Posts Tagged ‘novel writing’
How come pleasure never makes it on to…a dutiful list of dos and don’ts?
Doesn’t joy also get soft and flabby if you neglect to exercise it?
Ellen Goodman
It’s Valentine’s Day (in the U.S.)!
Many people are thinking about love in its various forms.
I’m thinking about your love relationship with your creative life.
When was the last time you wooed your creative self?
Do I hear crickets in the background?
It’s mid-February and if you’re like me, you’ve experienced one or more of the following:
– the thrill of holiday overindulging has subsided (but the pounds still linger), leaving you with a general malaise.
–you can’t find the journal where you carefully scripted out New Year’s intentions.
–you’ve had to deal with an unexpected computer breakdown, home repair(s), lingering cold, sick child, etc.
So, for most of us, we’re back to reacting to the most immediate to-dos on our very long list.
As creative folk, sometimes we spend a lot of time focused on what we’d like to have more of in our lives: time, money, recognition, etc. A bit of griping and wishing is fine, but ultimately that kind of energy doesn’t get us in the mood to WOO anything (or anyone). By starting off with feelings of love and friendship for our long term creative projects, we may just find that we can muster up the energy to find out what we actually want to do next and how to get support for it.
Just like any other relationship that we value, we must make time for our creativity. And, just like any other relationship, feelings of pleasure, kindness and affection make us and others feel good. I suggest taking some time this Valentine’s Day to court your creative life. Is there a project that you need to seduce? Can you make time for a date with your creative work today or later this week? Have you told your creative self how much you value it?
Writing prompt: Try writing a love letter to your creative self or project. Extoll its virtues, ruminate on how it makes you feel (when the relationship is going well), and dream about the possibilities of love rekindled. Decorate the letter if you like and put in a place that you can see it and feel inspired when necessary.
Photo credit: Getty Images
P.S. Want more innovative ways to keep connected to your creative self during difficult times? Check out my free guide here
Hi creative peeps!
It’s not at all too late to join the coolest and most informative FREE masterclass series. It’s geared toward novelists but I think some of the craft and mindset tips can be applied to writing in general. This is really going to help those of us who struggle with bringing a story full circle, connect the dots and create a fantastic ending? And also for those writers who need more support in HOW to turn what seems like an excellent idea into a robust story.
Maybe you struggle with confidence and think you’re simply not good enough to be a writer (plot twist: you are good enough!)
Or is it just that old chestnut of never seeming to have enough time to sit down and write?
If ANY of the above speaks to you, Be A Bestseller 4.0: Write Your Novel With Confidence will make you realize writing your book and finding fans is well within your grasp.
My friend Emma Dhesi has you covered.
She has brought together 20+ experts to help you structure your novel for success so you can plot a story that flows and find a flood of new readers. And I’m also one of the speakers!
Be A Bestseller 4.0: Write Your Novel With Confidence runs from 16-27 January 2023 and it’s totally FREE!
To REGISTER GO HERE
A replay of all the interviews will be available!
Early Bird Special For Chart Your Path to Publication 2023 –You Don’t Want to Miss This!
Posted on: November 21, 2022
Hi writers,
Ten years ago, around this time of year, I became a published (and paid) writer! My story, ‘Family Line’ was published in the Stories of You: Tales of the Second Person. That story has gone on to be widely anthologized in print and audio. I still get goosebumps thinking about that milestone.
“Family Line” appeared in this recent anthology
Let’s celebrate my win with something to support your writing life!
Here’s what I’m going to do:
I’ve created an early bird special for you to enroll in my Chart Your Path to Publication online course which starts in January 2023. I only open this course once a year.
I know that might be enough for you but I’m going to do something AWESOME here which is to include my very popular mini-training on Savvy Submission Strategies for Writers!
This mini-training helps you take the fear, overwhelm and confusion out of the submission process so you can be a more visible, successful and confident writer.
To get you ready for 2023, I’ll send you the training (two videos) and then you can join me in an interactive live workshop via Zoom on Sunday, Dec 4, 2022, 4pm EST:
“How to Navigate The Submission Stream”
During the workshop, I will be guiding you through exercises to help align your writing goals with easeful ways of getting more of your work into the “submission stream”, accepted, and published. We’ll have time for Q&A so you can get answers to some of your burning questions.
*Delivered via Zoom. I’d love for you to be there live but if you can’t it’s no problem–it will be recorded!
Many of you have wanted to work with me and this course provides a great way to do so.
Chart Your Path to Publication online course
Modules on how to submit your work, tools of the trade (how to write cover letters, bios, query letters, book proposals), how to find markets for your work, author mindset (how to navigate rejection) + MUCH MORE+ a Live Coaching Call
My online course provides you a roadmap to expertly and joyously navigate your way through the ever-changing and volatile landscape of publishing.
This course will teach you strategies to beat the odds of rejection. You’ll learn how to select markets for your work, how to submit your work, track submissions, and find great resources.
If you come to the end of every year wondering why you aren’t more widely published, this is the course for you!
Let me support you to get published and experience confidence every step of the way.
My early bird special is pretty amazing. Those of you who know me know I like to “over deliver”.
This offer is gone 11:59 pm Monday, Nov 28 (Pacific Standard Time)
Check out all the details for enrollment here.
In a week or so I’ll be telling everyone outside this community about Chart Your Path to Publication and offering it at a higher price and without this bonus workshop. So, if this sounds good to you, I’d go here now.
Best,
Michele
PS, I should mention that this year’s cohort of writers I worked with in Chart Your Path to Publication had many writing successes including:
-Earning their first publication credit!
-Getting more sales of their work!
-Establishing and refinement of their writing practices
-Upgraded mindset about what is possible for them
-Gained more confidence working with editors, agents and publishing professionals
-Negative writing habits dissolved, even after years of struggle
Happy New Year, all!
The second most important step in becoming a published creative writer, after finishing a piece, is submitting one’s work. It’s the one thing that most writers don’t know how to do well, don’t do enough of, or don’t do consistently.
I’d like to help you beat the odds of your writing being rejected as we launch into 2022.
Fear of rejection, lack of confidence, and overwhelm topped of the list of challenges writers told me they faced submitting their work. Many writers struggle with submitting their work consistently and finding venues. You may struggle with cover and query letters, writing a great bio or knowing how to manage editorial feedback.
I GOT you. The wait is over. And, just in time to get your 2022 off to a productive start.
My FREE mini-training ‘Savvy Submission Strategies for Writers’ is designed to help you shed your ‘invisibility cloak’ and gain the tools you need to send more of your work into the world consistently and with confidence.
It begins on January 5th and includes two videos and an amazing LIVE workshop with me on ‘How to Navigate the Submission Stream’ on January 9th that you don’t want to miss.
And, there will be some surprises along the way!
CLICK HERE to register for the FREE mini-training.
I know the long and challenging journey to publication and I want to create some short cuts for you. There’s so many things I didn’t know about the submission process and also what to do when a work is accepted (intellectual property rights matter!). This will help emerging and established writers (indie or traditional publishing inclined).
Nothing in this training is theoretical or fluff. It’s based on my fifteen year coaching career helping writers become published and my experience as an award-winning writer of fiction, poetry and nonfiction. I guarantee that this training will change the way you think about your writing potential as a writer and how you approach the submission experience.
CLICK HERE to register for the FREE mini-training.
Hi writing community! I’m really close to wrapping up my long-awaited comprehensive workshop on “Savvy Submission Strategies for Writers”. Writers often struggle with consistently submitting their work to agents, publishers, journal and anthology editors, etc. and dealing with the fear of rejection. We often don’t have efficient processes in place to keep track of our submissions. This workshop addresses those concerns and provide folks the tools to double their submission rate and feel confident while doing so and MUCH more. I’ll be offering my workshop in Nov. But before I offer it, I have a couple of questions. Can you help me out? You can answer the questions in this super short survey (and get a little more detail about the workshop).https://qfreeaccountssjc1.az1.qualtrics.com/…/SV…
THANKS, I really appreciate it!
P.S. We’re still in a pandemic and we’re still dealing with its impact on our writing habits, routines and motivations. My free guide may be helpful to you. Have you checked it out?: Ten Ways to Keep Connected to Your Writing Self during COVID-19 go to: https://mailchi.mp/creativetickle/tenways
Got inner critics? All creative people I know struggle with inner critics that can interrupt their work. What to do about them? It’s an unlikely but important answer–give them new jobs! In the latest Chatham County Line column I show folks how and even get to talk about Sandra Oh, too.
Give Your Inner Critic a New Job
No matter how lumpy or faded or boring you feel, your creativity is of value.
—SARK
Inner critics can sabotage our creative work. More than a decade ago, I began to study how and why inner critics become unwanted residents in our psyches.
Inner critics are the sharp-tongued internal voices that often prevent us from consistently writing and creating. They speak to us with the seemingly definitive voice of KNOWING ABOUT EVERYTHING CREATIVE. Inner critics usually know how to do just one thing and have long outlived whatever protective role they once had. Inner critics want to protect us from failure, shame and embarrassment. Gentle and honest feedback about our work is important and can be gained from a variety of sources. Inner critics go awry when they enter into the creative process at an early stage. They become destructive when they engage us in black or white thinking that may or not be accurate. Inner critics often drive us to abandon work too early, convince us that our ideas aren’t worthy, or that we will never be successful.
Inner critics can have a personal and also a cultural component to their makeup. Read the rest here.
Write from the Heart Workshop 8/5 & 8/6: Get Nourished and Get Your Book Done!
Posted on: August 3, 2021
It’s mid-summer. And my morning writing practice is full of it.
Full of summer and full of story.
I don’t know about you, but I love the creativity that summer sparks in me.
And this summer–I have something special for you: A FREE author event that is heart-centered and is about connecting our bodies, minds and imaginations. Feeling embodied and writing with an awareness of the body can lead us to new insights as Herring notes:
Our cells have memories. Our bodies have stored all of our experiences-those expressed and unexpressed, even those forgotten. They are there waiting for us.
-Larraine Herring, Writing Begins With the Breath
I’m delighted to share with you that I’ve teamed up with 10 other amazing writers and writing coaches to bring you:
Write from the Heart: How to create and nourish your fiction or memoir so you can finally finish the book you were born to write.
And what’s more? I’m giving you a complimentary ticket! Yay 🙂
You can claim your seat for this FREE 2-day workshop here: traciskuce.com/mtberger
Check out a few of these heart-centric topics we’ll be covering:
- How to Create a Nurturing Writing Routine
- Developing Stronger Internal Conflicts in Your Novel
- Tap into Your Character’s Impossible Longing
- How to Leverage the Power of Affirmations for Your Writing Life
- How to Create Your Own DIY Writing Retreats
These roughly twenty minute presentations will be packed with tips, exercises and techniques.
My presentation is on one of my favorite topics—the power of positive self-talk: ‘Brain Hacking: how to leverage the power of affirmations for your writing life’.
If you’re ready to nourish your creative heart and dive deep into your story, then you’ll want to register for this FREE event. It happens LIVE August 5 & 6 at 12 pm PT/ 3 pm ET
Get your complimentary ticket here: traciskuce.com/mtberger
Hi folks,
I’ve got a GREAT opportunity for you. Two spaces just opened up for my last RESET, RENEW, RECLAIM virtual writing retreat being held TOMORROW, Saturday, Dec 12, 11-3. And, I want to make it available to you for $39 (originally $69)! My purpose is to support and uplift writers and I’d love for you to experience this retreat at a SWEET price.
Saturday’s topic is Author Mindset/Creating Juicy Goals for 2021. We’ll spend our time reflecting on our writing in 2020 (the ups and downs), how to set up sustainable and favorable conditions for our writing life in 2021. We will align our goals to writing systems and prepare for what might throw us off track.
We’ll dream together about to how to create a writing ‘eco-system’ that is sustainable and fun for you in 2021! This has been one of my most productive writing years (despite the pandemic) and I’m going to share all my writing hacks with YOU.
If you haven’t been writing and miss being in a community of writers, this retreat is for you.
During the retreat there will be writing time, mindfulness exercises for focus, cool writing exercises and group coaching. We’ll have the option for a short lunch break and/or additional writing time.
Now is the perfect time to plan for what you want your writing life to LOOK and FEEL like for 2021. The last weeks of Dec and first weeks of Jan are often the worst time to do this kind of work—we’re usually tired from the holidays.
2021 is guaranteed to bring new challenges and opportunities to our writing lives, so let’s prepare!
I hope you join me tomorrow!
I can accept payment:
-via PayPal: bergermichele2005@yahoo.com
Questions? email me: mtb@creativetickle.com
Readers, Authors and Discoverability: Writing and Publishing in the 2020s (Part 2)
Posted on: November 15, 2020
- In: column | creative writing | writing
- Leave a Comment
***this piece was originally published in the October issue of the Chatham County Line for my monthly column. It is the second installment of a multi-part series of columns on writing and publishing in the 2020s. Here I write about discoverability, “whale” readers and the rise of audio as publishing changes that affect both readers and writers.
Think about the last time you read a book. How did you find out about it? Twenty years ago, you might have seen a book review in the pages of a magazine or newspaper. This is less likely to be true now. More likely is that you stumbled upon an author reading their work on YouTube, heard about a book on a podcast or you’re already subscribed to a favorite author’s newsletter and receive their updates. You could be a Goodreads aficionado and seen a recommendation there about a book, or maybe you’re a member of a book club. You might also have typed phrases into Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, or Google and searched for the kind of book you were looking for, finding thousands or even hundreds of thousands of results.
And, of course there is still the wonderful word of mouth recommendation by a friend that shares, “I just read the most amazing book! You have to read it, you’ll love it!”
In the last column I talked about how major shifts in publishing, during the last decade, has created new opportunities and challenges for writers. How people find and read books has also changed, dramatically affecting writers.
Discoverability
If you hang around a group of writers long enough, you’re bound to hear them discuss their use of social media and strategies to both find and engage readers. And, it often isn’t a happy conversation. In an ever growing ocean of content, writers, especially emerging ones, have to work much harder to be discovered by readers.
read the rest of the column here.
Does Your Writing Life Need a Reset? MY NEW ONLINE Fall Writing Retreats Are HERE!
Posted on: September 20, 2020
Hi Writers,
Over the past several months, I’ve heard from so many writers that their old ways of doing things just aren’t working.
Many of us aren’t writing and if we are writing, we’re not having a lot of joy doing it. Many of us are finding it hard to get ourselves to the page and to stay focused when we arrive. We’re often afraid, discouraged, and tired. Very tired. Our inner critics have been very loud during the past few months.
We haven’t danced with, wrangled with or been charmed by our muse(s) in quite a while.
I HEAR you and I’ve designed something for you that you will LOVE.
It’s time to RESET. I’ve found that if I don’t reset every 5-6 weeks regarding my mindset, exercise routine, and writing habits, I hit a wall.
A reset is in order. And FALL is a perfect time for one.
I’ve designed a NEW online monthly writing retreat series: Reset, Refresh and Reclaim
I call these themed retreats reset, refresh and reclaim for a reason—we need these qualities now more than ever to deal with the changing pace of life!
These well-paced structured retreats are designed to inspire you and connect you to other writers. You’ll get some serious writing done and have FUN while doing it!
Give me the next four months and I will take you from creatively blocked to creatively sparked!
My reset approach has kept me productive, writing and getting published throughout the last six months.
Space for these online retreats is limited. I’m offering this to YOU at these rates, before I advertise broadly, because you are part of my community as an engaged reader of this blog.
Want to see how excited I am to tell you about these retreats and what we will do in them? Here’s a brief video:
If you don’t want to watch the video, it’s fine. All the details are below.
Here’s what people have said recently about my expertise as a coach and writing facilitator:
“Michele’s calm voice and emphasis on mindfulness practices has been a boon to my writing.” Amy T.
“I’ve written more with Michele in two hours during her Write-INs than I have during the last four months.” Francesca P.
“Michele encourages one to do their deepest work in a supportive environment.” Mark J.
“I thoroughly enjoyed September’s writing retreat! You have a wonderful teaching style, and as someone who struggles with ADHD, you kept me fully engaged the entire time.” Rachelle H.
ONLINE WRITING RETREATS
Reset, Refresh and Reclaim
If you’ve found yourself isolated, alone, and struggling with your writing, imagine how much different writing might feel if you had some dedicated and structured time, plus awesome community and coaching support.
Here’s a way to write THROUGH the fear, sludge and anxiety!
You can sign up for ONE retreat or ALL of them.
They all will include writing time (come with work or start something new), a brief writing craft discussion, fun writing exercises and games, mindfulness exercises for focus, and group coaching. We’ll have the option for a short lunch break and/or additional writing time.
Each retreat is curated to the needs and interests of the group. Once you register, I’ll send a brief survey to find out more about you. A few days prior to the workshop, you will receive additional information and any suggested readings or exercises.
Fall Retreat Dates:
*Saturday, Sept 26-The Harvest of 2020
Saturday, Oct 24-Characters
Saturday, Nov 21-Beginnings, Middles and Endings
Saturday, Dec 12–Author Mindset/Goals for 2021
(11am-2pm EST via ZOOM)
(Dec’s retreat will go 11-3, BONUS hour!)
(*tentative topics; each workshop is tailored to registered participants)
That’s 16+ hours of writing, community and support for you over the next 4 months!
Want to feel GREAT at the end of the year knowing that you MADE time for and NOURISHED your writing life? I know you do!
Ready to sign up? Ready to Reset?
Each online writing retreat is $69.00
Sign up for the remaining 3 for $197(discounted!)
I can accept payment in a few ways:
-via PayPal:
(The link above takes you to my Creative Tickle business link. In the comment box for PayPal, let me know which month(s) you are registering for.)
-I’m also on Zelle as Michele Berger (State Employees’ Credit Union)
Questions? Email me at mtb@creativetickle.com
Look forward to seeing you soon!
***
BTW: Your invitation still stands, click here to get your free guide: ‘Ten Ways to Keep Connected to Your Writing Self during COVID-19’.
The Practice of Creativity 