Momentum is everything when you’re writing a novel. Every author can attest to the dozens of unfinished manuscripts and long-lost story ideas they never got off the ground. People don't realize how painstakingly slow this craft can be. That’s why it’s important to...
Great novels of our time are rarely written by staring at a blank Google page and willing the perfect combination of words to appear. While inspiration is necessary, constructing a gripping and captivating story is actually a lot more formulaic than most new...
As one might imagine, the journeys that a male and female protagonist might take on the road to heroics are quite different. Feeling limited by the constraints of Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, therapist Maureen Murdock wrote The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest...
The Power of the Virgin's Promise Arc Just as people can't be confined to boxes, neither can fictional protagonists. And no archetype demonstrates the struggle of conformity better than the Virgin's Promise. First created by author Kim Hudson in her book The...
You're familiar with the adventure: a seemingly ordinary person is called to travel to a strange and unfamiliar land, where they battle evil forces and come out transformed. They must face adversity and danger, find allies, and ultimately achieve victory. This...
Time Management For the Win! Being sworn enemies with the ticking clock seems to be a shared affliction among writers. Whether you’re a novelist working on your first book or a veteran author tackling your next project, staying committed to a deep-focus task such...
Writing isn't just an expression of creativity—it's also a crash course in making quick decisions. Where does your story take place? What is your protagonist's motivation? What color eyes do they have? Writers have to make decision after decision when penning a...
When you finally silence that inner critic and decide to pursue your writing dream at full speed, you'll go through the same rite of passage required of every new author: Googling "how to write a novel." This milestone search will introduce you to a world of...
Every writer fears writing. Whether you're penning a Pulitzer or just trying to get a message from your heart onto paper, you can't escape the vulnerability of verbal expression. Even now, as I'm writing this simple blog post, I'm battling that same fear I see my...
National Novel Writing Month, fondly known as NaNoWriMo, comes around every November, challenging writers to produce a novel of at least 50,000 words in 30 days, 1667 words a day. It’s a holiday for some and an obsession for others. Nanowrimo is Validating November...
I help busy professionals write and polish the book of their dreams. Let’s bring authenticity to your speculations, flow to your structure, and heart to your words.
There's this pervasive idea that when you're writing a novel, everything else gets tossed on the backburner—including your mental health. While bringing a book to life definitely requires consistency and focus, the belief that you must give it your undivided attention...
We've all been there. Writing mental blocks can sneak up on any of us. Red-eyed and haggard, staring at a blank page and a blinking cursor feeling completely overwhelmed. For whatever reason, the tap of inspiration has suddenly run dry, and it seems like nothing you...