People hear the word creativity and think it has to mean “official” creative acts like writing, painting, drawing, pottery—creative careers. It doesn’t. As one of my greatest teachers, Louise Hay, always said, you can be creative in the way you make your bed, or cook dinner, or throw a party. You...
I love starting a new story. Once I start turning a new idea around in my head, the first couple of chapters just flow. I can’t get them down fast enough. It’s the middle I hate. And sometimes the end. So yeah, for me, the beginning of a book is as good as it gets. I know that’s not true for...
Those of you who follow me on Facebook or Instagram have probably met my rescue pups, Molly and Penny. I post a lot about them there, mostly because they're cute, but also because they are always teaching me something. Specifically Penny, my Australian cattle dog/poodle mix, who literally crashed...
I recently had a conversation with a friend about his love for true crime stories and one that had inspired a new project. It reminded me that I had always loved true crime and had been neglecting that particular infatuation. But since there is only a limited amount of hours in the day to consume...
If you’re a writer and you haven’t read Steven Pressfield’s books about writing, stop reading this right now, open a new tab, and order them. I mean it. (But come on back after you do!) All kidding aside, Pressfield is a genius—a prolific fiction and nonfiction writer who has been doing the work...
There are so many things we can allow to become barriers to creativity. We’ve talked about a lot of them here: procrastination, lack of confidence, the old false stories we tell ourselves about what we can or can’t do, writer’s block (also known as the muse taking an unplanned vacation). But...
The C-word. We all want it. Some of us try to find it though books, classes, accomplishments. Many of us fake it at times. But I think it’s fair to say most of us struggle with it. Yep, you guessed it. Confidence. It’s a tough one, right? Especially in the world of art and creativity, where...
For those of you even remotely acquainted with Writing Land, you’ll know the age-old debate: Pantsers or Plotters. First, let me define the terms for those who aren’t familiar. A pantser is a writer who flies by the seat of their pants—basically letting the story go where it goes. A plotter is...
