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Writing Your Life client John Mitchell has enjoyed one heck of a week! He received a message all aspiring authors dream about--his book won an award. It was also selected by a book club where they invited him to join the discussion, and a noted author praised his work. Wow! Mitchell's book, Seven Ships: A U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Officer's At-Sea Career, was just selected as a finalist in the 2018 Florida Authors and Publishers Association (FAPA) President's Awards, in the autobiography and memoir category. All finalists will receive a gold, silver, or bronze medal at FAPA's annual President's Award Banquet in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, this August 4, 2018. We are going

Last week’s newsletter featured a writing prompt that explored the foods of our Fourth of July traditions. Food really is a magnet that draws up our memories from the deep beyond. Author Rick Bragg released a new book earlier this year that gloriously weaves together story and food. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the bestsellers All Over But the Shoutin', Ava's Man, and The Prince of Frogtown shares

What do a pilot, scuba diver, entrepreneur, inventor, builder, and world traveler have in common? These traits all happen to describe one man. Mary Karr writes in the introduction of The Liars’ Club that the reason she chose to write her book as memoir instead of fiction is, “When fortune hands you such characters, why bother to make stuff up?” This is exactly the reason why Writing Your Life client Don Richardson was urged

As many of you can tell by the workshops and talks I've been offering lately, I'm on a writing-short kick. I'm encouraging everyone to embrace the challenge of telling a story--beginning, middle, and end--in 1,000 words or less, not 1,005 or 1,050. One thousand words equal four doubled-spaced, typewritten pages. Now, if you're really up for a challenge,

Our Free Seven-Day Writing Challenge that began on June 18 wrapped up earlier this week. Participants were actively engaged all week and shared so many amazing pieces of original work. The challenge featured daily writing prompts, including one special day of sprints, writing on a one-word topic for one minute, for a total of five words in five minutes. Whew! Here are comments from some of the challenge participants:

"I really enjoy the community of writers, their stories, and the encouraging comments they post both to my writing and the writing of others. I am always impressed by the level of writing and enjoy seeing how familiar names appear and seem to have improved since the last challenge." Sarah Fine

If you are newer to the writing process, it may feel overwhelming. After all, when and how does one write? What does one do with all of the little stories in order to make them into a real book? We are here to help! Follow along in this series of bites in the coming weeks to learn more. Bite #19 - A Writing Schedule I can already hear you say, “Not another schedule!” I know, I know. Most of our lives are scheduled down to the minute these days. If you’re one of the lucky few like my student and friend Elaine who loves to write so much she does it every free minute of every day—in doctors’ waiting rooms, at red lights, while she eats, in her sleep—then skip this section. If you’re like me, and most other authors I know, writing has to be deliberate; it doesn’t happen without a little encouragement from the outside.

It's not too late to sign up for the last half of the Free Seven-Day Writing Challenge. I don't want you to miss one more day of the fun, so here is…

Remember when grade-school teachers insisted you include three to five complete sentences in every paragraph? That formula worked well for crafting elementary essays, but you’ll benefit from sometimes tossing aside that guideline in current projects. Variety adds spice not only to life but also to your writing rhythm. Shorter paragraphs make points with a punch. Longer paragraphs, on the other hand,

Register today to participate in my free Make Your Writing Shine Webinar on July 10th at 7:30 p.m. EST or July 11th at 12:30 p.m. Your stories are important and deserve to be clear…