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Faking It: Making Our Actions Count

Woman with arms outstretched with text: How to Fake Confidence

We’ve probably all heard the phrase: Fake it until you make it. Faking it isn’t always easy, but the effort of faking it can push us forward. Over time, we’ll often discover we’re not faking it anymore. What would be even better, though, was if faking it wasn’t as hard, right?

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February 28, 2017

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Are There Story Elements You Avoid Writing?

Red handprint covered with "NOPE!" and text: What Do You Avoid Writing About?

The stories we write are affected by our worldview, but that’s not the only thing that might make us avoid writing about certain elements. By looking at the other reasons we might have, we can decide whether our avoidance makes sense or points out an opportunity to improve.

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February 23, 2017

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How to Make Our Blog Images Tell a Story

Calculator focused on addition key with text: Add Meaning to Our Writing with Images

Many forms of writing include visual elements, but there’s a difference between images that simply provide a visual element, and images that add to the writing. Let’s take a look at how we can make the visuals we include with our work add to the meaning of our words.

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February 21, 2017

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Help! What If I Can’t Find Beta Readers?

Magnifying glass over a blank page with text: Can't Find Beta Readers?

Every writer struggles to get their thoughts on the page and make their ideas make sense to others. The typical advice for how to resolve that issue is to use beta readers, but what if we can’t find beta readers? What can we do?

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January 17, 2017

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Writing Goals: Discovering What Works for Us

Dirt path through trees and ferns with text: Discovering Our Path

Several debates have come and gone on the publishing landscape. Plotters vs. pantsers, self-published vs. traditionally published, etc. I’ve always said that people should find whatever works for them, but what if we don’t know what that might be?

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January 10, 2017

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Writing Coaches: What Are They and Do We Need One?

Trainer visiting with a sea lion with text: Do We Need a Writing Coach?

A question over at my guest post at Writers Helping Writers asked what a writing coach was, but there’s no definitive answer. On some level, a coach is anyone who gives advice, so before asking ourselves if we need or want a writing coach, we’d first have to dig into what we mean by the term.

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December 27, 2016

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