Latest from the Blog

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  The Writing Brain on Trial

  by Ian Smith Setting: A courtroom. Dimly lit. One defendant in the dock; not a person, but a Brain. Charge: Theft…not of money, but of life. BRAIN: (In the defendant’s stand, looking round and sneering at IAN SMITH, a man on the opposite side in the witness stand.) JUDGE: (who

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  The Hidden Value of a Hard Writing Life

  The writing life can mess with your head if you let it. I was reading the comments on one of my recent videos, and though many of them were very positive, there were some that just sounded completely defeated. Writers were saying things like, “Nobody reads. Nobody helps writers. Publishers

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  The 4 Most Dangerous Self-Doubt Traps for Writers

  Self-doubt can feel like just another miserable part of writing, but in my experience, it often becomes far more dangerous than that. That’s because it tends to show up at the exact moments that matter most in your writing life. And if you don’t recognize it for what it is,

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  Why Writers Quit Even When They Still Care

  Why do writers quit? Years ago, I attended a writing workshop. The writers in that room were all good. I read their work. About a year later, I followed up with them, and here’s what got me. Almost all of them had stopped writing. I found that really heartbreaking because

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  4 Writing Career Mistakes That Cost Me Years

  If you’re making writing career mistakes, I want to spare you some of the years I lost. Picture this: Years of your life wasted, stuck in your first book, completely invisible to readers. And why? Because you ignored four simple pieces of advice. I know because I ignored them, and

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  Write With Famous Author Confidence

  Most of us have this fantasy around famous author confidence. We think, One day I’ll sign that contract, I’ll see my book in bookstores, and then I’ll finally feel like a real writer. We think success creates the confidence. But brain science suggests it often works the other way around.

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  Too Many Story Ideas? Try This

  How do we handle too many story ideas when every one of them feels urgent, exciting, and somehow more promising than the one already sitting in front of us? Let me ask you something. How many story ideas are sitting on your laptop or in your notes right now? Be

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  Why Your Brain Fights Writing Success

  Do you ever have that sinking fear that you’re going to pour years of your life into your writing only to get absolutely nothing in return? No sales. No awards. No readers. Just wasted time. Maybe you worry that the publishing industry is just too saturated right now, or that

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  The Secret Behind How Great Writers Improve

  How great writers improve—do they really need to, or do they just have the talent to begin with? When you sit down to write and it’s just not working, do you secretly worry that maybe you just don’t have it? That natural-born genius that the great writers seem to have?

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  How to Finish Your Novel When Your Brain Resists

  Are you desperate to finish your novel? You know the one. You love the characters and the concept, but every time you try to get back to it, something more important comes up. You tell yourself you’re just busy. And that’s probably true. But deep down, you know that’s not

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  Why Writing Feels So Emotionally Intense

  The emotional writing life can feel like a very high rollercoaster. One week you get a great review and you feel on top of the world, like maybe this writing thing is finally working. The next week you get a one-star review, sales dip, and suddenly you’re questioning everything. High

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  Let Your Backstage Brain Write Your Novel

  If you feel like the only way to write your novel is to clear big blocks of time, your backstage brain is about to become your new best friend. If you’re trying to write a book while working, caregiving, or raising little kids, you already know how hard it is