Writing Tips, Workshops, and Inspiration from Bestselling Authors

I’ve been writing professionally for nearly four decades. I watch for research that confirms the benefits. There’s evidence that expressing yourself in writing can improve your outlook, enhance momentum, increase self-awareness, strengthen memory, and just plain bring you joy. It can even reduce symptoms of illness and expand your social reach. Here are five tips for using writing for positive benefit: Exploit the effort of revision for personal awareness. One study had coll

There’s a therapeutic approach to people with ADHD called “Body Doubling.” It’s a way to assist them to focus for increasingly longer periods of time. It adds accountability and motivation. I’ll explain the set-up and then list the benefits for writers. First, you need a partner. They don’t have to be in the room with you. Often, they’re just on a computer monitor. They don’t need to be writers, but it helps if they want to do this, too. They’re your motivator (as you could b

In my last column , I wrote about writing routines. “Your brain will support habits that facilitate your writing,” I said. “You just have to start them.” This time, I’ll tell you the habits or routines of some established writers—behaviors they’ve found that worked best for them. When John Grisham first started writing, he developed a set of rituals: “The alarm clock would go off at 5, and I'd jump in the shower. My office was 5 minutes away. And I had to be at my desk, at my