• 15 Things Every Writer Needs On Their Desk

    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…

  • 7 Stages Most Books Are Stuck in

    1. The Dream Stage. You have a dream of writing and becoming an author, but you just don’t know where to begin. 2. The Idea Stage. You actually have a really good idea–and other people tell you it is–but you’re not sure how to develop it. 3. The Message Stage. You just taught an incredible message and you can’t help but think, “This would make a great book, but how do I develop this message into a book?” 4. The Journal/Notes Stage. For years you’ve written in a notebook or journal. You have pages and pages of great writing, but…

  • 5 Writing Prompts To Make You A Better Writer

    Reading and writing every day is the best way to sharpen your craft. What if you (like many people) don’t have time to sit down and write lengthy paragraphs on a daily basis? Or what if you need a little help with what to write? These quick and easy writing prompts and exercises are concise enough to do every day, but will give you that kick of imagination and inspiration you need for your next big writing project. 1.) Give It Life Pick an inanimate object that you can see. It can be anything—a lamp, a knife, a picture frame,…

  • Writing Sprints: What They Are, How to Do Them, and Why You Should!

    There are two writing woes that affect our writing more than than anything else—writer’s block, and editing when we should be freeform writing. Sometimes writing prompts can help infuse life back into a dry spell, but the newest writing trend is an activity called writing sprints (also known as word sprints), and they can actually help with both writer’s block and taming our inner editors. What Are Writing Sprints? Writing sprints are short bursts of focused writing time that can be done alone or with a group. Twitter and Instagram are also growing in popularity for writing sprints. Anyone can…