off a section or... Read More

05 Aug 2014

Write Now! Weekly Writing Tip

Why You Need Interruption-Free Writing Time by Rochelle Melander

In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion. —Albert Camus New research by Cyrus Foroughi, a PhD candidate out of George Mason University, suggests that small interruptions decrease our ability to write well. In two studies, participants were asked to outline and write... Read More

29 Jul 2014

Write Now! Weekly Writing Tip

Stuck? Ask this Question by Rochelle Melander

To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. —Aristotle No one loves criticism, rejection, or failure. But if you’re going to be a writer, you’re going to get a hefty dose of all three. Expecting it doesn’t make it easier. Every time I encounter one of these roadblocks, I... Read More

22 Jul 2014

Write Now! Weekly Writing Tip

Protect Your Creative Energy: Three Tools by Rochelle Melander

Every single day she fought a war to get to her desk before her little bundle of energy had been dissipated, to push aside or cull through an intricate web of slight threads pulling her in a thousand different directions… —May Sarton, Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing May Sarton... Read More

18 Jul 2014

Writers@Work

Writers@Work Interview with June Melby by Rochelle Melander

Around my birthday, I wandered into my favorite Indie bookstore, Boswell Book Company (just blocks from my house!) and looked for a signed copy of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. I’d been eying it for weeks, waiting for an opportunity to treat myself. But I’d waited too... Read More

15 Jul 2014

Productivity, Write Now! Weekly Writing Tip

Writing Through Chaos: Three Tools by Rochelle Melander

The way you define yourself as a writer is that you write every time you have a free minute. If you didn’t behave that way you would never do anything. —John Irving Last week during the class I taught online (Three Shifts You Must Make To Succeed As An Author), a... Read More