Are you feeling lately like your writing sucks? As writers, we often come up against the same weaknesses in our storytelling again and again. With each book completed, we improve on some things, but others continue to hover around the mediocre level, which can be frustrating. The danger is thatContinue Reading
The biggest emotional challenge of being a writer that I have faced thus far is the post-partum publication blues. During the weeks directly after releasing my work into the world, I’m a basket case and feel extremely vulnerable, suffering the extreme highs and lows of birthing a novel. This isContinue Reading
Every fall, I take a week to ten days to get away to my own little writing retreat. I have a quiet location I go to that I’m really familiar with. The people know me there, and I can come and go as I please. The area offers just theContinue Reading
by Iris Yang Wings of a Flying Tiger is a work of fiction. But to me, a Chinese-American, it is also personal. I was born and raised in China. My mother and grandma had lived in Nanking and escaped from the city just days before the notorious Nanking Massacre whenContinue Reading
Are you getting in the way of your own writing success? I recently learned that June fifth is “festival of popular delusions” day. To celebrate, the idea is to root out those delusions that may be holding you back, which can be a really useful thing for writers to do.Continue Reading
I am about to release my fifth picture book (100 Things) as an author and illustrator and I can honestly say that with each book I have had a different set of personal, professional and emotional challenges to tackle. But the very first book, Outside, Inside (2015), set the baselineContinue Reading
~Writing Well Wednesday Tip~ Getting out in nature is great for writers. It’s not only good for your health, but it helps replenish your creative mind, too. So if you’re heading out this summer, enjoy—just watch out for this. According to a recent report from the Center for Disease ControlContinue Reading
What does it take to be a successful writer? Ask around and you’ll get a lot of answers. A writer needs a desire to write, a regular writing practice, and an ability to accept feedback and grow. She needs persistence, courage, grit, and ambition. He needs to be open toContinue Reading
By Elizabeth Antonucci In October 2007, I was in a fatal car accident that took a friend’s life and almost took my own. It was a one-car accident. The driver of our car fell asleep at the wheel and when he realized what happen, he overcorrected, the car flipped, rolledContinue Reading
~Writing Well Wednesday Tip~ Would you like to increase your odds of living longer? According to a new study from Harvard University, you can do just that by adapting the following five healthy lifestyle habits: don’t smoke, eat a healthy diet, exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, maintainContinue Reading
If you tend to procrastinate, you know how frustrating it can be. According to an article in The Atlantic by Megan McArdle, “Lots of people procrastinate, of course, but for writers it is a peculiarly common occupational hazard.” Author Jacob Funnell agrees: “Most of us are guilty of procrastinating sometimesContinue Reading
I was 11 when the first version of These Lies That Live Between Us came to me. At the time, I lived in Japan, and one of my pastimes was to “write songs”—by which I mean I’d take the silly little love songs on my CDs and write my ownContinue Reading