Beyond The Book Media’s Post

Writing a memoir is a marathon, not a sprint. In my latest blog, I share practical steps for navigating the memoir-writing process, including setting aside dedicated writing time, establishing a supportive routine and breaking down the task into manageable chunks. Read all the way to the end for a link to download my free Memoir Outline Workbook. #memoir #memoirwriting #authorresources #freeauthorresources #memoirguide #memoiroutline https://lnkd.in/ecTWysWD

Why You Should Write: ✍🏽 You have something powerful to share, and it goes beyond journaling for yourself. Writing is about putting your voice, identity, and authenticity out into the world—where it can be celebrated, challenged, or even ignored. Here’s why you should go for it: **1. You Have the Right to Be Heard** Your voice holds power, and you’re not obligated to stay silent to make others comfortable. Stop hiding in plain sight—exercise your right to be heard. **2. Staying Silent Serves No One** You don’t write for praise or validation; you write because, if your words stay locked inside, their impact is lost. Pretending your unique perspective doesn’t matter may be easier, but it’s a missed opportunity. **3. Expressing Yourself is Empowering** Yes, it can be costly to release your creativity and ideas into the world and stand by them. Haters will appear—those who resent that you dare to be unapologetically yourself. But you keep showing up because it’s your right; they could too if they chose. **4. Your Voice Matters, Even if It’s Not Heard Right Away** Whether or not you feel your words will change the world, they carve out your place in it. Your voice may sometimes feel inconvenient or unrecognized, but it matters. You have something important to say and deserve to be heard—even if the world isn’t listening—yet! https://lnkd.in/dqsZVqD3 #WhyWrite #UseYourVoice #EmpowerYourself #BeHeard #CreativeExpression #AuthenticityMatters #WritingJourney #ShareYourStory #InspirationForWriters #VisibilityMatters

Hey all you potential writers! If you've ever wanted to write your memoir, check out my upcoming 5-week course, Crafting Your Memoir: A 5-Week Journey of Self-Discovery. Joining me will be my good friend and fellow memoirist, Katherine Ann Power, author of Surrender: My Journey from Guerrilla to Grandmother. Her memoir is about her 23 years as a fugitive, 14 on the FBI's Most Wanted List. Kathy eventually surrendered and spent 6 years in prison, where she unearthed the Principles of Practical Peace. She released her book in October. If you've ever felt the urge to share your unique life experiences with the world; to preserve your memories, lessons, and adventures for generations to come, then our memoir-writing course is tailor-made for you! Your life is a tapestry woven with extraordinary moments, challenges overcome, and wisdom gained. Our course is designed to guide you through the process of crafting your memoir with skill, depth, and authenticity. Don't let your stories go untold. Join our Crafting Your Memoir: A 5-Week Journey of Self-Discovery master course today and embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery and creativity. Ready to unlock the power of your story? Enroll now and start writing your legacy! For more information, visit https://lnkd.in/em7yEtgG

"Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” ~ Stephen King, On Writing It took me a while to be able to identify my darlings. An editor I was working with at a regional magazine committed the earliest murders. She would slash. I would plead. She would ask a simple question: "Does this move the story forward?" If I couldn't convince her that my darling was essential to the piece, it was out. Eventually, it became easier for me to spot my darlings. One telltale that I'm dealing with a darling is when I keep adjusting a piece of writing in order to accommodate a specific sentence, phrase, or idea. My darlings usually take the form of a great quote, an anecdote shared by someone I interview, a particularly poignant turn of phrase, or a fascinating fact uncovered during the research process. My little scribbler's heart falls in love easily. She desperately tries to incorporate my darlings into the piece, disguising them, so they appear as if they belong. But they are always discovered. My inner editor is a heartless murderer. Wielding a pen and a smile, she slashes the page with red ink, ruthlessly disposing of my poor darlings. And my little scribbler's heart breaks again. To ease the pain, I keep a Darlings File. All of my darlings are here, neatly categorized, just in case. Somehow, that makes my little scribbler's heart feel a bit better. What form do your darlings take? Can you identify them in your writing, or do you need someone to point them out?

Ever wondered what happens when your thoughts meet the page? We dream, we put pen to paper. Hey love, we're more than just writers – we pour our hearts onto the page. For real, we don't write... we bare our souls, one chaotic word after another. Writing isn't a task; it's a journey. It's about laying your innermost thoughts on the page and letting your ideas run free. It's unfiltered, it's genuine, and it's ALL YOU. Your gut knows what to express so don't stand in your own way! Let your thoughts come without pause – your feelings, your emotions, and everything in between. So, pick up that pen, free your heart, and let the words flow. Don't stress, don't hold anything back – just write as if you're chatting with your closest friend. The world needs to hear what you have to say. #WriteYourHeartOut #CreativeFlow #WritersLife #SpillTheInk #BeBoldBeYou

On Authors Day, I wonder Will my words ever strike the right balance between what the world wants to hear and what I long to say? From as early as I can remember, books have been my home, and words, my companions. I've loved the process of reading and writing—filling pages with long, winding sentences, one after another, as if each thought was a train, gathering steam. My writing feels like an unfolding, each paragraph building upon the last, designed not just to tell, but to feel. But these days, I'm reminded of the shifting sands around me. Readers today, with their fleeting attention spans, crave the punchy, the quick, the catchy. "3 seconds," they say. That’s all you get before you're left behind. My teen son, ever perceptive, shares his observations. “Mom, Gen Z doesn’t have the patience for this; keep it short.” And he's not wrong. Then there are the marketing experts I look to who insist, “Write short sentences, leave room to breathe, start with a hook!” My own thoughts clamber to understand this new rhythm—between my long-nurtured voice and the audience’s fleeting gaze. But adapting isn’t as simple as it sounds. My voice, in its natural state, thrives in depth and space. Cutting it down feels like cutting corners of myself, like exchanging a conversation for a mere nod. I start to wonder if I’ll ever find my balance. I worry: if I change too much, will I lose what makes my writing, my voice? Each attempt feels like a tug-of-war between what I yearn to express and what I know will resonate in a noisy, hurried world. And even when I manage to "tone down," it feels like I’m only half-speaking, as if my words are in grayscale when I want them in color. If I can’t adapt, I risk being unheard, my ideas and hard work left unnoticed in a world scrolling past. Yet if I adapt too much, I lose the authenticity that fuels my words. It's a fine line! As I mulled over this conflict, my son turned to me and said, “Mom, just write one piece for us, and one for you.” The simplicity of his words struck a chord. I saw that perhaps there was a way to do both: to write pieces that capture the essence of today’s fast-paced world while also penning the slower, richer reflections that nourish. It doesn’t have to be either-or; maybe it’s both-and. That day, I realized the art lies in finding balance—not sacrificing one style for the other but weaving both into voice. I’m reminded that adaptation doesn’t mean losing; it means expanding, learning new forms, new cadences. It’s about respecting the audience's needs while honoring my own truth. This Authors Day, I embrace the challenge to evolve without losing. If I can find that balance, then perhaps my words will not just be read, but felt, making their way into minds that crave both quick clarity and the deep embrace of ideas. If you were in my place, would you write the way they want… or the way you need? Maybe, just maybe, we can do both.

Today my writing prompt is 'what people ask me'. This 👇 is what people ask me... Here are just a few ideas to consider when putting a talk together. https://lnkd.in/e5t5uMe6

On writing badly and making your bed.   "You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page." Jodi Picoult   I was once an aspiring writer, so this quote resonates with me. There are a bevy of similar quotes about the creative process and how you can't let fear of perfection keep you from typing on that blank page, splashing paint on that blank canvas, or filling that blank staff with musical notes.   That's part #1. Don't let your fear of perfection keep you from starting.   "If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."  Admiral William McRaven   Admiral William McRaven's commencement speech turned book (Make Your Bed) is amazing. He says, among other things, that making your bed helps you start the day with a sense of accomplishment. If the rest of the day turns to shit, you can at least look back and say you got one thing done.   That's part #2. Get at least one small thing done every day.   These days, most of my work is long-range and doesn't provide immediate gratification or resolution. It can be daunting to start when the scope of work seems overwhelming and the finish line is far out. That's when I combine #1 and #2 to keep me moving. Last week, I wrote a pretty bad outline for a report due at the end of the third quarter. Then, per Jodi, I sat down to edit that outline at my kitchen counter a day later. It improved. Yesterday, I researched a statistic in my SWOT analysis and added a footnote. That’s it. One small accomplishment to keep me moving.   These are two of my favorite guidelines for getting work done. How do you keep yourself moving forward?

An author told me yesterday she was “stuck.” She hadn’t made any progress on her book for weeks and was really in a funk about it. The longer she talked about all the reasons she wasn't writing, the more I agreed with Heather Havrilesky's insight, "Some people get stuck because they're stuck telling a story about why they're stuck." Can you relate? Many of us have been told to "feel the feels," to talk about how we feel. That can help initially, but enough is enough. Focusing on how stuck we are perpetuates the problem; it doesn't solve it. I agree with Pearl Buck who said, “Moods? I don’t believe in moods. At some point, you’ve got to know you've got to get down to work.” Want good news? We can change our story, and our mood, any time we want. How? By switching our attention from doubts to determination.  By choosing to focus on the positive difference your project will make. By imagining how glad you'll be you finished this and got it out in the world What is one thing you can do to move your project forward... TODAY? Apply what author Bryce Courtenay (The Power of One) called, “BUM GLUE.” Promise to sit down and produce a certain number of pages in a certain amount of time. DO NOT RE-READ WHAT YOU'VE WRITTEN. If you re-read what you’ve written, you will re-work what you’ve written. At the end of the week (or month), you'll have the same pages, and they won’t necessarily be better, they will just be... different. What's worse is you will have lost confidence in your voice. Criticism kills creativity.  The second you start second-guessing what you say, your voice goes into hiding and won't come out to play. As Executive Director of the Maui Writers Conference for 17 years, our best selling authors didn't agree on much of anything. One would suggest you HAVE to work with an outline, another would say she NEVER works with an outline. One would say you have to write first thing every morning; another would admit he didn't get going until night. They all had their own style and rituals that worked for them. They only agreed on two things. One was "Ink it when you think it." The other was they'd STILL be working on their books if it wasn't for their publisher's deadline. Do you have a date for when you'll complete your project? One of the most important things I've learned after writing ten books is, "If it's not on the calendar, it's not getting done." Tell yourself a NEW story. Remind yourself: * A book in my head and on my laptop helps no one. * Stuck doesn’t serve. * I will pick a reasonable date to finish my project and put it on the calendar. * Then, whenever I sit down to write, I will draft, then craft. * I will get out of inertia, into action, and move my project FORWARD. * I will congratulate myself every time I produce pages and make PROGRESS Pablo Picasso said, "The purpose of life is to find your gifts; the meaning is to give them away." Writing is a way to give your gifts. Get to work!

Book Update! 📚✨ The Hilarious Journey of Writing a Book, Finding an Agent, and Getting Published! ✨📚 Hey, fellow word wranglers! I’m currently in the submitting my manuscript (aka The Northern Sky) to literary agents stage—and bracing for rejections—so I figured I’d share the wild, slightly chaotic process. 1. Conjure a Brilliant Idea: Start with a concept so genius it makes you feel like a literary wizard. This is often just an excuse to binge-watch TV and call it “research.” 2. Outline (aka Organized Chaos): Your outline will resemble a treasure map but feel more like a GPS in a tunnel—expect plenty of detours and surprises along the way. 3. First Draft: Speed Run Edition: Write fast and messy. Just remember, “I can always delete this” is a lie—you’ll cry over every deleted sentence. 4. Edit Like a Pro: Now it’s time to cut, tweak, and beg your beta readers for feedback. Brace yourself for the question: “Was this character meant to be this annoying?” (Yes. Yes, they were.) 5. Craft a Query Letter: Channel all your charm into a single page. “Dear Agent, my book is like The Hunger Games meets Pride and Prejudice—with fewer explosions and more awkward moments and puppies.” 6. Submitting to Agents: this is me right now...every day...submitting Here’s where the real fun begins. Submitting your manuscript is like launching a paper boat into a hurricane—hope it floats, but expect it to sink. Plan on pitching to at least 100 agents (yes, 100—this isn’t for the faint of heart). Rejections? Oh yeah, they’ll come—but it only takes one “yes” to change everything. 7. Rejection: Embrace the Sting: Rejections are a rite of passage—like literary battle scars. Even Shakespeare probably got ghosted. Celebrate the small wins: Did someone ask for a full manuscript? Dance! Personalized rejection? Pop champagne! 8. Getting Published: If an agent falls in love with your work, you’ll enter the magical world of publishing—where coffee, deadlines, and emails rule. Prepare for edits, more edits, and, yes, even more edits. 9. Final Thoughts: The road to publication is as wild as it is unpredictable. Embrace the chaos, enjoy the ride, and keep writing—because one day, The Northern Sky will be out there, making waves (or at least gentle ripples). Fingers-crossed. Here’s to all the aspiring authors out there—may your rejections be mild and your "yes" be life-changing! #WritingCommunity #AuthorsLife #LiteraryAgents #BookPublishing #TheNorthernSky #EmbraceTheChaos