Researching is one of the Stages of The Writer’s LifeCycle that writers often dread the most. It doesn’t have the freedom of brainstorming, and it doesn’t feel like real writing at all. It’s easy to put off, easy to tell yourself you’ll get to it later, and easy to avoid because it means facing your competition and wondering if you measure up.

Every morning, I wake up with a brand-new idea that I want to use, and I have to write it down. In this blog, I share a few methods I use and invite you to try one of them out this summer.

Removing Distractions & Unlocking Your Speed If you seem to get distracted by the words on the screen as you write, this one is for you. WHAT IS THE BLIND TYPING TECHNIQUE? If you find yourself constantly staring at a screen, fixing typos, and overthinking your writing, you are killing your momentum. I know this firsthand because I used to do it constantly. In my experience, the visual feedback of a monitor acts as a distraction loop. When you see the words appear, your brain

Getting your book to the point where it is ready for publication can feel overwhelming, especially when you do not fully understand the process. And I know that feeling firsthand. While I was working with Beth and her team on my own book, I spent weeks reviewing my manuscript’s interior layout, marking up every place I thought needed adjusting.

Research is how writers gather the information they need before they begin drafting. It helps you build confidence in your details, stay accurate, and shape your ideas into something clear and usable.

This two-part series will walk you through the foundations of writing your memoir, from understanding the craft to setting up your workspace and tools. Part Two will explore how you can take memoir material and transform it into historical fiction. Whether you have been journaling for years or have never written a full page about yourself, I hope this blog series will help guide you.

Most writers have at least one person they trust with their work. I trust my writing to no one else like I trust my son. But if you are being honest with yourself, maybe you do not even have that. Maybe the only reader your work has ever had is you.

Inspiration can come at any time of the day or night (if you’re like me, a night owl). You might be washing dishes or going through your routine, and get inspired by something so simple. The point is, when inspiration hits, you need somewhere to put it. And that somewhere needs to make sense.