The people who get my newsletter already know about this! I’m really excited about it. My book MASTER LISTS FOR WRITERS: Thesauruses, Plots, Character Traits, Names, and More is going to be for sale on Monday, October 26. This book is designed to help people get inspired, stay inspired, vary their approaches, and most of all, write faster. I can’t

As a non-parent, I’ve always been struck by how often parents believe that their small child’s tendencies or slight delays indicate what kind of adult they will be. I’ve seen enough difficult two-year-olds to grow into easygoing nine-year-olds, for instance, to ascribe temper tantrums to a child’s age rather than her personality. It’s clear to me that a child who

Most of us need a little extra writing motivation now and again. If you know my blog well, you know that I’m a big believer in positive affirmations—including writing affirmations! So here are twelve affirmations about writer’s block, creativity, and writing success, for any time you need a little extra encouragement. I guess as a writer, it’s not surprising that

This isn’t my clever idea — it is author Kelley Lenhart’s, and I borrowed it with her kind permission because I thought it was so much fun! The idea here is that you come up with an alternate title for your book as though it were a clickbait headline for an article on the internet instead. You know those headlines. I think Upworthy may

First off, “Cancer” is the worst name in astrology. Can we re-name it, please? Anyway, the Crab is a great personality type that can help you build a devoted, emotional character! [AdSense-B] Some people think of Cancer as “wimpy,” which is totally incorrect. Being emotionally open and honest is its own kind of courage, and as a couple of the