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Lisa Tener
Book Writing Coach
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Journaling: Writing Through Resistance
This summer I worked through the prompts in my upcoming book, The Joy of Writing Journal. Many times it flowed and sometimes I met internal resistance. You see, ocassionally, I made my list as per the instructions (the ones I wrote for my readers!) in the exercise but then I felt resistance or even grouchy…
When is it Time to Share My Writing? When to Hire an Editor?
It’s important to know when to hire an editor and when to share writing. You can wait too long or you can also share too soon! Sometimes people feel nervous when it comes time to share writing with me. They want to polish or perfect it before sending. And they wait and wait and wait….
Writing About Trauma: Are You Protecting Readers from the Truth?
The other day, a client talked about how she’s written little pieces of her memoir, but that she felt blocked because she didn’t want to hurt the family members of her abuser by writing about the trauma. Two decades after the abuse, she met with her abuser to tell him how the abuse had impacted…
Memoir Writing Advice to a Young and Hopeful Writer
Javier (not his real name) contacted me for memoir writing advice because he had a story to tell. And he wasn’t sure he knew how to tell it. This book will be about navigating my life as a black, gay man. It will address my coming out experiences, gay stereotypes, getting involved with men…
Know Your Readers
As I get ready to launch my book, The Joy of Writing Journal, on Sept. 22, I’ve been thinking deeply about my readers—”Who is this journal for?” and “What can it do for them?” Much like you may wonder about the readers of your own book. In a way, it seems like a simple question….
12 Blogging Tips for Authors and Aspiring Authors
Today I’m sharing 12 blogging tips for authors, because blogging was one of the smartest and best things I ever did for my business as a book coach and author. In this post you’ll learn the why, how, what, when and more, in order to grow your community and write a book your readers will…
How to Write an Engaging Email
I don’t read all my emails. I hardly ever read the stuff that goes to promotions or social or trash or spam. And I skip more than half of those in my regular inbox! Yet, once in a while, I receive a mass email that I can’t help but open and read all the way…
How to Get Inside a Reader’s Head (and Write a Book Readers Will Buy)
Most of my clients write prescriptive books–self-help, how-to, business…books that help people acheive goals, create transformation or solve problems. For these types of books, its especially important to understand your readers–who they are, what they think and feel and want, how to connect with them. How do you get inside a reader’s head to understand…
Have You Signed Up for the Nonfiction Writers Conference?
The online Nonfiction Writers Conference offers excellent up-to-date information for nonfiction writers. For the third year in a row, I’m one of the featured experts in the “Ask-a-Pro” sessions. So, if you sign up for Gold, Platinum or VIP access, you get up to 3 private one-on-one sessions with experts on: Book writing Publishing PR…
Book Proposal Tips: New and Favorites
Several of my favorite book propoal tips came up in recent phone consultations with a couple of emerging authors in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program. As I shared some of my favorite book proposal tips, I found myself offering a few new tips, as well, that have to do with a changing marketplace…
Overcoming Overwhelm to Write a Book—and Finish It!
As I’ve been meeting with students in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program, several have had moments of overwhelm: “I can’t believe I signed up to write a book. There’s no way I can do it in the middle of this stressful time.” And I get it. But I also get how writing and…
What Puzzles Teach Us About Writing
I’ve been thinking about what puzzles teach us about writing. Why? As part of my return to health, I’m spending time each day relaxing. That has meant choosing activities that bring me pleasure and nurture my inner child, like doing puzzles. The Gifts of Puzzling The more I puzzle, the more I appreciate the many…
How Long Does it Take to Write a Book?
“How long does it take to write a book?” If you’ve asked this question, you’re not alone: I hear some version of this several times a month. You probably know what I’m going to say next: It depends. The Factors How long it takes to write a book depends on the type of book, how…
A Nonfiction Writing Meditation for Digging Deeper
The most compelling nonfiction writing goes deep, whether self help (the vulnerability of Brene Brown), memoir (the uncensored, raw and self deprecating humor of Mary Karr) or other narrative nonfiction. Yet, I can remember as a young writer, still in college, wondering how to dig deep. I could do it when I wrote poetry or…
Ever Feel Insecure About Writing? Here’s the Cure.
Everyone has moments where they feel insecure about writing. When I wrote my last blog post, I asked my assistant Geri to read it and let me know if it held together. My mind still felt a bit muddy and I had no idea whether it worked in bringing together the different ideas that coalesced…
Surprise! Despite Intentions, This Post is Not What I Set Out to Write…
Way back in December 2020, I started writing a post about ditching New Years’ Resolutions and what to do instead (setting intention). That was before I ended up in the hospital and even my intentions, such as a wildly successful book launch, got hit by a tidal wave. Here’s how the original post began…still fitting,…
What To Do When Your Book Launch Falls on Inauguration Day – and Other Tips
Yes, we’ve been planning on January 20, 2021 for my book launch for The Joy of Writing Journal, and my friend Portland Helmich asked, “Isn’t that the Inauguration?” It is. So, here’s what you do when book launch falls on Inauguration Day. You reschedule it. Do you push yourself to get those videos filmed and…
Why Her Creative Muse Kept Waking Her at 1 am!
Stephanie Meyers hadn’t planned on a “meet your creative muse” meditation. In fact, we got on Zoom to shoot a quick video for my forthcoming book, The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day. After we shot the video, Stephanie confessed that she didn’t know what to do about a…
Thanksgiving Gratitude and Writing Community
It’s become tradition to blog my Thanksgiving gratitude list. Despite the challenges this year, I have much to be grateful for, especially this writing community. I also want to acknowledge that some of my readers may be grieving. If that’s you, I hope your writing practice brings solace, sustenance and fulfillment, especially in this formidable…
5+ Writing Lessons I (re-) Learned Today
Some days you just have to re-learn the same lessons you picked up a year ago, or a decade ago and forgot. Here are the 5+ writing lessons I re-learned today. I hope they help and inspire you! #1: Your Reader Changes Writing Lesson #1 Your Reader is Not the Same Person at the End…
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