Writing Tips

  These days, with social distancing, we can often feel isolated. Where once it was pretty easy to go out for a meal with friends or bond over shared hobbies and interests, now it requires lots of planning and risk assessment. Often, the risk is too big to take. Fortunately, we can use one of our interests, writing, to solve this problem.   Find...

A story or idea has been growing in your mind, perhaps for decades, and you finally take the leap—you decide you want to write and potentially self-publish. Congratulations! Self-publishing has steadily grown in popularity over the past decade and is certainly easier in many respects than traditional publishing. Much has been written on the process and what’s involved once you begin,...

  Like many of us this week, you may be wondering how you're going to get yourself through the rest of winter mentally and emotionally. Planning a tropical vacation? Relaxing with Netflix on the TV and a cozy fire in the fireplace? Closing all the curtains and ignoring the snow outside? These are all fine options, but here's a really creative one:   Write...

You may not know this, but everyone has a signature style in their writing. Have you ever explored yours? It’s actually a lot of fun! Here are a few ways to play around and maybe add a bit of pizazz to your writing. Steal Picasso once said, “Good artists borrow, great artists steal.” This can be shocking to those who have a never...

Whenever we have a conversation, the people we are talking to can notice patterns in our speech, and we can notice their patterns as well. Think ; “you know what I’m saying” or someone who uses “like” way too much. Just like in conversation, our writing does the same thing. We can say things like “interesting point” in an academic setting...

Fake it ‘til you make it. Power Posing. Visualization. These are just a few techniques for gaining and portraying confidence. You know being confident and self-assured is a key to being successful, but are you portraying that same level of confidence in your writing? “. . . just wanted to let you know I’ll have this to you by EOD today.”   “I’m wondering...

The main thing no one tells you about when starting out as a writer is that you can make money with small things. Remember a while back when we told you never to throw that short story away? That can actually be published in this remarkable medium that collects pieces like this. A lot of them pay their writers too! Here...

  To create a description that doesn't lie flat on the page, try incorporating another sense: touch. We use our tactile observations to make sense of the world, so why not write with them, too? Here are some categories to consider:   Hot/Cold Right now, you may be experiencing the extremes of this category if you live in a temperate climate. The bitter wind rages...

Though the holidays look different this year, a couple things haven't changed: connections among family and friends, and the likelihood that something will go terribly, horribly wrong in a humorous way. Just think about the stories that are usually passed around your holiday table. Since we can't gather in large groups to share them in person this year, how about the...