Do you ever put off working on your writing project because you feel overwhelmed? And then you put it off for a longer period of time until it becomes such a monumental task that it languishes untouched for months and even …bleh… years? You scratch around on other minor projects while the story you most want to work on remains unwritten? Many writers have felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of a project or what they have to do to finish. Even writing a simple sentence can be da

Recently when I was in Asheville, NC, for a business retreat, I saw a designed trail of human, pig, and turkey concrete footprints in the downtown area. A Mama and her piglet led the way for a pair of turkeys not far behind. The footprints showed how they walked together. I started thinking about how similar these footprints were to the journey of writers. We may walk side-by side, but our stories leave different tracks behind. Some people journal only for their own amusement

Commercially, mushrooms are grown in the dark in controlled environments. It works well for these tasty, not to mention healthy, fungi, but for a writer living in darkness or without an inquisitive mind, the writing remains flat and lifeless. Being curious about the world around you will fuel your writing, and you’ll never run out of topics to write about. Asking questions is one of the most important tools a writer has. Both nonfiction and fiction writers need to ask questio