As we turn the calendar from 2016 to 2017, we mark the passing of another year and with it another fifty-two weeks of blog posts here at “Byline,” where we discuss growing as a writer. Here are the top posts on Byline for 2016. Thank you for stopping by this past year. You helped show […]
Writers can learn a lot by reading the posts of authors, agents, and publishers While it’s fun to follow my friends’ blogs (and there are more than I have time to read), I learn about writing and the publishing industry by reading the blogs of authors, agents, and publishers. I’ve followed some of them for […]
Wordsmiths need both knowledge and a growing word count to achieve writing success I’ve run into writers who work in a vacuum. Committed to writing all they do is write, but they don’t study the craft. They don’t read books or magazines about writing; they don’t take classes, attend workshops, or go to conferences; they […]
Generating blog posts helps writers grow in the craft of writing and publishing content I’ve been blogging since 2008 and have written over 1,600 posts for my blogs. That’s close to half a million words and more hours than I care to admit. Why do I do it? That’s a great question, which I periodically […]
When our carefully constructed world of work comes crashing down, follow these steps to reconstruct it Writers are often amazed at the amount of writing I do on a daily and weekly basis. They ask how I manage to consistently stay productive. Part of it is my stage of life, part of it is discipline, […]
Tell us about your website or blog and link to it As a new feature of this blog, Byline, we will end each month with a chance for you to complete the post by sharing about yourself, your writing, or your writing journey. I’ll give the topic and you provide the response. Best of all, […]
Tap into your subconscious to spur creativity and inspire great stories Last week I asked the question, “Do you dream of writing?” I talked about five fatal perspectives common to aspiring authors and ended with the admonition to stop dreaming about writing and just start doing it. However, today I’m going to encourage you to […]
Maintain an idea repository to jumpstart your creativity every time you sit down to write Each week I create several posts for my blogs. I also compose posts for others (content marketing). In addition, I need to produce columns for my various publications. At a minimum, I write five new pieces a week, sometimes upwards […]
Video may be the next step in connecting and engaging with an audience With advances in technology, and the power residing on every smartphone, it has never been easier to record a video and start a vlog. A vlog is a video blog. I’m a huge proponent of blogging and in the past tried the […]
There is no single path to becoming a better writer. Instead, we have a myriad of options before us. Here are some of the opportunities I encountered on my writing journey: Write Columns Early on I contributed articles to a small newsletter (back when newsletters were still mailed). Having a deadline to hit each month […]