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Being a writer means living fully, richly, rarely, and reveling in ordinary and extraordinary moments. Have you thought of weaving the raw material of your life into a tale that shapes events, gives meaning to experience, delivers a bit of wisdom? Have you envisioned what you might create, the essays you can write, the book you can author? It’s not the creativity that’s hard, it’s the sitting down to do it that’s hard. All it takes to make writing a part of your life is the willingness to make it a habit. The seed of every habit is a single, small decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts, grows stronger. Roots embed themselves, branches flourish. That’s why writers establish routines for themselves, cultivating the writing habit one…

A story depends on how you slice it. You can choose where each story begins and where it ends. You can decide what story you want your life to make. There are many stories within the course of your life, and there can be alternative stories depending on the different meanings you choose to give the events. Shaping an experience into a narrative arc helps you discover new meanings and hidden significances of your life. How you track, order, and select moments, how you choose where it might begin and where it might end, will determine the story you tell. Every story has an arc from where you were to where you are, the challenges along the way, the hurdles, and how things culminated with a change, a transformation—sometimes big,…

Do you feel like you’ve taken your manuscript as far as you can and are ready for a fresh, objective outsider’s perspective on it? A manuscript evaluation provides developing writers with honest, detailed, and professional feedback to help writers along their journey towards publication. Whether you’re writing for business or for pleasure, a manuscript evaluation facilitates not only the development of your manuscript but the development of yourself as a writer. What a Writing Community Can Offer Sometimes a writer will join a writing group where they can share their work with other writers and invite their comments. Regardless of the level of your work, this critique process is a valuable part of the learning experience. As part of a group, you must also comment on the work of others,…

Imagine a finished manuscript in your hands, or your name on the front of a newly published book—does that excite you? Better yet, imagine letters from readers saying your book changed their lives, that your words gave them a new perspective. Clarity. Renewed hope. Joy. If other writers enjoy these things, why not you? First, you have to write a book. A well-planned book is based on a concept: the writer begins with an idea, and from it a plan emerges. Take whatever time you need to sift through your story ideas and choose the one you would want to read—the one about which you’re most passionate. It must capture YOU so completely you can’t get it out of your head. Only that kind of an idea will draw you…