Ever since I re-joined Medium (after a hiatus of about a year), I have been inundated with articles on productivity apps and apps for “PKM”. For the longest time, I had no idea what this PKM thing was, but these articles were about Trello, Notion, Obsidian, Capacities, and others. It…

People! They can be so difficult (says the devoted introvert). They are extremely complicated beings with their likes and dislikes, their personal history, and so many different factors that go into how they see the world, how they speak, even how they dress. And yet, as writers of fiction, we…

There are so many different types of story structure. and they have anywhere from three parts to six, twenty-four, or more. I happen to be fascinated by story structure. It’s a fundamental piece of writing fiction — and can be used for nonfiction as well. Story structure helps writers determine…

Twice a day your creativity goes into over­drive, and you may not be taking advantage of it. The moment you wake up in the morning and just before you go to sleep at night your brain is sleepy and pliable and, most importantly, creative. …

Are you a plotter or a pantser or somewhere in between? Writers are usually split up into two groups: Plotters and Pantsers. Plotters plot their work before they begin to write — and sometimes in such excruciating detail they’ve basically already written the book but in outline form (I once…

“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. ‘’ — Douglas Adams We all hate deadlines, right? Well, aside from Douglas Adams, most people hate deadlines. But there are some who absolutely love them. When I began working with a new coaching client recently…

Timelines will kill you… as a writer… in your novel. Let me clarify this. When you are writing a book (and, I’m sorry to say, this happens a lot more with pantsers than plotters) and focused on what needs to happen next to a) advance the plot; b) develop the…

Sometimes when you’re writing a novel, things just begin to get… stuck. You aren’t quite sure where your characters are going. Maybe you don’t know how they’ll grow, or what is holding them back from doing so. It’s at times like this that it’s best to go back to the…

There are some days when every time you look at the clock, it hardly seems to have moved at all. The day drags and just takes forever to get over with. And yet, there are other days when you’re so incredibly busy that the entire day is gone in the…