The best stories read like they took no effort to write at all. But the more likely reality is that they were labored over, rethought, rewritten and revised during angst-ridden hours by a writer who battled several rounds of self-doubt. Learning the story behind the story can be as inspiring as the story itself. Laura-Lynne Powell, my creative sister-in-law,...
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I’ve been teaching myself to draw. I’ve actually been working on it for many years now and I finally feel like I’m making a little bit of progress. But even though I’ve drawn some things I really like, I still get sweaty palms when I sit down in front of a blank page. I’m not sure of how the drawing will turn out. I fear it will be awful. I feel stymied by not...
Read MoreAs I write this, my computer sits stuck on a photo of a beautifully sculpted marble foot. It is a lovely picture from the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. But as lovely as it is, it’s not what I need to see right now. I need to see my email and my word docs and this blog post. So instead of sitting in my cozy office, I am down the hall using someone else’s...
Read MoreIt may seem that a great book should sell itself. If it’s interesting and engaging, then everyone should want to read it. But the reality is that people can’t read a book if they don’t know it exists. It’s your job to make sure they know that it does, and that it’s worth their time. One efficient way to do this is to let people get to know you through a blog....
Read MoreEven though I write for a living and even though I do it nearly every day, I don’t always love it. In fact, sometimes, I really don’t like it at all. This is especially true if I’m writing a “high stakes” piece. I would consider this to be anything that someone else is going to read – which is just about everything I write! I want...
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