• 15 Phrases that Signal Your Writing Went Off Topic

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    Throughout my experience as an editor, I’ve found that nonfiction writers are more inclined to go off topic than fiction writers. I believe passion plays a huge role in writers’ rabbit holes, tangents, and off-topic stories or anecdotes. When writers are angry, allow their personal biases to seep through their work, or let their passions run wild on paper, that is when I see writers jump the tracks from the purpose of their book and digress into uncharted territory. Over the years, I’ve heard writers defend their side topics. “But it adds color to my writing,” they will say, or…

  • How are your yearly writing goals coming along? It's time for your mid-year writing check-in. Don't worry, there's still plenty of time to reset!

    Mid-Year Writing Check-In

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    People all around the world add “write a book” to their list of resolutions at the start of each year. By July many forgot they made that promise to themselves. Life gets busy and responsibilities start to stack up. Dreams of becoming an author slip to the wayside—only to be dusted off at the onset of another new year. Did you promise yourself you would finish a writing project this year and stalled out somewhere between January and now? Don’t worry, there’s still time to focus back in and accomplish your writing goals before 2019 comes to an end. Here…

  • There are certain things that you absolutely need to keep your writing at its best. Here are 15 things every writer needs to have on their desk.

    15 Things Every Writer Needs On Their Desk

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    Painters need a canvas, paint, paintbrushes, and a rolling landscape begging to be painted. Musicians need an instrument, quarter notes on sheet music, and an audience to play for. What do writers need to create their artistic medium of choice? Obviously, a writer needs paper, pen, and an idea. We know it’s not that simple though, right? Writers need inspiration—but how you go about tracking down and bottling that inspiration is different for everyone. Some writers are basic; they need a dictionary and thesaurus for unsticking their brain, and that’s it. Other writers need a desk with a window view and lots…

  • 10 Steps to Becoming a Highly Effective Writer

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    Writing and procrastination might stereotypically go hand-in-hand, but no one has ever written a book by procrastinating. The only way to write a book is to write. It’s a crazy concept—I know. But if F. Scott Fitzgerald procrastinated on The Great Gatsby, none of us would even know such a book existed. So, how do we reverse procrastination, start putting words on paper, and cross the finish line? Let’s break it down. Here are 10 habits you can adopt to become a highly effective writer. Become a reader. The best writers are the best readers. Read anything and everything you can get your…