The Writing Process: From Idea to Great Book

The Writing Process: From Idea to Great Book

    Tens of thousands of books are published every year, but very few have any kind of impact, let alone hit a bestseller’s list. While there are tons of promises out there for programs that will get you a bestseller, writing a great book doesn’t happen...
How Writing a Book Is Like Moving to a New Place

How Writing a Book Is Like Moving to a New Place

At the beginning of 2022, my wife and I were presented with a special opportunity: She was offered a position working to streamline investment in eco-tourism in Sri Lanka. It would mean moving to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo for ten months and taking my writing...
Detachment Gain: The Value of Getting Out of Your Own Head

Detachment Gain: The Value of Getting Out of Your Own Head

Don’t think harder—think better. Last fall a client I was working with shared a New York Times op-ed with me: “How to Think Outside of Your Brain.” As a ghostwriter and writing coach, I’m always on the lookout for tools that can lead to better writing—because in my...

. . .  novelists . . . have, on average, about the same IQs as the cosmetic consultants at Bloomingdales’s department store. our power is patience. We have discovered that writing allows even a stupid person to seem halfway intelligent, if only that person will write the same thought over and over again, improving it just a little bit each time. It is a lot like inflating a blimp with a bicycle pump. Anyone can do it. All it takes is time.

—Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday, 128

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