Tag Archive - writing for life workshops

8 Reasons to Attend a Writing Boot Camp

Often, at the end of the year, we writers start strategizing about our plans for the New Year. That’s why I’ve been running this series of blog posts on strategic planning. It’s important. Time is precious, demands on our time are numerous, and we want great results in our efforts to improve as a writer in the least amount of time.

At least I do. I hate wasting time. I try to make the most out of every minute I spend on my career, whether it is researching, writing, attending conferences, teaching, or brainstorming. I can’t rush my ideas, and sometimes it takes me months to pull a novel together in my head before I’m ready to write. But I can be efficient with all the other aspects of my writing life.

Over the years I’ve attended a lot of writers’ conferences. I’ve also attended some intensive one-day and one-week writing workshops. I always learn a lot at conferences, but, hands down, I learn the most at intensive events. Also what I learn at those focused intensive workshops made the greatest impact on my skills as a writer. Continue Reading…

Start the New Year Writing for Life

It’s a new year, and perhaps you’ve made some writing resolutions for 2013. Maybe you read through last month’s posts on strategic planning and you’ve set some practical goals for your writing career. If you are a writer who needs to write, wants to reach an audience with the stories you yearn to tell, and don’t see writing as just a passing hobby, then you might want to redefine yourself—if you have not thought of yourself yet as a “true” author.

“Clothes” Make the Writer

You don’t have to wait until you’ve been published or have sold thousands of copies of your books to think of yourself as an author. The sooner you see yourself as one and wear that hat, the better you will feel about your writing life. They say “clothes make the man.” In a sense, if you clothe yourself as a writer, you will not only “look” the part, those “clothes” will help adjust your mind-set and help you think like a professional writer. I’m not talking about real clothing, although maybe there is some form of dress that screams “writer.” But we put on a mind-set or attitude that bespeaks professionalism and dedication to our craft. Continue Reading…