When I first started writing, I wrote stories filled with exposition or summary without even knowing it. I was writing by instinct based on my years of experience as a reader and I didn’t know the technical aspects of writing, the craft of developing stories that work. That’s a great phase to be in, because […]

Who are you anyway? One of the biggest struggles for emerging writers is how to find your voice as a writer, or more precisely, understanding your true voice. The quick answer here? You don’t need to do anything special to find it, it’s already there. Just write. Write a lot. Your voice will become evident […]

You sit down to write, eager to translate the words and images in your head onto the page. Perhaps it takes a few minutes to settle in, but you’re soon deep into your work-in-progress. Two hours later you look up, astonished that the world outside your book exists and wondering where the time went. Have […]

Many of us wish the world was a kinder and more compassionate place. We’re clear that political dialogue should be constructive rather than destructive, and people attacking one another will not help us solve our problems or heal the world’s seemingly intractable divisions. We’re good humans, or we try to be. We know that being […]

What's up with the writing police? Experts abound in every field and every expert offers advice from their own world-view. The writing advice most often offered to new writers is: “You should write every day.”  I hate this kind of writing advice. To be clear, I’m not saying you shouldn’t write every day -- it’s not the […]

Can you spare 10 minutes? Writing practice always varies from writer to writer. It's not what it looks like that necessarily matters -- the details can vary but the need for a considered writing practice never goes away, even for published writers. There was a time, about a decade ago now, when I could not […]

Nothing has made more difference to my writing life than working with mentors -- writers with more experience than I had at the time who could encourage me to push myself and my writing further than I know I'd have been able to do working on my own. I can't say enough about how that […]

I believe that writing groups can really push writers ahead -- much more quickly than when writers just trudge along on their own. Here are some useful tips to help create and sustain effective and supportive writing groups: I hope they help! For most of the past decade, I’ve been in one writing group or […]

Sometimes I forget that writing takes time. Last week, I had ALL of the meetings. You’d think the world would have run out of meetings by now, but no: apparently, there will be more next week. And I still had that cold that will not leave and has me hacking morning and night. My daughter […]

Imagine the following scenario...  You’ve got an idea for a novel, and you think it’s a good idea, too. It feels like the right next step for your writing practice—an ambitious step, sure, but not an insurmountable one. You’re ready to take on a new challenge.  But you’ve never written this kind of long-form project before.  Maybe […]

Writing while travelling definitely does not always go as planned. Right now for instance, you’re reading last week’s blog post. What I mean is, I meant to finish and post this last week but that didn’t happen. And yes, I get that this is more than a bit ironic, given that this is a post […]

Busy Women on Writing Books This is the ninth instalment in an interview series on writing, profiling women writers who’ve written and published books while also working, parenting, volunteering, caring for family, attending school, and ALL OF THE THINGS. This month, I'm pleased to introduce you to a friend of mine, Barbara Sibbald. Barbara and I […]