Tips for Editing Your NaNoWriMo Work in the New Year

When National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is reaching its end, it is time to start thinking about how you will edit your new masterpiece. As you enter the new year, there will be plenty of time to make tweaks and rewrites so you can reach your goal of one day publishing your work. Many writers can be hard on themselves when it comes to editing, … Continue reading Tips for Editing Your NaNoWriMo Work in the New Year

Reflections on My First NaNo

This past November, I did my first ever NaNoWriMo!  I’ve always wanted to try and have followed others’ tweets and posts about it with envy, but November has historically been too busy a time of year for me to take on an all-consuming project like writing an entire novel in 30 days. In 2019, though, the stars aligned, and I decided to dive in.  THE … Continue reading Reflections on My First NaNo

My Writing Life to Date: Stay-at-Home Dad & Words

During this morning’s writing session I was reflecting on how long I’ve been at this writing gig. Not in a bad way. Strictly the facts. I’ve written five middle grade novels now. It’s impressive to me when others in the arts share their struggles WITHOUT some big news to share at the end. Just the challenging points in the middle with no “but-now-I’ve-made-it” caveat. So … Continue reading My Writing Life to Date: Stay-at-Home Dad & Words

Six Mentors to Help You Plan Your Novel Series Infographic

Six Mentors to Help You Plan Your Novel Series

If you’ve ever tried to figure out how long your manuscript will be or whether you have ‘enough’ for a series, this round-up of series-planning tools and tips is for you. It’s all about choice. Resist the urge to fall down the tool rabbit-hole. 🙂 As the Writing Excuses‘ team points out, the goal for books in a series is “the same but different.” You … Continue reading Six Mentors to Help You Plan Your Novel Series

Breaking Through Writer’s Block

Last month, one of my editing clients emailed me a panicked plea for help with writer’s block. And although we’ve talked about this a bit on the blog already (How Do You Tune Out Online “Noise”?, Ideas to Hack Down Writers’ Blocks, 4 Ways Winged Pen Writers Get Words, Perfectionism and Pomodori), it can’t hurt to share the tips I gave my client for breaking through writer’s … Continue reading Breaking Through Writer’s Block

Happy NaNoWriMo!

Today marks the beginning of the frenetic bundle of amazingness that is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This month, thousands of writers around the globe will try to write a 50,000 word first draft of a new story. With an all-star line-up of NaNoWriMo Pep Talks, and hashtags on Twitter for both writing tips and daily sprints, this month is a great time to start writing … Continue reading Happy NaNoWriMo!