Subscribe to Lisa’s Blog

Weekly writing & publishing news, tips, and events — straight to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Lisa Tener’s Writing and Publishing Blog

Screen Shot 2022-05-24 at 9.49.24 AM

Find articles on your most pressing writing & publishing questions. Plus, creative support for your inner muse!

Lisa Tener Joy of Writing Journal

How to Be Your Own Book Writing Coach

People often wonder, “What does a book writing coach do? How does it help? What’s the process that makes it all work?” While every book coaching relationship is different, certain specific challenges come up frequently—and there are very specific things I suggest to my book coaching clients to address these challenges as they arise—or to…

Read More...

Be on TV

How I Got to Speak to (and Pitch) a Top TV Producer

Are you curious about how I got to speak—and pitch—to a producer at one of the biggest TV shows in the country? My story begins in an unlikely place. Wednesday, I shared how I came to the conclusion that TV just wasn’t my thing. Maybe you found yourself nodding in agreement? It certainly didn’t feel…

Read More...

Lisa Tener on TV

I Thought I’d Never Go on TV Again

In the fall of 2020, in anticipation of my planned January 2021 book launch for The Joy of Writing Journal, I hired a publicist who landed me some TV opportunities, where I spoke on 8 creativity-oriented evidence-based mood boosters that one can apply during a pandemic. The topic of creative mood-boosters related to what Gay…

Read More...

Inspiring Reasons to Write a Book this Year!

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…

Read More...

human design for writers

Human Design for Writers

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…

Read More...

Lisa Tener Joy of Journaling

Here’s to a Wildly Creative Year in 2022

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…

Read More...

Cathy Kim, MD

A Novel Perspective on Sitting for Writers: An Interview on Sitting with Cathy Kim, MD

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…

Read More...

gift for writers

2021 Holiday Giving Guide for Writers: Best Gifts for Writers

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…

Read More...

Lisa Tener Great gifts for writers

Great Gifts for Writers—My Guest Post for the San Francisco Writers Conference

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…

Read More...

lisa tener creativity and journaling catalyst

Gratitude and Writing Community 2021

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,…

Read More...

Lisa Tener book coach

Book Proposal Rejected? Here’s Your Fix.

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…

Read More...

lisa tener creativity and journaling catalyst

Day 30: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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…

Read More...

soil

Day 29: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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…

Read More...

Day 28: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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…

Read More...

reading the joy of writing journal

Day 27: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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…

Read More...

lisa tener book coach

What To Do When “Someone Published a Book Just Like Mine”?

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…

Read More...

weeping cherry

Day 26: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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…

Read More...

Lisa Tener book coach

Join Me for the Fall 2021 Nonfiction Writers Conference!

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…

Read More...

Lisa Tener Creativity

Day 25: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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…

Read More...

Martin Tener

Day 24: October Journaling Adventure with The Joy of Writing Journal

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,…

Read More...

iba16_gold_h
SAWIB14_Silver_H
Gold-awards-writers
Winner-Badge-300x120-1
NEWJoyofWriting_3D-4-awards

Get Lisa's New Book:

The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day

Screen Shot 2020-09-07 at 10.05.50 PM