Blog
Mistakes happen
Yesterday's newsletter didn't go to the right group, so I had to resend it tonight. It may even come out after I'm finished with this blog post. I finished it early yesterday, did several edits, then had my wife read it before I sent it. Yet, it still failed—but
Pebbles
Write a blog post every day. Write your book every day. Show love to those close to you. Take walks. Exercise. Read. Each of these is a small pebble in the pond that ripples forward and backward through your life. Throw enough, and eventually, they'll ripple back. (h/t to
My first posts
I first started posting on Tumblr in May 2007. I shared family stuff and links until I eventually started writing about writing. Usually, it was about trying to convince people to write. A lot of it is uncomfortable to read now—a little too cocky and unsympathetic to people's challenges.
Someone needs your words
Someone finds your writing meaningful. It gives them hope and purpose. They find inspiration in it. After a very long day or week, they find escape within the pages of your story. So do the writing, no matter how you feel. You're helping someone, and that's all that matters.
Success online
The primary way most authors make money self-publishing online is to write daily and publish regularly—often many times a year. The goal set by many is to write 20 books to earn 50,000. With that many books, avid readers will help build and support your career. (I remember
Selling one-to-one
One of my favourite activities as an author is selling one-to-one. It's not an activity that scales, but it's nice to talk to readers, and it's always a lot of fun. My writing partner and I feel like we're pretty good at it. We try not to be too pushy
Reflections on the series finale of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
**Spoilers ahead After finishing The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel last night, I went searching for some behind-the-scenes info and found this article from Vanity Fair. The two bits that stood out. The first is from Amy Sherman-Palladino: We had so much story to get into this season because we needed to
ACTIAMO
A client uses a formula—ACTIAMO—when exploring her characters. They discovered it in The Benson Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine: Crimes possess all the basic factors of a work of art—approach, conception, technique, imagination, attack, method and organisation. Moreover, crimes vary fully as much in their
The riff, the atomic essay, the very short story
All short, fast forms to get the words on the page. One thought quickly put on the page to be shared. You don't have to do something big. You just have to do something.