by Rochelle Melander “It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” ―Louis Sachar  On Sunday, at the Basecamp to Brilliance Summit, I talked about how small steps make big goals doable. (You can still sign up—but you have only ten...Read More

by Rochelle Melander Most of us know what we’re never up for. Here’s part of my list: roller coasters, cruises, and cats (I’m sadly allergic). But despite having a clear idea of what we don’t want to do, many of us don’t make time for the activities we’re passionate about—like writing. We do what we...Read More

(and Preserve Your Writing Time) by Rochelle Melander “If something is not a “hell, YEAH!,” then it’s a “no!” – James Altucher At the beginning of fall, the days feel open and full of possibility. I feel like I can do it all—all the classes and clients and projects—and still write. Of course I can’t....Read More

By Rochelle Melander May Sarton published Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing, anovel about a poet and writer in the early 60s, long before cell phones and the internet. Here’s what she said about the main character’s struggle to write, no doubt inspired by her own writing life: Every single day she fought a war to get...Read More

By Rochelle Melander Imagine that you have someone who’s eagerly awaiting your next writing project. She will rejoice when you finish it. He can’t wait to get it out into the world. How would you behave differently if you knew someone was waiting for your work? I’m guessing you might get serious about your writing...Read More

by Rochelle Melander There’s more than one way to look at a blank page. Gaston Bachelard wrote: A word is a bud attempting to become a twig. How can one not dream while writing? It is the pen which dreams. The blank page gives the right to dream. G.K. Chesterton had a completely different view:...Read More

The Writer’s Guide to Collecting, Generating, Recording, and Developing New Ideas by Rochelle Melander Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any. – Orson Scott Card Ever get that flash of insight that turns into a...Read More

Game Changer #3 by Rochelle Melander “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” That saying, attributed to both Knute Rockne and Joseph P. Kennedy, was used in a hit song by Billy Ocean. It perfectly captures the American work ethic: work hard. While it may seem like a good idea to work without...Read More

by Rochelle Melander When the world is in crisis—it’s important to get connected to your why. Twice a week, Heather Cox Richardson, closes her Politics Chat by encouraging people to find their purpose and act. Often, she recommends that people make art. Today, writers are taking to their blogs, YouTube, and many other places to...Read More