A Writer’s Life

With everyone going so crazy over social media today, many have legitimate questions about “how much is too much.” How do you share information and conversation on your blog, Facebook, and Twitter while still having personal and professional boundaries? I’ve noticed two separate issues with this: 1. The professional aspect. What if you’ve queried 150…

We all have our daily challenges, and I think most of us have certain things we struggle with over and over. My biggest day-to-day difficulty is the sheer number of things that need to get done. Sometimes the to-do list is so long, I get paralyzed. So I have a sticky note right by my computer. It…

Neither do I. Here’s a look at some that have hit my inbox: “It’s not clear who the intended audience really is.” “It felt like a class research paper at times.” “I like the plot and hate the execution.” “The setup has so much potential for conflict, yet the story is dull.” “The content and…

Recently I was corresponding with a client whose book is fairly edgy and in some ways, counter-cultural. He knows I totally believe in him and his book, but in this one email I used some cautious language. I told him we were “walking a tricky line” trying to find the right publisher for the book—one who…

This quote is specifically about screenwriting, but applies to novelists as well. Literary talent is not enough. If you cannot tell a story, all those beautiful images and subtleties of dialogue that you spent months and months perfecting waste the paper they’re written on. What we create for the world, what it demands of us,…

As many of you know, I make it a priority to get enough exercise. It doesn’t always come easy (sometimes I slack off) but I try to find ways to motivate myself. Unfortunately my mind is always full of all the reasons I “can’t” exercise. I have way too much work to do.  My family…

As more and more people venture into self publishing, I’ve noticed that for many, it’s a rude awakening how much help they actually need even though they’re thinking of it as a DIY project. I think that’s because, with traditional publishing, most writers are somewhat shielded from the number of people whose work touches their…

(Repost) If you’re a writer, here’s what I want to ask you today: Are you getting ahead of yourself? There are seasons in a writer’s life: Seasons for focusing on the art and craft of writing, and seasons for focusing on the business of writing. And seasons where it’s appropriate to do both. If you’re a…

(Updated re-post) I’m still musing over the vacation I took last month with my family. It felt like a magical time of connecting with my daughters and husband, totally “away” from the Internet and the phone and the office. I admit I find it challenging, but I was intentional in my efforts to stay unplugged…

I’m taking a blogging break this week. Hope you enjoy this post from my archives. I received a letter from a writer who said that one of the great joys of his life was creating ideas and playing around with characters in fantastic worlds. But when he decided to try transferring these thoughts into stories,…

I’m taking a blogging break this week. Hope you enjoy this post from my archives. When I decided to become a literary agent, I received advice from several wise people who knew what I was getting into. They told me it would be a steep learning curve, it would be challenging to build my business…

“This book isn’t going to work.” I know many of you worry that agents gossip about writers behind the scenes. I don’t find this to be true, but what I’ve found is that agents often commiserate with each other about the hard parts of the job (like people in any kind of job). And one…