How much do facts matter in your writing genre? When I was very young, I decided I’d write fiction because surely fiction couldn’t need facts the way journalism and nonfiction do, so I could just make everything up. Then I realized that fiction needs facts to ground the reader in the imaginary world. But when […]

Track Your Way Out of Writer’s Block: Tricks of Tracking #3
The old saying “Ready, set, go!” won’t work for writers who want to track their way out of resistance and into satisfaction and success. Instead, you need to Set your intentions, Ready the resources and Go track yourself. Set Your Intentions! They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but the road […]

Tricks of Tracking: KISS
The second trick of tracking for writing success is KISS: Keep It Simple and Seen. The system you use for tracking needs to be simple, quick, easy to use and readily accessible. It could be a chart with gold stars on your office wall, a legal pad on your desk, a Moleskine notebook in your […]

Tricks of Tracking: #1 Track the Right Stuff
How do you measure your writing progress: Word counts? Critical due dates? Action steps taken? I track Product Time, that is, the amount of time I spend doing anything necessary to move a writing project forward. Here’s why. While revising and reworking my novel, daily word counts of Chapter 61 shifted from 1675 to 1700 […]

Regular Writing Isn’t Enough — You Need to KNOW You’re Making Progress
It isn’t enough to make progress on your writing; you need to KNOW you’re making progress. Check out the short Pinkcast 3.12 video below to learn how seeing your progress motivates, rewards and increases your ability to make more progress. Be sure to come back (use your browser’s back button) to read more about a […]

How to Make the Most of Multiple Writing Projects? It Depends!
Thanks to Theresa for her comment and questions about managing Product Time for multiple writing projects. So Many Options You can structure Product Time for multiple projects in multiple ways. For the sake of example, let’s assume a writer who commits to 15 minutes of Product Time a day, 5 days a week. (Your actual […]

Seven Things I Learned Through Process Play: Guest Post by Catherine Brennan
I met Catherine Brennan in one of my Loft classes. Her first reaction to Process (play for the sake of play) was a mix of anxiety and enthusiasm. As she played around with the idea of playing around to support her writing, she found creative play expanded her writing and her life as a writer […]

Kid-tested, Writer-approved, Surprising Gifts to Boost Imagination
“One can never have enough socks,” said Dumbledore. “Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Of course books are outstanding gifts, but like Albus Dumbledore, I do think other gift options are underutilized. […]

Would You Rather have Writer’s Block or Insomnia?
Insomnia: the frustrating and painful condition of wanting and needing to change your state of consciousness and being unable to do so. Writer’s Block: the frustrating and painful condition of wanting and needing to change your state of consciousness and being unable to do so. In both insomnia and writer’s block, you can’t make the […]