by Haley Walden
Author life has its ups and downs, like so many things in life. Let’s face it: writing a book can be a long road, especially if you’re just starting out or don’t write fiction full-time. It’s easy to lose focus on our writing goals, so we need milestones and celebrations to keep our focus and our energy on track. Sure, there are major milestones … Read More 5 Author Life Accomplishments Worth Celebrating
by Haley Walden
Are you releasing your book while you’re in the process of writing your first draft? If so, you could be killing your creativity and stunting your book’s progression from idea to full story. Self-published authors have a lot to consider, from book concept to publication. That means it’s a little too easy for us to get ahead of wherever we are in the publishing … Read More Why Releasing While You Write Kills Your Creativity
There are three main ingredients when it comes to building your fiction career: Mindset, Business, and Craft. All three of these must work together, inform each other, and drive your strategies. If you only focus on one or two (you’d be amazed at how many authors only pay attention to one), you’ll never reach your big goals. Or maybe you will, but chances are … Read More The Business of Fiction: Platform vs Brand
We wanted to show our readers what a typical Waypoint Newsletter looks like. This was our most recent, which we wanted to stretch far and wide: Thinking about your story is important. Working things out in your head like plot, setting, pacing, characterization IS writing. So don’t beat yourself up or feel stressed out if you can’t get the time to sit and write. … Read More Productivity Tips in Uncertain Times
Productivity is at the forefront of everyone’s mind this month. How can we crush 2020 and dream big and get more—health, money, happiness, and so on? What do we need to DO to get where we want to go? I’m here with a different question for you today. Who do you need to BE to get where you want to go? Some people love … Read More A To-Do List vs A To-Be List
I love STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron. I recommend it for everyone who is a writer or wants to be a writer. But I especially recommend Story Genius for those authors who want to be traditionally published, receive requests for full manuscripts from agents and/or publishers, but keep getting pass letters. This book will help you gain that final layer so necessary for great books. … Read More Five Things I Learned from Story Genius
Welcome back to a segment called Thanks, Tips, where I break down vague publishing advice and make it more transparent or actionable for you. This installment looks at the phrase Know Your Genre and helps you to understand what it means and how to do it. Phase One The simplest iteration of this is you have to know where your book fits in the … Read More Thanks, Tips: Know your Genre
When it comes to writing, like most other things, you can’t build a writing habit by starting at the outcome. This is the time of the year when exuberance mixes with social pressure, and people lay a crazy expectation on themselves that is both unrealistic and unsustainable. I’m going to write two thousand words a day for all of 2020! Wait. What? No birthdays, … Read More Just Show Up: Build Better Writing Habits in 2020
I’ve read a ton of pre-published manuscripts, and it’s been amazing and interesting, but here’s what is lacking in so many instances – creativity. Seems crazy, right? Like, someone wrote and entire novel, what more could you possibly want? Creativity. Creativity in the way a character sees the world. In the way the world sees the character. Bonus if those two things work against each … Read More Pep Talk: Unleash your Creative
The older I get the less I believe in correct and incorrect decisions. I’m not saying I don’t look back at my “regular life” and my “writing life” and go – WHAT THE VERY HELL WAS I THINKING??? But I will say that most often, I remember WHY I made a given decision at a given time. (like the tattoo on my leg that … Read More Pep Talk: Breathe, Find Perspective
Write more books… It’s a thing often found in advice columns by writing blogs and coaches. If you want to sell more books. Write more books… This is 100% accurate, but what is often left out is this: What the ever loving hell does that mean? It’s a vague and obvious statement that most authors are perplexed by, because of course you plan to … Read More Thanks Tips: Write More Books
Writing is not a goal, it’s a habit. The act of sitting in your chair and writing new words on a page is not an item that belongs on your To Do list. Writing is something that needs to be built into your day—like brushing your teeth. The moment that you put writing on your To Do list it loses its appeal. It’s now … Read More Writing does not belong on a To Do List
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