The Better Art Friend

Our fields can be harsh, and the struggle is real, but that doesn’t have to be all we are.
Nobody Expects the GameQuisition!

Some call it gamesmanship, some call it cheating, some call it plain old knowing the rules. But if you don’t know the rules, you can’t bend them to your advantage.
How I Overcome Writer's Block

Knowing that even A-list authors have “my dog ate my homework” moments can be reassuring, and ironically that reassurance can help the rest of us unleash our creativity.
How to Develop and Maintain a Positive Creative Partnership

If you cannot effectively or efficiently communicate, every part of the creative process will take twice as long and be ten times as frustrating as it needs to.
You've All Lost Your Minds

You have not chosen an industry for the fully sane. The suit-and-tie-and-nylons-wearing-9-to-5-cubicle-dwelling-let's-go-to-happy-hour-and-have-some-laughs-on-a-Friday-night-but-be-home-by-10pm crowd is not your lifestyle choice. This is a job best handled by the slightly unbalanced.
When Your Brain Just Can't "Write Everyday"

"One of the key challenges of ADHD is task initiation. If I could do task initiation, if I could start the thing, it wouldn’t be a challenge, hence the advice to just 'initiate the task' is not helpful."
The Great Reframe—How to Survive and Thrive Through Any Difficulty

The armor I’d built around me was pristine and impenetrable. It was also horribly lonely, and for a long time it helped me survive, but it had outlived its usefulness.
Magic vs. Reality

Settle down and focus on the task at hand, which is, as it always should be: Writing the best story you can. Everything to come is not your problem. Not yet, anyway, and not unless you’re lucky.
A Few Things Coaching Baseball Taught Me About Writing

Don’t worry about being good enough. You are good enough. Just do that thing. Then do it again even better next time.
Just Try Not to Die

“'Just try not to die' is my standard advice for anyone helming a first feature. I nearly did, and I wouldn't recommend it."
Don't Mind Me - Mindfulness and Unmindful Characters

If we reflect back on what we’ve done in the past and how we’ve overcome it, facing the same challenge in the future will be just that much easier.
Shame to Superpower

The danger of the shame I felt is that it caused a paralysis that hindered me from forward motion in every aspect of my life, not just writing.
Everyone Thinks They're a Hack

There’s not a single writer I know worth their professional bona fides who doesn’t get regular visits from The Dream Police. And no. It’s not because we’re snowflake whack-jobs wrecked in a constant state of low self-esteem.
Bedtime Stories and Beyond: How Imagination Plays a Part in Family Duo

I still find it baffling when I get into a heated discussion over a plot point or dialogue with my child.
Learning How to Bleed, or How Hemingway Tricked Us All into Living a BDSM Nightmare

Am I the only one who finds it a wee bit unhealthy we are expected to lay bare our most intimate struggles just to force a bunch of strangers to feel something?