Quiet Rebel Writer

So why should I read this post?

Delightful details on the insecurity and intimidation fiction and nonfiction book writers face
A method to defuse that pesky, pathetic inner voice of doubt
A chance to tell your story

For those of you like me, with the masochistic desire to write books and get them published, with that willingness to sacrifice […]

The QRW commenters are a fantastic group. You offer up your own experiences in response to posts, suggest fascinating differences of opinion, and generally provide your unwavering support to the blog and the writer (me). You rock.
One comment from last week, in fact, inspired a double dose of posts over today and tomorrow. Sherree […]

Last Wednesday, in our weekly examination of publishing aspirations, I encouraged you all to view the outline as a power tool. Outlines are critical for writers to create and finish books, just as carpenters must have their, um, jigsaws and, um, other stuff, to finish a house. (Right? So I don’t know my powertools. You […]

It can be tough for me, and other writers, to stay on task and stay on target over the short life of a freelance project, or even over a single day. Tangents beckon, and distractions taunt, and the overarching project goals and needs can get lost along the way.
So how can a writer possibly […]

I like to think that I’m a pretty egalitarian sort of gal. I’m all about individual spirit and performance, the success of the underdog, the joys of meritocracy. But when it comes to publishing a book, I think I’m a little, um, elitist.
Personal enterprise and entrepreneurship are fantastic, but I can’t quite get behind […]

I like knowing what to expect. Call me a creature of habit, but I like knowing that almost every Wednesday night I have date night with J, that Friday nights we’re probably going to order sushi, that Saturday afternoons we hit LaBamba for a burrito lunch and then go book shopping. Patterns and routines can […]

As I’ve mentioned previously on this blog, I’m currently shopping around a finished novel, a novel that took me four years to complete. Before I started writing that novel, I would read about other authors for whom the writing process took five years, or 10 years, or even more. And I would scoff. What the […]

After four years of writing on and off, I finished my first novel last fall. It was a crazy feeling, a fantastic feeling, and as I toasted myself over the printed copy, I marveled at how pretty it was, all finished and polished and pure. Then I started trying to sell it, and the feeling […]