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 published Mrs. Stevens Hears the...Read More

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 participant mentioned that she’d tried...Read More

Dear Writers, Today at 7:00 PM CDT, I’ll be speaking at Nonfiction Writers’ University. I’ll be talking about Three Shifts You Must Make To Succeed As An Author. The class is free, but you must sign up here. We’re still in the middle of the July Write-A-Thon. We didn’t get enough people to do the...Read More

Dear Writers, Today, we’re starting the July Write-A-Thon (and the second half of 2014!), and today’s tip talks about why you need to write-a-thon. If you want more support, follow the Write Now! Coach Facebook page for daily encouragement, and write! And, think about coming to my class next Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 7:00...Read More

“…I had formed the habit of working in my studio almost every single day. Rain or shine, eager or dragging my feet, I just plain forced myself to work.” —Anne Truitt (Daybook, p. 126) When I was in second grade, I read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. The novel taught me to think beyond what...Read More

              I never use that word, retire. —B.B. King Last summer, we attended a B. B. King concert. As the night began, King shouted: “I’m B. B. King, and I’m 87 years old!” (He’s 88 now.) Then he launched into a song with his deep baritone voice. As I...Read More

Instead of thinking outside the box, get rid of the box. —Deepak Chopra In a study published in Psychological Science, Angela Leung of Singapore Management University and her coauthors enacted the popular metaphor thinking “outside the box”. They created two comfortable work environments, one literally inside a box and one on the outside. Then they...Read More

The only good teachers for you are those friends who love you, who think you are interesting, or very important, or wonderfully funny; whose attitude is: “Tell me more.” —Brenda Ueland Last week, I met with a writing friend for coffee, and she asked: “So, when can I read your book?” I’d promised it to...Read More

At the beginning of summer, the days feel open and full of possibility. I feel like I can do it all—and still write. Of course I can’t. When I try to do too much and say yes to obligations that don’t make my heart sing, I end up letting go of writing time. And then...Read More

All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. —Friedrich Nietzche Now that spring has arrived in Wisconsin—finally!—I’m walking more. In addition to my daily exercise, I take tiny walking breaks. In Write-A-Thon, I wrote about a study that showed that women who walked had better brain connectivity.  But that’s not all! Recent research suggests that...Read More