Word to the Wise: Writing Advice You'll Actually Use
Helping aspiring authors build sustainable, enjoyable writing practices. Sign up for practical writing advice, plus insider wisdom from published authors.
Writing as a form of alchemy, anyone?
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice Storytelling is powerful. Writing is a form of spellcasting. Books? They are quite literally magic in its truest form—using words to change the world. As authors, we get to become writing alchemists. You might think of alchemists as ye olde chemists, laboring over a bubbling beaker of bright green liquid, attempting to turn lead into gold or discover the elixir of eternal life. That was part of it, sure. But a huge part of an...
My creative energy is waning—and that's fine, actually
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice It’s time to get in touch with your intuition. If you’re anything like the writers I’ve been coaching lately, both in individual Get Unstuck sessions and my three-month program, that’s probably one of the biggest things standing between you and a writing practice that unlocks your creativity. Intuition even came up in Casey Johnston’s fabulous book A Physical Education, which I finished the other day (affiliate link). She wrote,...
What looking for mushrooms can teach you about intuition
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice Come for a walk in the woods with me. We’ll look for mushrooms and talk about intuition and creativity. I live deep in the woods—we’re talking can’t-see-the-house-from-the-road, who-even-lives-back-there, must-be-a-witch kind of vibes. Lolly Willowes kind of vibes (affiliate link*). IYKYK. I spend a lot of time in the woods making friends with the gnarled oak and scruffy-looking shagbark hickory trees. I also find many, many...
Deadly mushrooms, a dream about trash, and your writing practice
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice I’m starting something new in Word the Wise, so it’s funny that I drew an oracle card all about death and endings this morning. But we’ll come back to that. I’m beginning an experiment—one I plan to run over the next several weeks. You’ll be hearing from me more often, and what I talk about is going to be a bit different from what you might be used to. I hope you stick around for it. It’s going to be weird, and it’s going to be...
Meet the Author: Jenni Gritters
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice! Meet the Author: Jenni Gritters Our interview this week is with a writer and business coach whose work I have followed for years—and Jenni Gritters is now my business coach! We cover a lot of ground in this interview, from Jenni’s decision to self-publish her forthcoming book, the visions she had of the book idea and how to market it, and Jenni’s advice for authors who feel like they are stuck in a season that keeps them from...
Meet the Author: Amelia Hruby
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice! Meet the Author: Amelia Hruby Today’s interview is a fun one—it’s our first repeat guest! Amelia Hruby joined me last year for an interview about her first book, Fifty Feminist Mantras (affiliate link*). Now, she’s on the cusp of releasing her next book, Your Attention is Sacred Except on Social Media, and I was thrilled to talk to her again about how she has approached writing, publishing, and marketing. Amelia is also the...
Meet the Author: Angie Marie
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice! Meet the Author: Angie Marie One thing I talk about a lot in the Word to the Wise newsletter is the importance of building a writing practice that works for your life—your creative cycles, physical/mental/emotional energy, and goals. This conversation with Angie Marie, author of The Cycle Syncing Handbook (affiliate link*), expands on that idea in fascinating ways. Whether you menstruate or not, attending to changes in your...
Meet the Author: Heidi Reimer on building a writing practice and her debut novel
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice! Meet the Author: Heidi Reimer Long-time readers of the newsletter know that I am not a fan of rigid writing advice (like the often dogmatic “write every day” approach). That was just one of the reasons I loved talking with Heidi Reimer about how she wrote her debut novel, The Mother Act (affiliate link*), and her approach to writing. Heidi blends structure with creative freedom to create a writing life that is uniquely hers—and...
Meet the Author: Jessica Moorhouse on beating impostor syndrome and marketing your book
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice! Meet the Author: Jessica Moorhouse There are a lot of books about money out there—many of them excellent! Few of them, however, delve into the roots of our feelings about and relationships with money. That’s why I was excited to talk with Jessica Moorhouse, host of the More Money Podcast and author of Everything but Money: The Hidden Barriers Between You and Financial Freedom (affiliate link*). In our conversation, we cover how...
Can you improve as a writer when the world's on fire?
Word to the Wise Build a sustainable, enjoyable writing practice! Are you loving Word to the Wise? Share it with a friend! How do you get better at writing when life is life-ing? This is part two of a two-part series focused on building a creative practice during turbulent times. You can read part one here. Today, we're joined by Lori Puma. Lori Puma helps writers craft fiction that inspires readers to skip bathroom breaks and ignore smartphone notifications. She helps them build outlines,...
Helping aspiring authors build sustainable, enjoyable writing practices. Sign up for practical writing advice, plus insider wisdom from published authors.