by Elizabeth Wheeler Writing after retirement wasn’t something I was thinking about when I left the workplace. After all, I had been writing for decades as a public relations and marketing professional. (My portfolio included newsletters, annual reports, marketing materials, speeches, columns for newspapers, and many more items.) I envisionedContinue Reading
Work-life balance often seems like an unattainable goal for writers. We must fit writing into the spaces between our jobs, family, and communities, and those spaces can be super small. To find an audience for our stories, we must also build platforms and regularly engage in marketing activities. We wantContinue Reading
Are you in need of a course correction in your writing career? It’s not always easy to tell, but here’s a thought for you: You may need it more often than you think. Why You Need a Course Correction More Often Than You Think I read one of the lastContinue Reading
Welcome to the Writing and Wellness annual quote round-up! Looking back, I can’t believe that this is the sixth year I’ve done these. They’ve all been popular posts and I love how they capture certain overarching themes in the writing life. You can view past quote pages at the followingContinue Reading
How about a year’s worth of writing tips in one post? This year has been a crazy one for sure, but looking back, we’ve talked about several topics that may be helpful in your writing life. Some apply to your health as a writer—extremely important to your longevity in theContinue Reading
No one would argue this year has been a tough one. Book launches were canceled or delayed. Workshops shifted from the fun and inspiring in-person variety to the less personal and not-as-exciting online variety. Book signings disappeared almost entirely. Agents and publishers closed their doors to new submissions. But weContinue Reading
Did you know that November 1st is National Author’s Day? How cool is this? We authors get a special day to ourselves! We have to take advantage of it. Below you’ll find 20 ways to celebrate this unique occasion. Have fun! Where Did Authors’ Day Come From? Nellie Verne BurtContinue Reading
It could be that parts of your writing personality aren’t serving you. In the spirit of Halloween, it’s time to tap into your inner murderer. Dark thoughts are welcome here because you’re not going to be hurting anyone, not even yourself. Instead, this is a cleansing process, an exfoliation ofContinue Reading
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but as writers, we all need one skill perhaps more than any other: patience. Below are five reasons why, along with five tips on how to develop yours. The Health Dangers of Being Impatient First, let’s be clear about what patience is. According toContinue Reading
Here’s what we writers tend to do: We work super hard for long periods. We strive, push, try new things, spend our nights and weekends learning and writing and editing and publishing, take classes, go to conferences, write and write some more, blog, present, do public readings, and on andContinue Reading
I’ve been writing for over 20 years now, and I did some reflecting recently. As they say, hindsight is 20/20, and I can see now where I made some important mistakes early on. I’m sharing those mistakes with you here, in the hopes of saving you from making the sameContinue Reading
Have you made the “one decision” as a writer? For years, I worked on writing while in a state of indecision. I was committed. I stuck to a regular writing routine; read books, magazines, and online posts about craft; tore apart my stories to figure out structure; and hired aContinue Reading