The question was how to jump in and advise a newbie they were making mistakes. The deal I’ve made with paying it forward is this: If someone asks me for help, I warn them that I’m truly analytical. (Usually by that point they know, but I still feel obligated to say so.) I go over

I’m struggling with an anxiety/depression cycle (again).  Part of the problem is that when I take care of myself, I feel my anxiety or depression more acutely than I did before I started taking care of myself. Numbness.  It’s comforting. I try to tell myself that it takes energy to feel numb, not the deadness

I’m running a study project for a writing group; I thought I’d note down my current study process here, too: Pick the right book, by a long-term pro in the field.  15+ years of writing a book a year, a book that’s less than 10 years old (and push back the 15+ years if the

Curated by Kris Rusch, the Science Fiction and Fantasy binge reader bundle provides 19 novels and umpteen short stories by the likes of Kris, Anthea Sharp, Thomas K. Carpenter, Dayle Dermatis, and more. I have a novella in there–By Dawn’s Bloody Light: A Fairy’s Tale.   As Kris says: What kind of fiction will you

Here’s the deal.  I’m overwhelmed with stuff.  Part of me wants to just charge in:  the sooner I get started on the mountain of tasks that I (always) have in front of me, the better. …But the problem isn’t that I have “a mountain of tasks,” it’s that I think of them as a literal

dragonflies, spider silk green ripples on black water below the mirror–goldfish the undersides of branches shimmer. a bird calls desperately –across the pond, a woman plays a mating call off her phone. dragonfly plays copyeditor over the shadows dancing on my page …It was a good day.  I also saw a bonsai tree shaped like

The last time I went to Trader Joe’s, I found myself standing in front of a display of cookie butter cookies.  These are like recursive cookies. I wonder if they’re any good. A woman reached past my shoulder to grab a box, as you do at Trader Joe’s, because Trader Joe’s is all about catering to

You know how for some people, it’s easier to do something if it’s for someone else’s sake, not your own?  I’m that way about writer stuff.  If I weren’t doing it in order to accomplish the writing dream, I wouldn’t do it because: I don’t deserve it (I may have mentioned I have self-confidence issues),

So “plotting” is the current writer term for “I write a plot outline before I write a book.”  “Pantsing” is the current writer term for “I write a book without writing a plot outline beforehand (in other words, by the seat of my pants.)” Plotters seem to feel that pantsers are cheating somehow.  “Just admit

Here’s the thing about editorial changes: If you could have done it right the first time, you would have. This is hard for editors to understand; I know, because I’ve taken the same attitude toward my editorial clients that my ghostwriting clients have taken toward me: But it’s not that big of a change…just try