Lisa Tener
Book Writing Coach
When I ask someone, “Why write a book? What’s your vision?” I often hear, “To make a difference.” That’s certainly one of the most compelling reasons to write a book. “Tell me more,” I say. As the aspiring author dives deeper, I hear more specifically how they want to make that difference. They share their…
I first heard the term “human design” over a decade ago to describe a systematic way of categorizing five different constitutional make-ups from an energy perspective. Recently, my friend Deborah Louth suggested I look into it, since she saw me as a “projector” who needed to understand how I overspent my energy. Such insights could…
How to make 2022 a wildly creative year? Grab your journal and answer these questions: What’s your creative vision for 2022? What other projects are you excited about for the year and why? What is the most important project for you this coming year? Why? What else do you wish to accomplish by the end…
I met Dr. Kim at Harvard Medical School’s CME publishing course a few years ago. I was immediately struck by her assertion that the most damaging thing we do to our bodies as writers is not sitting but getting into and out of our chairs — perhaps a hundred times a day. Dr. Kim was…
Looking for the Best Holiday Gifts for Writers? You may have seen my guest post for the San Francisco Writers Conference on great gifts for writers where several writer friends from the SFWC community and beyond shared the best writerly gifts they’ve ever received. I got a little carried away with that post. My 500-1000…
Today, The San Francisco Writers Conference featured my guest post on Great Gifts for Writers. No ho-hum holiday gift guide, in this post, members of the SF Writers Conference and some other dear writer friends shared the best writing-related gifts they’ve ever received! Hanukkah isn’t over yet. Christmas and Kwanzaa are yet to come. Authors…
Perhaps you’re familiar with my tradition to blog my gratitude list this time of year. I have much to be grateful for, especially this writing community. Gratitude to You Here are a few things and people I’m grateful for: My journaling practice. Just about every morning, I’ve been journaling my dreams, followed by other journaling,…
As one of the pros in the Ask-a-Pro sessions for the Nonfiction Writer’s Conference, I get to talk to lots of brilliant people with outstanding book ideas. One of my jobs is to help them figure out how to best get that book published—self publishing, traditional publisher or hybrid. Last week, one of my consultations…
Today, I invite you to list at least 5 possible ways to support your journaling habit and then imagine your day as journaling impacts how it flows. My Journaling List My list includes: Journal most mornings—first in my dream journal, recording dreams and sometimes interacting with them, then in my journal-journal. If I feel so…
Wow. I wrote some really embarrassing things in my list of “things you don’t know about me.” I settled upon something mundane—that I like to garden barehanded, pulling on the roots of [what I believe is] mugwort. I journaled about my experience gardening that day—transplanting Hosta with the help of my son and his friends…
Today I ask you—and me—to think of a most exotic, thrilling or memorable vacation spot. Then we write about an experience there, incorporating all our senses. On Day 28, I write about a trip between my first and second year of business school at MIT. I traveled to Japan with two male classmates, one Japanese…
Welcome to Day 27 in our community jaunt through The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. In her memoir, Bless Your Little Cotton Socks, Diane Radford, MD shares the quirky sayings of her delightfully inventive Scottish mother. The saying inspired the title of today’s prompt. In my journaling, I…
Imagine someone publishing a book so much like the one you’re writing. It could be devastating to discover “someone wrote my book,” but there’s another way to see this as an opportunity. “What do you do when you find out a book was just published that is almost exactly what you had in mind writing? I…
Welcome to Day 26 on the journey through The Joy of Writing Journal. Here I share an excerpt from my journey and I hope you will share something about yours—an excerpt, an insight, a challenge, a joy… Today’s prompt invites you to choose a favorite or least favorite room in your home. Then imagine a…
The online Nonfiction Writers Conference is an excellent resource for navigating the world of book publishing and promotion, so you can get that book into the hands of your would-be readers! This Fall’s conference takes place Nov. 4 and 5, with “Ask-a-Pro” sessions throughout the whole week. Once again, I’m one of the featured experts…
Welcome to Day 25 on the journey through The Joy of Writing Journal. Today we explore some of our quirky personality traits and how they help us as writers. The truth is, I just realized that, while I wrote my Day 25 list of quirky traits, I never answered the prompt about how these traits…
Welcome to Day 24 on the journey through The Joy of Writing Journal. Here I share an excerpt from my journey and I hope you will share something about yours—an excerpt, an insight, a challenge, a joy… My dad was a true character with a brilliant mind—a renaissance man, English teacher, musical genius / composer,…
Welcome to Day 23 on the journey through The Joy of Writing Journal. Here I share an excerpt from my journey and I hope you will share something about yours—an excerpt, an insight, a challenge, a joy… Months after 5 days in the hospital and a couple emergency room visits on both ends, I journal…
Today we list 5 perceived flaws or strengths of ours. Or else of someone we admire. Do that now! Then we flip it. Explore how that strength can also be a flaw or how the flaw can be a strength. It’s a useful exercise in expanding our perceptions and perspective. I have trouble with the…
Note things that happened this past week that you can write about; make note of things that inspired you; schedule your writing times.
