Embracing Your New Identity as a Writer
“I’ve made some progress with my outline until about two weeks ago and I’ve read hundreds of articles on writing in the past two months.” “Hundreds?” “Yes. Hundreds.” As an attorney who fights for environmental justice against the biggest polluters (you can probably guess some of the names of these companies), Janna was winding down her casework and planning to turn full time to writing books about her dramatic battles with some of our country’s most powerful companies against the backdrop of a court system consistently manipulated by corporate interests. While she found herself still wrapping up cases, she felt… Read more
Why You Haven’t Written Your Book Yet: 5 Tips to Start Writing (+Finish!)
The two biggest challenges of writing a book are to start writing and to finish your book. The other day I heard from someone who’d been working on her book for 15 years. 15 years! Have you been struggling to start writing your book or finish it? Here are the 5 main reasons I see people get stuck, along with tips to get unstuck and start writing: “I don’t know where to start.” Hard to start writing if you don’t know where you’re going. A road map will help. Sit tight. It’s coming. “Who am I to write a book?”… Read more
In Memory of Martin J. Tener
My dad passed away a week and a few hours ago. I’m still processing the loss of his body and my continued connection to his soul. There’s so much to share about my dad, a remarkable man from humble beginnings who remained intellectually curious until the day he died at 82. My brother and sister and I touched on different aspects of my father during our eulogies. Here, I share a few of my memories and thoughts from the eulogy I wrote and shared on Monday at his funeral: Many a Sunday morning, Dad led us in a rousing round… Read more
35 Superb Reasons to Write a Book Now
Thinking of writing a self-help book, how-to book or memoir? A few years ago, I began the new year on this blog with 25 reasons to write a book now. Readers loved the inspiring examples and the opportunity to add some new motivation to their book-writing dreams. Some even used this motivation to write and publish their book. Woot! Ready to find your mojo? You want to leave your legacy: After Dr. Eric Pfeiffer retired from practicing medicine, Yale University Press published Winning Strategies for Successful Aging and Caregiving in Alzheimers and Other Dementias. You’re finally ready to leave your corporate job behind, take… Read more
How to Keep Your Writing Momentum During the Holidays
I originally wrote this short piece to help the writers in my mastermind group keep their writing momentum going during the holidays. I realized that it would be timely to share with the wider community. A few ideas for making sure you keep writing while family is around and festivities abound: Be realistic. You don’t have to plan on tons of hours; just make sure you keep your momentum going. Can you write for two hours a week once or twice a week for the next couple of weeks? Schedule the time and date directly into your calendar and keep… Read more
Employ These Powerful Verbs in Your Leadership or Author Bio
Want to know one of my favorite editing tips when creating or revising an author bio, a book or a blog post? Employ powerful verbs. Search for verbs like: was, is, had, has, could, can, are and am in your document. When you find these not-so-powerful verbs, see if there’s a way to replace the meh verb with a verb that paints more of a picture. Verbs can convey movement (external and internal), emotion, change or transformation and impact. Naturally, a few weeks ago when I presented Rewrite Your Leadership Bio at Harvard Medical School’s Career Advancement and Leadership Skills for… Read more
12 Meaningful Holiday Gifts for Writers
I love buying gifts for writers. It’s like shopping for myself–with no guilt! How about you? Any writers on your Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanza list? I’m a little on the late side for Hanukkah, but lucky for me it’s an eight day holiday! Okay, here are a few great books—for pleasure or success as a writer—and some other unique finds I’ve purchased over the years as gifts for friends and colleagues and for myself as well! That’s right, don’t forget a little something for the writer in you. Everyone loves a gift and your inner muse may just light up… Read more
7 Crucial Things to Know Before You Start Writing a Book
Before you start writing a book, let me tell you about Joyce (an alias). Joyce became an award-winning published author a decade ago. She went on to write a book that people often found on the internet and read in one sitting. Many signed up for her in-depth, week-long training program and others contacted her to find a certified image consultant trained in her methods. She regularly received emails from people in England, Australia, Eastern Europe and her home country, the US. Let’s ride the “Back to the Future” car, though, to several years before that. Joyce came to me… Read more
Writing from Your Heart
I was recently interviewed by Dawn Montefusco for her Writing from the Heart series. Not surprisingly, we found ourselves talking about writing from the head vs. the heart. Sitting here at my computer, staring at my screen, it’s easy to drop into “head” mode. I started this blog post about writing from your heart and then realized I needed to bring more heart into it! Am I practicing what I preach? Here are a few of my musings about writing from your heart and some tips for getting in touch with that. There’s a Little Poet in All of Us… Read more
What I Learned About Leadership from Two Seventh Graders
Last night, Quest Montessori School offered a peace and nonviolence training put on by the middle school students. The group of parents and younger students broke up into three groups and my son asked to switch to the “What is Violence?” workshop as his closest friend headed there. It wasn’t the workshop I would have chosen or the one suggested as our first “stop” in our handout. I followed his lead. Two seventh grade girls led the workshop, their third partner home sick and unable to join. Let’s call them Jane and Maria. Jane and Maria handed out orange stickies… Read more
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