I recently started a discussion about plagiarism on Fiverr's online forum. This discussion was very educational to me. The back story is simply that I've received a number of recent requests via Fiverr to rewrite existing information to make it look like another person's original work. I have declined each request because it looks like plagiarism to me. I even had to modify my gig descriptions to state that I do not work with plagiarized information, nor do I rewrite or, as some call it, "spin" articles. I started the discussion because I was shocked at the number of people requesting this and also shocked at their lack of shame at taking someone else's work and wanting to make it their own (or, rather, have me make it their own). Not one of them sent me work they said was their own; they all said it was work they'd taken off the internet and some even sent me links to the work instead of copying and pasting it into a document. Merriam-Webster de...

The inevitable failure we face as writers should not be what defines us as writers. We write, we fail, we write some more. I never really consider failure something to slow me down. By failure, I'm talking about failure to see publication. We can be highly successful writers if all we do is write; if that's our only motivation. But, getting published is another story and we all face the failure of not getting published, of being rejected by a publisher. I was recently asked to write an article on a specific topic. We signed a contract and I wrote the article. In the meantime, the publisher changed staff and the editor I'd been working with was no longer there. Even though I had a contract, they rejected my article. I'm still going to get paid for writing it, but they are not going to publish the article. I believe in this article; I am looking for another outlet in which to publish it. I've already sent it to another editor. This leads me to the 4th part of ...

If you're a writer or even an aspiring writer, you might already know that failure is an inevitable part of being a writer. Knowing this ahead of time can help when the failure comes. And it will come. One sure fire way to overcome failure is one simple practice: Keep writing. That's it. Just keep writing.  Famed author Amanda Hocking did just that. When she took my writing class, she had a thick file of rejection letters and they kept coming during the time she took the class. What did Amanda do as a result? She wrote more books. By the time she e-published, she had 17 finished novels. Now, because of her e-publishing success, she is an international sensation with book and movie deals that scream her success. She started out failing. She kept writing. She saw success. That's a simple formula. It will work for you, too. Keep writing. Write often. Write well. Just write. ~Tricia

I love my laptop and modern technology. Most of my writing is actually done in my head so by the time I get to the process of writing it down, I simply start with my laptop and type it out. I love the convenience of being able to see exactly how many words and pages I have. But, there are times when only pencil and paper will do. I recently fractured my thumb, making typing challenging. When a writing idea recently struck, I had no choice but to go to pencil and paper to write it down. Now, this writing project has become larger than I first anticipated and because I started it with pencil and paper, that's how I have to continue. And it has to be in pencil, not pen. And it has to be a mechanical pencil. And it has to be on a white legal pad. And it has to be in longhand, not printed. And it has to be on my giant, old wooden desk. As a writer, I guess this shows I have a few idiosyncrasies. What about you? Write often. Write well. Just write. ~Tricia

I recently met a woman with a story to tell. She found out I'm a writer and began to tell me her story, in a nutshell, and said she'd like to write a book about her story one day. Her story is interesting and intriguing. I asked, "Why not now?" She said she was going to wait till her children were out of college and didn't need her so much. Then I dropped a bombshell on her. I said, "It's too late to wait, you've already started," and when she looked at me in surprise, I explained that the thinking process of any book, article or blog post is part of the writing process. Yes, it's too late to wait; you've already started if you are so much as thinking about writing a book. Write often. Write well. Just write. ~Tricia

I started writing early in life. As a child, I wrote long, elaborate stories while sitting in a hollow tree down by the creek and it was an absolute escape for me. But, it never occurred to me to share that writing with anyone else. I did writing assignments in school with gusto and always got good grades on them, but it still didn't occur to me to write something that anyone else would want to read. My teachers had assigned the writing, so it was their demand I wrote for. I didn't write anything for anyone other than my teachers and myself to read. Then I got to college and a professor at Summit University (then Baptist Bible College of PA), Glenn Crabb, changed my life. I wrote a paper for his class and I not only got an A on the paper, he wrote a note in red at the top. He simply said, "Reading your writing is just like talking to you. You should write." I was not used to receiving compliments. His words astounded me, but it took years before I had the ner...