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Watch these tips instead! The holidays are a wonderful time for many people, but for us artsy types they can be an emotional minefield. Even if we have a good relationship with our families, the sheer amount of exposure to people in such a short period of time can be exhausting. And that's without getting into all the awkward questions well meaning relatives like to ask about our creative hobbies. I can't make your family more pleasant, or their questions less awkward, but I can give you some strategies to survive the holidays with your sanity more or less intact. (more…)

Watch these tips instead and get a special BONUS TIP! Nanowrimo officially ended last week, and whether you won or not, I hope you took a break over this weekend. Nanowrimo is a massive challenge with a lot of pressure, and it's as exhausting as it is fun. You earned a weekend off, and you needed it if you want to avoid burnout (if you didn't take this past weekend off, take the coming weekend off instead). But the weekend is gone, and if you take any more days off you will lose the momentum you built during Nanowrimo. So today I'm asking you to get back to work, and to set a new goal for December: create a regular writing habit you can maintain year round. What do I…

Watch my top 3 strategies for building a year-round writing community through Nanowrimo instead! Nanowrimo is almost over and amazing things are happening. People all over the world are verifying their word counts and watching their green bars turn purple. Thousands more are buckling down to finish their novels--or at least their 50K--in the next few days. Many of those thousands are scrambling to push out an insane amount of words. Some are even using the crazy word count building tricks I shared here last week. There's something incredible, magical even, about all these people mutually achieving a common goal. A deep camaraderie that comes from sharing the same trials and tribulations and eventually the same success. It's the deepest sense of community I've ever felt. And in a few…

Watch the best of these tips - then scroll to the bottom to read the CRAZIEST thing I've ever done to win Nanowrimo. There are only 10 days left in Nanowrimo! The pressure is on, especially for those of you who have fallen behind. I'm here to tell you that there's still hope, even if you're behind. Even if you've barely started.  I've written 50,000 words in three days before, and you have a whole ten days left! You can get there--or at least give your novel a final massive push towards completion. Today I'm going to show you the best tips and tricks I've used to achieve massive word counts, ranging from the simple and practical to the completely deranged. But first, a note about "failure" In this article…

Writers all over the world are gearing up for Nanowrimo and everyone's talking about how you can make the time to write 1,667 words a day, but I'm thinking about something entirely different: how to fit self care in around an intense writing schedule. I'm the first to admit that I tend to let self care slide when I'm deep into a creative project. I'll get so caught up in my stories that I forget to eat for extended periods of time, and burning the midnight oil to finish my projects. I struggle with truly relaxing, because I've always got one book or another on the brain. And I definitely don't get enough exercise. All of this gets worse whenever I have a creative challenge or deadline. And if you've…

Imposter Syndrome: a false--and sometimes crippling--belief that our successes are created through luck or fraud, that we've simply fooled people into believing we deserved success rather than earning it on our own merit. A belief that can taint everything we do, preventing us from seeking opportunities or enjoying success when we achieve it. And one that is particularly common among creative folks; every single writer and artist I've ever met has struggled with imposter syndrome at some point. My own struggles with imposter syndrome In some ways, I've struggled less with imposter syndrome than most. I've always felt comfortable calling myself a writer, and transitioning to author was fairly simple. After ten years of hard work, I never once believed that publishing Keeper of the Dawn was simply a stroke of luck.…

Fall is my favourite season, but it's hard for a lot of people. An enormous number of people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the holiday season is stressful even for people who love it. Depending on where you live you may also lose access to some of your favourite self care activities. Many forms of outdoor exercise become dangerous or impossible the moment snow hits the ground. And even if it's possible, walking through a blizzard isn't a great way to de-stress. So how can you keep taking care of yourself as the cold settles in? Shift your self care schedule to focus on indoor activities! The best indoor self care activities Your personalized self care plan should consist of activities YOU love, but some things work for just about…

It's been a few months, but I simply couldn't resist weighing in on the topic for this month's #Inkripples challenge, career vs. hobby. For those of you who don't know, #Inkripples is a blog hop featuring themed posts from a variety of authors. The challenge was started by  Mary Waibel, Kai Strand, and Katie L. Carroll, and I've already participated several times this year. Without further ado, let's get into this month's topic! (more…)

Hi folks! Today I'm once again participating in the #AuthorToolboxBlogHop, a blog hop for writers who want to learn from each other and build a community. In the past few months I've focused mostly on the community-building aspect of the writing life, discussing things like Twitter chats and beta readers. Last month I switched gears to focus on the internal side of writing with an article about evening pages. Today I'm going to focus in on one of the most important aspects of a writer's mental health: our personal definitions of success. (more…)