80% of First-Time Memoirists Make These Mistakes. Thousands of people who “survive life” each year believe they should write a book about what they’ve experienced in order to help others.  But is this, in itself, a good idea?, When should you actually write a memoir? When shouldn’t you? And what tools do you need to craft a […]

How to turn autobiography into memoir for publishing success. Every month, I work writers on projects intended to be memoir that instead read as autobiography. Some have received this very feedback in rejections from agents and editors. Others belong to writing communities where members simply do not understand the difference between forms, chalking every craft […]

HOW MUCH DO YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW TO BEGIN? Stuck on how to structure a novel? Should you outline first? Or free write to find out what happens along the way?  Writing is a journey. And while any trip remains an adventure, you wouldn’t leave home without a map or ultimate destination. When you […]

READY TO WRITE A MEMOIR? NAIL 3 THINGS BEFORE YOU BEGIN. Perhaps you have no idea what elements are essential for a successful memoir, or you’re stuck on how to start your book. Should you outline first, and then fill it in? Or free write to find out what happens along the way? Writing is […]

3 Essential Tips for Openings  The rise of online submissions systems means your manuscript will first be encountered by agents and editors in digital format. Form affects experience; people’s attention spans are shorter online. Add to this the fact that agents and publications lack the staff to read thousands of unsolicited submissions to completion, and […]

What’s the difference? Most clients who reach out don’t really know what a book coach does versus what services an editor offers.   They may not even know exactly what their manuscript needs.  Often, all authors intuit is: they can’t finish / they want feedback / they need to know if a book is on the […]

Do you know The Dos & Don’ts of Writing Compelling Dialogue?  In narrative, you can wax poetic about the setting sun. In dialogue, if you go on about the color of the sky, people are apt to find your writing pretentious. Why? Because readers will notice the WRITER in those scenes, not the characters. Good dialogue […]

Nowhere do the differences between Sensing and Intuitive personalities show up as clearly as in how each prefers to use language. Since style of communication is considered one of the most significant of human differences, it’s worth examining how this component of personality affects the way we write, and to learn how to write a […]

  The rise of online submissions systems means it’s likely your manuscript will first be encountered by editors in digital format. Form affects experience – people’s attention spans are shorter online. Add to this the fact that many publications and agencies lack the staff to read thousands of unsolicited submissions to completion, and it becomes […]

The drive to connect is a primary motivation of both writers and readers. If authors don’t capitalize on viewpoint intimacy, they won’t have an audience . . . or an art form. When I was an undergraduate, my award-winning creative writing professor embodied the workshop adage “show, don’t tell”. An old-school minimalist, he boiled fat from the bones […]