Why did I open with a French phrase? It describes an opening position, as fencers face each other and prepare to attack or defend. It’s the challenge uttered by the prissy villain moments before his wardrobe is slashed to rags and the hero leaps from the window, fair maiden in his arms, to land on the […]
Jeff Goins
Making Word Music: Practice Your Way to Perfection
Yesterday I practiced writing. Today I am practicing writing. Tomorrow I will practice writing. Are you seeing a pattern here? Practice is a repeated action. The practitioner repeats the action because he is attempting to acquire proficiency. When I was young(er), I played the organ, and later the piano. But I only played after minutes, […]
Day Three – Initiate a Writerly Habit: Clean It Up
It’s time to initiate one good writing habit. Initiate is an action verb. Meaning we have to actually do something. Let’s take a hard look at your writing lair. Is everything organized and ready to find when you stumble into your writing space at Oh-dark-thirty in the morning? (Thank you, Jeff Goins!) Or are you […]
Make a Habit of It: Following the Greats
Last month I posted an entry in Jeff Goins’ You Are A Writer contest to promote his new book. Writing my post and reading the posts of every other contestant was so inspiring. The world is full of people who say they want to write. But this group of 138 writers didn’t just talk about wanting to […]
Revealing Ourselves: Writers Take Risks
So, I didn’t win, or even place, in Jeff’s Goins’ You Are a Writer contest. But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I was one of 138 writers who publicly stood up and declared our innermost identities. Isn’t that the most important thing? That we claim our talents and make use of them – […]
Claim It, Shout It: I Am A Writer!
Is yours the only house on the block with a window still lit at 2:00 a.m.? If that light were not casting a golden glow across your backyard when he comes home from swing shift, would the deputy sheriff living next-door break down the door to see if you are lying in a pool of […]