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

Every writer fails, no matter how successful they are. In my book, Writing for Publication , I talk about failure, how it's inevitable and how to overcome it as a writer. Today, I'm sharing my second point on how to overcome failure and rejection as a writer. I think of this point as logic at work. Don't let rejection slow you down. Realize and accept that rejection is part of the job of writing for publication. If you accept this, it will not surprise you when it happens. It's a given, par for the course. It truly cannot be avoided. What you need to do is file the rejection away.... then keep writing without missing a beat. There will more on this in my next post and point 3 goes along with this point very well. I have been a regular writer for one publishing house for over 27 years, yet I still get rejected by them from time to time. I don't care. If one article is rejected by one arm of the company, I submit it to anothe...

Every writer has failures. Without exception. Dr. Seuss was rejected 27 times before he was finally able to get And to Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street published by Vanguard Press in 1937.  Search other famous authors and you will find they were all rejected at some point. Famed author Amanda Hocking came to my writing class with a thick folder full of rejection letters. When she, in class, learned about self-publishing and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing , she published her own work. Soon, after selling over 1 million copies, she got the attention of some of the largest publishing houses. Then they fought for her. They could fight for you one day. In my book, Writing for Publication , I give 6 ways to overcome rejection and failure in your writing. My next 6 blog posts will each highlight one of these techniques. Appreciate your Own Talent If you know you are a good writer  and  if you have something valid to say,  appreciate that in yourself...

I have more than one blog. This one is more of my "business" blog where I write about writing and blogging and related topics. One of my other blogs, The Priscilla Principle Blog , is more about my theological take on current events, book reviews and speaking out on things important to me. My blogs don't have very many subscribers. The Priscilla Principle Blog has a total of 8 followers, but I get a decent number of readers each month, which is quite surprising compared to my number of subscribers. As you can see from this snapshot of my stats, I get a lot more than 8 readers on that blog each month. Last month there were 1,100, but I've seen higher numbers. That being said, I don't care. I showed this stat to illustrate that you can have many more views than subscribers. In the blogging world, these are very small numbers. Most professional bloggers see numbers much higher than these. I am small potatoes. But, I don't care. I may look at the ...

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

Hello, all who read this little blog. I have been out of touch because I have been out of commission. I did post a couple important blog posts on one of my other blogs, but have not posted here for a few reasons, including a fractured thumb. It's very hard to type with a brace on my hand. My writing has taken a severe hit due to this thumb. It's still swollen, but I'm back to work here. Today, I started working with a new writing client and she said she had no time for writing, but wanted to write about something that's very important to her. I told her she's already started because she's thinking about it and thinking about it is a step in the writing process. This was a game changer for her and she realized she had been documenting things in writing, giving her starting process a kick into high gear. Are you thinking of starting a writing project but don't think you have time? Think again. You've already started. Write well. Write often. ...

Last week I started blogging about the reasons I write. These reasons aren't in any particular order; I'm simply blogging about them as they occur to me. I blogged first about writing because I can . Today I'm blogging about another reason. I write because I should. I should write because I often write about abuse. I believe writing about abuse will help someone else who is going through abuse. I know abuse well and I know the tactics abusers try. I love teaching others what to look for and helping them recognize abuse and also helping them recover from abusive relationships. Not everyone is happy when I write about abuse. I get plenty of arguments and warnings in my inbox and they leads me to question myself. When I question myself on writing about abuse, I always come back to two things: What if I write it and it makes a difference in one person's life? What if I don't write it and miss an opportunity to make a difference in one person's life? ...