The writing life is a creative life that’s multi-faceted, aggravating, and volatile. In these posts, Darcy explores the ups and downs, the joys and despairs of choosing a writing life.
Start with this popular series of articles:
Think Like a Writer
Or find what you need in the article list below:
- Accounting for Writers
- Your Writing Career: How to Have a Long, Memorable One
- Writers Beware!
- Finding Time to Write
- Long Cooling Off Period – Stuff Your MSS in a Drawer!
- Are You Being a Lazy Writer? Stop it!
- Building a Writing Career
- 4 Ways to Manage the Frustration of Being “Almost” Published
- Mentor a Writer: Lessons from Biking
- In Publishing, You Live or Die by Your Opinion
- Turning Out Words: Productivity
- Go, Indie! Young Writer Go, Indie!
- 3 Tools to Help Part Time Writers Work Smarter, Stay Focused and Track Progress
- Find Your Novel Opening: Quickly, Efficiently–and with MORE Creativity
- Fowler’s Toad: He Chose Our Pond
- Hope: Send Me Your Good News
- Ban Cliches: How to Stand Out in Today’s Crowded Market
- Full Life? Take a Class
- 8 Things Writers Do When Life is Crazy: The Crazy Writing Life
- Advice to Academy Award Winners: Trust Your Art
- Author v. Them: When to Revise for Critiquers
- Is My Story Good or Bad? Wrong Question
- 3 Reasons I Failed NaNoWriMo – and Why It’s OK
- Momentum: Keep the Writing Coming
- Should You Write Fast or Slow? Here’s the Right Answer – And Instintively You Know This is Right
- Take a Creative Risk – You Might Surprise Yourself
- Feedback: What a Critique Group can Do for Your Story–And It’s MORE than You think!
- 5 Small–But Vital–Tasks for Off Days: #4 is the Worst
- May News: Earth Day, Featured Blog and Mother’s Day
- Arkansas Literary Festival: Cocktails, Glossolalia, and Orphaned Pumas
- Arkansas Literary Festival: Ankle Bracelets, Revised Sex Scenes, and Bees
- A Writing Career: Be Yourself!
- Introverted: The Writer’s Power and Downfall
- Creativity: 8 Ways to Keep the Stories Coming
- Fiction Notes Named in Top 10 Writing Blogs of 2013
- Writing Out of Sequence
- A Normal Day of Writing: Find Your Natural Rhythms
- Novelists: You are Gifted & Talented
- Hope, Optimism, Despair: Writer’s Emotional Roller Coaster
- Top Writing Blogs of 2013
- Deadlines are Useful
- The Writer’s Journey: 9 Metaphors
- Storing up LIFE to Write About Later
- 6 Ways out of Writing Slump
- Poland: A Writer’s Vacation
- Uncertainty: The Normal Writing Process
- Writers, are you a part of the reading community?
- Heights and Depths: A Writing Life
- I am in Charge of My Own Writing
- Shame, Vulnerability and Hiding
- All I Want For Christmas. . .
- Timely Articles and Books
- 10 Crazy Things People Say to Writers
- Finding the Sweet: Dealing with Rejection
- 12 Perfect Gifts for Writers in 2012
- What Writer’s Stuff Would you Buy if Given $1000?
- Through Your Lens: 4 Strengths of Your Writing
- The Creative Process: A Photo-Essay
- Revision Disturbs our Emotional Core
- 10 Ways to Beat the “Hurry Up and Wait” Blues
- How I wrote every day for a year
- Where Did My Novel Go?
- How Do you Get So Much Done?
- Switching from PC to Mac
- Is Your Manuscript On-Hold? Never!
- 4 Ways to Start Writing Again After A Vacation
- Critique Groups: Why, How and Where
- Summer Plans: Ideas for Topics
- Writer’s Block? Lower Your Standards
- 5 Ways to Get Past that Writer’s Block
- A Trip to Roswell
- 5 Uses for a Lull in Writing
- What is a Real Writer?
- Writing for 42 Days Straight
- February 750 word challenge
- Think Like a Writer: TOC
- 3rd Person POV: Think Like a Writer
- 1st Person POV: Think Like a Writer
- Omniscient POV: Think Like a Writer
- Writers Need to Whine Sometimes
- Face Your Fears: Think Like a Writer
- Photo Prompt: Think Like a Writer
- What Do Writers Think About?
- Details: Think Like a Writer
- Think Like a Writer, Day 1
- Writers Must Be Readers
- FamousAuthor.XXX
- 5 Magic Words Every Writer Should Use
- 4 Ways to Battle Discouragement
- Photos: A Writer’s Life
- Where Did the Summer Go?
- China: A Visual Feast
- Story Ideas: New Education Standards Sets Topics
- Just Write It: Stop Second Guessing until You Revise
- Writing in the Midst of Life
- Work Smarter, not Harder
- Snow Days: 3 Tips for Unexpected Days Off
- The Agony of Revision
- Work on YOUR Work
- Lifelong Learners
- Snow, Bugs & Writing
- 2013 Newbery Awards
- 1000 Competing Ideas & Tasks
- Passionate Stories
- Never Quit
- Distracted?
- 3 Ways to Write Through Summer Distractions
- Writing Schedule: 1 page/day=250+/year
- How Grant Applications Make Me a Better Writer
- Trust the Process
- @FictionNotes
- The Writer’s Challenge: Give it All
- How to Prioritize Your Writing Tasks
- The Year that Was
- 27 Tools for Writers
- working methods
- Successes
- Value of school visits
- Smell the Flowers
- Who is Reading Your Work?
- Tyranny of the Urgent
- Positive Rejections
- Fame and Fortune
- Writing Goals
- Teens
- August
- life rhythms
- Best Worst
- Taking risks
- Teen Voices
- Kids
- Balancing
- Stress
- Between Projects
- Sky challenge
- Book publicity
- Prioritize
- 6 Distractions
- Emotional Critiques
- Manuscript Length
- First Contract Advice
- Quoted at the Conference
- Jennifer Rees, Scholastic
- Jennifer Greene, Clarion
- Michelle Nagler, Bloomsbury
- Who Attends National Conference
- Meeting with Editors
- 5 Writing Tasks for Off Days
- Am I a Fearless Writer?
- Fearless Writing #2
- Fearless Writing #1
- Living Life so Fiction Can Grow
- 3 Ways Writers Survive Slow Times
- How to Fight Writer’s Depression
- Do you get that empty feeling?
- 4 Habits That Help Your Writing
- Turning Life into Fiction
- When Life is Exciting
- When Life is Hard
- Rules for First Readers
- Fear of Regrets
- The Ten-Foot Dash
- 5 Summer Projects for Writers
- My Current Works in Progress
- 10 Things That Mean You’re a Writer
- Starting a Novel
- Notebook Work: Looking backwards
- Fair Use Copyright Guidelines
- 10 Ways to Wait
- 2010 Newbery Winner
- Friday Ideas 2008
- Reports from 2008 SCBWI Conference
- Fire in the Hole
- Tornado and Author Visit
- Career in Writing
- My 2008 Schedule
- Aloha
- Fall schedule
- Writing rhythms
- Writing v. marketing
- The New Beginning
- The end
- Stay the Course
- What critics know after two days
- Time to Write
- 2 Useful Books on Creativity
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