Life is busy, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have time to write
In every author’s dream, we have hours upon hours to idle away in a coffee shop, writing and reading and daydreaming about characters.
In reality, however, many of us have day jobs, school, family to take care of, or a dozen other responsibilities that demand our time and attention. This leaves us with precious little time to spend on writing.
I started working full-time almost exactly a year ago, and even before that I’ve always had to fit in writing around a busy life-I wrote the draft…
3 ways to practice and 2 common mistakes
Unless you’re writing an experimental, edgy book that has zero direct dialogue, your book will probably heavily rely on having characters speaking to each other. It can be easy to take dialogue in a book for granted, especially because when it’s well done, we often don’t even notice it. Unlike a brilliant plot or a beautiful description that stand out when they’re perfection, dialogue is amazing when it feels so natural that we almost forget to admire it.
But a crucial piece of improving your writing is learning to write dialogue well. It’s tricky, because dialogue in books, although it…
These are the books that got me through this year
Every sentence I start to write to describe 2020 either sounds trite, or is a massive understatement. So I’ll just let you fill in your own sentence about how 2020 sucked. I’ll let you know that, in additional to all the national and global dumpster fires, I also hard some hard things in my personal life. All that to say, books were often my one source of comfort this year. There were long stretches where the only thing I could read were funny fantasies or fluffy romances. There were times…
A super minimalist method to keep your tasks and thoughts organized
If you’re convinced that you can’t do bullet journaling because you’re not artistic or don’t have the time for complicated spreads, I got you. My bullet journal set up is super simple, requires zero artistic talent, and is all about functionality.
Before I continue though, let me answer: what is a bullet journal? WHY is a bullet journal? I think the best resource is to check out this video by Ryder Carroll, who came up with the system to help him stay on track as a person with ADHD…
Was it worth it?
As of today, my book The Mistletoe Connection has officially been out for over a week! *cue confetti* Although I’ve been doing a deep dive into the process of self-publishing in a series here on the blog, I thought I’d also share a shorter post about what I’ve learned through this process. Would I do it again? What would I change? Keep reading to find out!
Buy The Mistletoe Connection!
Independent bookstores | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Amazon | Apple | All ebook options
Enjoy the first chapter from this cozy Christmas romance!
The Mistletoe Connection is my debut novel that came out on Nov. 10! It’s been so fun to work on, and I hope you enjoy it too. Below you can find a sneak peek from the first chapter.
Order The Mistletoe Connection
Independent bookstores | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Amazon | Apple | All ebook options
If you want to get in a fall mood, but consider yourself a scaredy-cat, these books are for you!
October is here, and that means it’s the season for cozy sweaters, changing leaves, and spooky books! While some people devour horror books by the likes of Stephen King, I tend to be a scaredy cat, and I’m not ashamed to admit it! So I tend to prefer books that are spooky, but not so scary they’ll keep you up late at night. …
So you’ve written a book. Now what?
When you want to self-publish, the first step, naturally is writing a book. But once you’ve got a book that’s been edited by you and others…then what?
The short answer is, you’ve got a lot of decisions to make.
If we’re being honest, most of this you should actually work out during/before writing the book, but you’ll absolutely need to have it figured out once you’re ready to publish, because these choices will determine what your next steps are.
Read part one of the Self-Publishing Guide for Beginners!
Where to publish?
Once you decide to self-publish…
Improve your craft during all those long quarantine walks
Y’ALL. It’s been two years since I started this blog!
*cue confetti and lots of cake or the dessert of your choice*
I’ve got some ~big changes~ planned, but for now, let’s celebrate with…podcasts!
One of my first posts was about 10 podcasts to make you a better writer, and since I keep finding new podcasts, I updated that list with 5 more podcasts for writers. Now, I’m back with even more podcasts!
It’s sort of interesting to track how these lists reflect my writing life and style. These podcasts are…
The stories explore what it’s like to discover who you are and what you want
If you’re browsing a bookstore or website looking for a specific age range, most will skip from young adult straight to adult. But in real life, it’s a big jump from high school age to living on your own, having a full-time job, and paying bills. There’s a lot of growing up and changing that happens. So why is this weird phase of life not reflected in book categories?
The truth is, that age is in books, but for a variety of reasons, a separate…
Chelsea Pennington
I help readers and writers discover and create life-changing stories. Connect with me at ChelseaPenningtonAuthor.com
