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# selfwinding

Alli Martin, Author & Editor

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](http://www.allimartin.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Determining the Punk](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/07/11/determining-the-punk/) - In 2008 one of my friends introduced me to the term “steampunk.” I’d say that I fell in love then, except I’d apparently been a fan of this genre without having known it existed. That’s the thing about punk sub-genres, they’re still not well known and even if you know about them, there are so
- [What I Love About DragonCon](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/09/19/what-i-love-about-dragoncon/) - It’s difficult to articulate exactly what I love about DragonCon, but following the 2017 convention, here's a shot at explaining why DragonCon is awesome.
- [A Confession & a Change](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/12/18/a-confession-a-change/) - It's time for a confession: the way I've been going about this blog has been challenging and exhausting and it makes me want to quit. Whew. Way to finally get that off my chest! I've been feeling this way for a long time, but repressing that feeling by thinking about what I thought I should
- [How Fanfiction Saved My Writing Life](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/05/22/how-fanfiction-saved-my-writing-life/) - After finishing my bachelor's degree I was burned out on writing. I had been in a writing pressure cooker for three and a half years, and after assembling and defending an honors thesis my final semester, I was wiped out. When I looked at my post-graduate life, my first thought was that I needed a
- [The Write Mindset](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/04/10/the-write-mindset/) - I recently received a great question* about how I center myself and clear my mind before writing. I think answering this question begins with establishing what "clearing your mind for writing" really means. For some authors it might mean clearing away distractions to create focus. It might include selecting and molding their physical and mental
- [I Don't Feel Like It](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/04/17/i-dont-feel-like-it/) - Even in the middle of a multi-year streak of writing daily, I sometimes hit walls. The walls aren't as thick as they used to be, and frequently they'll appear after I've written 100 words (so technically I've already written for the day), but there they are, blocking my progress. Sometimes those walls come in the
- [First Drafts Suck](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/11/14/first-drafts-suck/) - Sometimes one of the hardest things to do is to keep writing through your first draft. Ideas can feel flat and uninspired. Characters might not meet the expectations you set out for them. Obstacles wind up being easier to overcome than you imagined, or, the opposite, you find yourself written into a corner. It is
- [One-Size-Fits-All](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/11/21/one-size-fits-all/) - Have you ever searched for that one piece of writing advice that will magically make writing easier and your stories better? Have you ever thought that you found it, only to discover that it doesn't work for your best friend? Or has your friend given you a piece of "magic" writing advice that doesn't work
- [The Right Writing Group](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/09/26/the-right-writing-group/) - One of my favorite things every week is going to writing group. Even though I write every day, there's something special about meeting with other writers to write. But attending a writing group—especially a weekly one—can be a big time commitment in our busy lives. Finding the right group, a group that will be productive
- [The Story Sandwich](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/08/29/the-story-sandwich/) - Figuring out what makes up a story and how to make those elements speak to each other can be one of the more elusive aspects of craft. While elements can be developed and adjusted in revision, it's important to understand how those ingredients work together. In one analogy, you might think of writing a story
- [Talking It Out](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/08/15/talking-it-out/) - I had dinner with a writer friend last week and after gushing about the novel I'm currently developing, I asked what he's working on. After a long awkward pause, he finally confessed that he didn't want to talk about it until he had a first draft. I subscribed to this methodology once upon a time,
- [Why on Earth Would You Write Every Day?](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/08/08/why-on-earth-would-you-write-every-day/) - In 2016 I stumbled into my current habit of being an every day writer. It was a goal for a number of years, but one that I could never make stick until I discovered I had written every day for a week and then through sheer stubbornness continued to write every day. (I'm currently on
- [The Secret to Writing Great Critiques](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/07/18/the-secret-to-writing-great-critiques/) - Writers tend to focus on getting feedback—wanting to know how others received the work and what to do to make it better. But I’ve learned a lot about writing by critiquing others’ work. It’s made me more cognizant of rhythm and meaning (understanding the logistics of a sentence), and it’s helped me figure out how
- [Works in Progress](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/06/06/works-in-progress/) - Last week on Twitter a Works in Progress Meme circulated, and I couldn't resist playing along. Here's what I shared according to the likes I received: Novel: Gay Airship Pirates, which now includes a feminist book binding sharpshooter and her paraplegic husband who is more awesome than you. Short Story: Space Mermaids, which are not
- [Doing](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/05/06/doing/) - Starting a "pro blog" is weird. I kept a personal blog on Livejournal when that was what all the kids were doing, and I moved to Tumblr, even though I never really figured out what to do with Tumblr other than find all of the writing blogs and then reblog pictures and gifs of Captain
- [Punking a Genre](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/06/13/punking-a-genre/) - Punk sub-genres still seem like something the cool kids are doing, but I feel like a lot of people I talk to don’t understand what makes a genre “punk” as opposed to all the other ways that you can describe a genre—alternate history, science fiction, speculative fiction, urban fantasy, gaslamp fantasy, etc. So why do
- [DIY Edit: A New Hat](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/08/01/diy-edit-a-new-hat/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. For one, it helps you develop your skills as a writer because it forces you to learn to analyze your own work. For two, you'll get more from a professional editor because if you've already caught simple mistakes, an editor can spend more
- [DIY Edit: Creating Distance: Time](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/09/05/diy-edit-creating-distance-time/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. One of
- [DIY Edit: Blank Slate: Setting](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/10/03/diy-edit-blank-slate-setting/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 03 Blank
- [DIY Edit: Self-Referential Language](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/11/07/diy-edit-self-referential-language/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 04 Narration:
- [DIY Edit: Change of Medium](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/12/05/diy-edit-change-of-medium/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 05 Creating
- [DIY Edit: Description: Camera Pan](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/01/16/diy-edit-description-camera-pan/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 06 Description:
- [DIY Edit: Tense Shift Triggers](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/02/06/diy-edit-tense-shift-triggers/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 07 Tense Shift
- [DIY Edit: Crutch Phrases](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/03/06/diy-edit-crutch-phrases/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 08 Crutch Phrases
- [DIY Edit: Long Dialogue Tags](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/04/03/diy-edit-long-dialogue-tags/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 09 Long Dialogue
- [DIY Edit: Read Aloud](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/05/01/diy-edit-read-aloud/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 10 Read
- [DIY Edit: Voice Intrusions](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/07/03/diy-edit-voice-intrusions/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 12 Voice
- [DIY Edit: Rhythm & Pacing: Dialogue Tags](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/06/05/diy-edit-rhythm-pacing-dialogue-tags/) - Even though I'm an editor for hire, I firmly believe in self-editing. Each month I'm going to drop a tip for developing your ability to edit your own work or identify things to look for as you edit. Make sure to check out all the DIY Edit Tips to improve your self-editing. 11 Rhythm
- [Writer Resources: The Writer's Five Worksheet](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/02/26/writer-resources-the-writers-five-worksheet/) - I'm great at meeting metric-based goals, but in meeting those goals I sometimes lose sight of the goals driving those metrics. I can write a specific number of words, but those words don't always resolve into completed works. I know creatives who struggle with figuring out how to break big goals (like "write a novel")
- [2018 Goals Review](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/01/02/2018-goals-review/) - While I hit the majority of my 2018 goals, I'm not entirely satisfied with my progress this year, which is why I'm making some major changes to my writing life for next year. But that topic is next year, and this post is about 2018 and all my success and less-than-success that has come and
- [(Not) Writing With Depression](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/07/31/not-writing-with-depression/) - Today I'm a daily writer. Even on sick days or very busy days I make sure to write at least 150 words. This is my third year of this schedule and it's still working for me. There are days when it's tough, and days when I write my 150 words and then erase them. There
- [Writing on Days When You Feel Drained](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/11/20/writing-on-days-when-you-feel-drained/) - If you feel drained of ideas and motivation, that could be a sign that you need to take a writing break and let yourself entirely off the hook. Spend the day reading a book, catching up on TV, or actually, you know, interacting with people. I find that having conversations with other writers and creators
- [1,000](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/09/25/1000/) - Tomorrow is my 1,000th consecutive day of writing! On one hand it is a holy-cannoli moment. Ten years ago, I never would have dreamed of having this kind of regularity in my writing life. Even before I was depressed, I wrote in fits and spurts and when I felt like it, sneaking in a writing
- [2018 Goal Progress #2](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/06/19/2018-goal-progress-2/) - It's been a few months, so I thought it was time to check in on my Writing Goals for 2018. If you haven't checked in with your own goals for the year, I recommend doing so soon. Mid-year is a great time to see how you're doing and to make adjustments so you can still
- [Hesitant to Finish](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/03/27/hesitant-to-finish/) - I am resistant to finishing things. It sounds ridiculous typed out like that. I mean, the point of starting a project is to have a finish product. In this case, it's to have a finished story, and having a finished story is an amazing feeling! But even though I know that, I have a lot
- [Writing Sick Days](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/03/20/writing-sick-days/) - With my goal to be an every day writer, I can't really take a sick day. But I also can’t expect a normal writing day while I have a sore throat, runny nose, and major exhaustion. When I'm sick, here's how I make the adjustments to take care of myself and still be productive:
- [2018 Goal Progress](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/02/27/2018-goal-progress/) - Since I wrote last week about making adjustments to yearly goals, I wanted to check in on my progress and take stock of how some of these challenges are going (and see if I can convince myself to focus more explicitly on a few of them). So here is my current progress on my Writing
- [Goal Adjustment](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/02/20/goal-adjustment/) - Making goals at the start of the year is exciting. "I'm going to do all the things! I'm going to live a better life! I'm going to succeed!" But a month or two into the year it's easy to figure out all those big plans may not actually pan out. So, what do you do?
- [Weird Ways to Manage Anxiety](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/01/30/weird-ways-to-manage-anxiety/) - Anxiety has been my companion through most of my adult life. Most people wouldn't know this about me because I am so totally chill about everything, yo. (I made a joke about my NaNoWriMo co-ML and I that his job was talking and my job was planning and panicking—it's an even division of labor.) Seriously,
- [Power Outages](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/01/02/power-outages/) - A couple weeks ago a transformer blew at my house, sending me out of the house unexpectedly and in a hurry. (In a hurry from the heat, even in December Florida houses can get hot fairly quickly.) It could have happened at a worse time—my laptop was fully charged and I was showered and dressed—but
- [Productivity Apps](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/11/28/productivity-apps/) - I'm on a constant mission to find tricks to improve my productivity. The number of productivity apps out there is staggering, and after a long time of searching and testing, I found three apps that helped me move from writing every now and then to writing every day, and even helped me finish and revise
- [The Write Life: Getting Scheduled](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/08/09/the-write-life-getting-scheduled/) - July began with a desperate plea for help reprioritizing my life. Thankfully, my friend Jennie Jarvis stepped in to provide some structure to my internal flailing and give me a very simple method to prioritize my time and projects: does it make money or not? I have a generous, but ultimately unhealthy habit of volunteering
- [NaNoWriMo 2017 Wrap-Up](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/12/12/nanowrimo-2017-wrap-up/) - Ultimately this NaNoWriMo was a success for me. 50,926 words marks the most words I have written during a NaNo (and therefore the most words I have ever written in a month), and this is the first year I've ever finished early. Hurray for new landmarks and successes! The first draft of my new
- [One Day More](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/10/31/one-day-more/) - I have one last day of sanity before the writing madness that is NaNoWriMo takes over my life. That might sound dramatic, but I know the precipice on which I stand, ready to dive into my novel. I know the increased hours I'll spend pounding away at my first draft or worrying that I made
- [NaNoWriMo Lessons: Community](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/10/24/nanowrimo-lessons-community/) - Writing is often a solitary pursuit. After all, usually you're the only one working on your book! Even though writing is a solo venture, that doesn't mean it has to be a lonely venture. Last year was the tenth year I signed up for National Novel Writing Month, but the first time I really embraced
- [NaNoWriMo Lessons: To Sprint Or…?](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/10/17/nanowrimo-lessons-to-sprint-or/) - My first attempt at National Novel Writing Month began with my hard drive crashing two days into the challenge. Sometimes NaNoWriMo is like that—full of obstacles and challenges and complications. I wasn't very motivated to write while my computer was sent off for repairs, so when I got it back on November 18th, I had
- [NaNoWriMo Lessons: Time](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/10/10/nanowrimo-lessons-time/) - National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner! For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo is a yearly challenge in November to write 50,000 words of a novel. It's an event that brings together thousands of writers from around the world to practice their craft and talk about writing for a month. I first participated
- [One Year](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/05/08/one-year/) - Pull the party poppers, toss the confetti, and toot a party blower! I have completed one year of weekly blogging! When I started blogging last May, I made a goal to blog weekly for one year. That felt like a huge commitment, but I wanted to have content "out there" and, as every advice column
- [Camp NaNo: The Kinder, Gentler NaNoWriMo](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/03/13/camp-nano-the-kinder-gentler-nanowrimo/) - April marks the first Camp NaNo of 2018. If you've been intimidated by National Novel Writing Month, or just had the misfortune of having a busy November, Camp NaNo is an opportunity to commit to your writing with less stress and greater control. In addition to not being set right before holiday season, Camp NaNo
- [Why NaNoWriMo Works for Me (And Might Not for You)](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/10/23/why-nanowrimo-works-for-me-and-might-not-for-you/) - The day after NaNoWriMo 2017 I saw a conversation from someone saying they haven't been able to win since the November they were unemployed. I also saw confessions from people who gave up or from people who never started. Being a Municipal Liaison, it's easy to forget that NaNoWriMo isn't for everyone, that—in fact—writing 50,000
- [The Write Life: November 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/12/10/the-write-life-november-2019/) - November means National Novel Writing Month. Instead of talking about word counts or impressive sprints and slogs to writing 50,000 words, I want to share a little about the various activities I participated in during the month because even though I was sick and homebound for a week, it was still a lot. Weekly Write-Ins
- [The Secret to Receiving Constructive Criticism](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/08/22/the-secret-to-receiving-constructive-criticism/) - Receiving constructive criticism can be as difficult as giving it. It can be challenging to divorce personal feelings—and all the hard work put into the previous draft—from someone else’s opinion. But when I put my story out there to receive constructive criticism, I need to be open to it. I have to put aside my
- [Making Sense of First Draft Mess](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/02/13/making-sense-of-first-draft-mess/) - This last week I dove back into the novel I worked on during National Novel Writing Month. While I had a successful NaNoWriMo in 2017, I also took a helter-skelter approach to putting words on the page. I jumped around in my outline when I ran out of steam. I allowed new, unplanned characters to
- [The Changeable Plan](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/07/25/the-changeable-plan/) - Almost every week I meet my friend for dinner and we go to either Barnes & Noble or the library. We spend an hour walking through the books, reading titles, touching covers, and expanding our to-read lists. In addition to an ever-increasing to-read list, I also have an ever-increasing library. And of those books there
- [Writing Goals for 2018](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/01/09/writing-goals-for-2018/) - It's easy to not write. I used to write when I felt like it, or when I had a burning project or a deadline, but not with any consistency. Even when I started making word count goals for the year, I still subscribed to writing when I "could." I'm much more aggressive about my writing
- [The Not-So-Lonely Path: Sci-fi in the MFA](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/06/20/sci-fi-in-the-mfa/) - When I decided to get an MFA, I knew that writing genre could be a challenge. As an undergrad I was discouraged from writing science fiction, enough so that I took more nonfiction workshops than fiction and didn't write for a year following graduation. (My realistic contemporary fiction was uninspired, but I wasn't "supposed" to
- [Reader Multi-Tasking](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/01/23/reader-multi-tasking/) - A friend recently flailed at me that I should read a book she was reading. "Oh, I have that one," I told her, and decided that I should see about reading it sooner rather than later, since I already own it. I wanted to tell her that I'd start reading it right away, only the
- [MFA Proving Ground](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/05/09/mfa-proving-ground/) - You might be asking, "why did a genre writer who doesn't want to teach decide to get an MFA?" That is a question I asked myself a few times (especially when I was struggling to find a thesis director), but the truth is that for me, an MFA wasn’t about starting an academic career, and
- [A Writer Who Reads to Write](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/05/16/a-writer-who-reads-to-write/) - I previously mentioned that before the MFA program I wasn't reading very much. There was one year when I read no more than 10 books, and another in which I think I only reread Harry Potter. By contrast, the MFA program at UCF requires a lot of reading. In addition to literature classes and assigned
- [Reading Fiction to Write Fiction](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/07/17/reading-fiction-to-write-fiction/) - One of the ways I prepare to write a novel is by doing a lot of reading. While some of that reading is nonfiction research to help me with the time period, jargon, or specific details surrounding the novel or topic, some of my most potent research comes from reading fiction. There are a few
- [Querying: It’s Dangerous To Go Alone](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/04/24/querying-its-dangerous-to-go-alone/) - This blog was written for and posted to The Creative Writing MFA and Beyond July 9, 2017. It has been updated for a wider audience and for revised advice concerning nudges. At some point all writers have to deal with the business of writing. One of those business steps is getting an agent. Last
- [Research Reads: May](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/05/30/research-reads-may/) - The internet is a vast and wonderful place that provides a lot of information, which means it’s a great place to find ideas for stories or story elements. Here’s a list of topics that have caught my attention in the last month. (Initial links are provided along with any additional research I may have done.)
- [Reconnect with Your Writing Life (Workshop)](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/05/27/reconnect-with-your-writing-life-workshop/) - Whether pandemic, politics, or other difficulties have drained your energy and flattened your mental health, it can be difficult to create when you’re struggling with depression, anxiety, or another problem that messes with your executive function. I have absolutely been there. In 2012 I was diagnosed with situational depression, a decline I could graph in
- [Happy 4th of July](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/07/04/happy-4th-of-july/) - In lieu of a post on the 4th of July, please enjoy these pictures of fireworks I took at Disney's Boardwalk in March. Shiny and blinky and photogenic! Regular posting will resume next week. Enjoy the holiday, fellow Americans.
- [Merry Catmas!](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/12/26/merry-catmas/) - Happy holidays to everyone! While I have two cats gracing the inside of my house these days, one of them is more willing to put up with having his picture taken and the other doesn't quite know what to do with a camera. (The outtakes with Pink are often abstract.) I'm enjoying a rather quiet Christmas
- [Not the Post You're Looking For](http://www.allimartin.com/2018/08/28/not-the-post-youre-looking-for/) - I'm off to DragonCon this week, and while preparing for that adventure is certainly an added distraction this month, it's not the reason I'm phoning in this blog post. Life has gotten unexpectedly complicated and busy. But that's one of the most consistent aspects of life, isn't it? Just when you feel like you have
- [Catocalypse!](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/09/12/catocalypse/) - Last week I attended DragonCon and while I intended to write a post for this week extolling the reasons I love that convention, I spent the majority of this week preparing for a hurricane. It was a little reminder that even the best laid plans can be run off course (or wobble excessively as in
- [No, Thank You, I Do Not Need Another Journal](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/12/19/no-thank-you-i-do-not-need-another-journal/) - Journals are pretty much the bane of my existence. There are so many beautiful ones out there. Ones with leather bindings, magnetic closures, fancy mechanical closures, embossing, foil embellishment, pages to track your reading, questions to help you write—THERE ARE SO MANY. But no matter how enticing they are, no matter how much I want
- [The Re-Learning Curve](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/05/23/the-re-learning-curve/) - May has been a pretty exciting month for me. I launched this website, started querying my novel and working on other writing projects, and the Cinescopers podcast returned after a three year hiatus. While some of these experiences are brand new, others are old hat—or they were when I was in practice. Reconnecting with old
- [The Write Life: NaNoing November](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/12/07/the-write-life-nanoing-november/) - Any way I slice it, November is NaNoWriMo. This year I elected to save myself a little frustration, aggravation, and sanity, and decided to not write 50,000 words. 2020 has been enough of a mess without struggling to slap words on a page while feeling the stress of an arbitrary deadline (plus needing to fulfill
- [The Write Life: Accepting Defeat](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/10/08/the-write-life-accepting-defeat/) - Writers have to accept so much—good and bad. Accepting defeat for a writer is sometimes about choosing a new path to their goal.
- [The Write Life: Writing With Distractions](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/11/05/the-write-life-writing-with-distractions/) - The world offers a great many distractions, which means The greatest challenge for most writers is writing with distractions.
- [The Write Life: Writing Is Struggle](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/12/07/the-write-life-writing-is-struggle/) - Consider the process and content of writing and you'll discover writing is struggle, which means writers are the best at dealing with struggle!
- [The Write Life: The Physical Needs of a Writing Space](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/08/09/the-write-life-the-physical-needs-of-a-writing-space/) - Defining a writing space requires assessing needs, especially the needs of your physical senses, motivation, focus, and mental health.
- [The Write Life: A Necessary Pause](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/07/08/the-write-life-a-necessary-pause/) - Life sometimes dictates a necessary pause in your writing life, usually by illness, but other circumstances can intervene, and all you can do is pause!
- [The Write Life: Writing Habits Take Time](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/06/08/the-write-life-writing-habits-take-time/) - Everyone wants the secret to the perfect writing life and they want it now. But the truth is writing habits take time to build.
- [The Write Life: Write at Your Own Pace](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/05/08/the-write-life-write-at-your-own-pace/) - The secret to any writing regimen is that you must write at your own pace. Ignore all other word count advice, your own pace is the only way to be successful.
- [The Write Life: Upcoming Events](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/04/08/the-write-life-upcoming-events/) - Check out the upcoming events in Alli's life and where she'll be to talk about and celebrate writing in the coming months.
- [The Write Life: Create Writing Motivation](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/03/08/the-write-life-create-writing-motivation/) - Motivation is often what stands in the way between writers and finished projects, which means all writers need to learn how to create writing motivation.
- [The Write Life: Break the Chain](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/02/08/the-write-life-break-the-chain/) - When you maintain a writing streak for years, "don't break the chain" becomes a mantra. But breaking the chain intentionally can be a powerful release.
- [The Write Life: Setting Realistic Writing Goals](http://www.allimartin.com/2024/01/08/the-write-life-setting-realistic-writing-goals/) - As 2024 begins, let’s talk about how to set better writing goals that support our long-term writing hopes and short-term realities.
- [The Write Life: Support Your Writing Goals](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/12/08/the-write-life-support-your-writing-goals/) - Making goals is easy, but you have to support your writing goals if you want to achieve them. I'm working out just how to do that.
- [The Write Life: Novel Writing Return!](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/11/07/the-write-life-novel-writing-return/) - Making a novel writing return after a long break can be difficult, so you need to have a plan for how to reconnect to your novel.
- [Writer Prompts: The Devil’s in the Details](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/10/25/writer-prompts-the-devils-in-the-details/) - Looking for more writing prompts? This prompt comes from An Apple a Day by Caroline Taggart. See what it inspires for you—and me!
- [The Write Life: Trust Your Gut](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/10/09/the-write-life-trust-your-gut/) - Publishing has a tendency to fill writers with doubts, but when it comes to making decisions, you writers HAVE to trust your gut.
- [The Write Life: When Life Becomes a Lot](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/09/01/the-write-life-when-life-becomes-a-lot/) - When life becomes a lot, sometimes you just have to ride it out. Take a break if you need it, or grab hold and find peace from your storm in your writing.
- [The Write Life: Burnout](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/08/08/the-write-life-burnout/) - No daily writer even wants to think the word “burnout.” But sometimes we have to figure out what to do when burned out...
- [Writer Prompts: The Creature from the Black Lagoon](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/08/23/writer-prompts-the-creature-from-the-black-lagoon/) - Looking for more writing prompts? This prompt comes from Complete the Story released by Piccadilly USA Inc. See what it inspires for you—and me!
- [The Write Life: Writing Kindness](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/07/06/the-write-life-writing-kindness/) - Every writing life could use a little more writing kindness. What can writing kindness look like in your writing process?
- [Writer Prompts: Raising the Stakes on “Fake-Dating”](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/06/21/writer-prompts-raising-the-stakes-on-fake-dating/) - Looking for more writing prompts? This prompt comes from The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan. See what it inspires for you—and me!
- [The Write Life: Writing Modes](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/06/08/the-write-life-writing-modes/) - It can be difficult to accept, but struggling to write or writing just a little is still one of the writing modes and is part of the writing process.
- [The Write Life: The On/Off Switch](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/05/08/the-write-life-the-on-off-switch/) - Having a separate work space is essential to creating an on/off switch for writing and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
- [Writer Prompts: Ship-Wrecked Dinosaurs](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/04/19/writer-prompts-ship-wrecked-dinosaurs/) - Looking for more writing prompts? This picture prompt comes from Rory’s Story Cubes. See what it inspires for you—and me!
- [The Write Life: Mental Health](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/04/07/the-write-life-mental-health/) - Mental health and chronic illness are significant blocks to the creative process that can't be solved by positive thinking alone.
- [The Write Life: Creative Confidence](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/03/07/the-write-life-creative-confidence/) - When other elements of your life are shaky and disrupting your writing routine, your creative confidence is what holds you and your writing together.
- [The Write Life: Approaching Writing Prompts](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/02/07/the-write-life-approaching-writing-prompts/) - Alli shares her strategies for interacting with prompts to unlock inspiration from any source.
- [Writer Prompts: Never Go in Against a Sicilian](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/02/22/writer-prompts-never-go-in-against-a-sicilian/) - Looking for more writing prompts? This prompt comes from the Writing Prompts Tumblr. See what it inspires for you—and me!
- [The Write Life: I’m Back!](http://www.allimartin.com/2023/01/06/the-write-life-im-back/) - It is with great joy that I announce that after a very rough end to 2022, I’m back! There is still a bit of chaos in my home life as we wrap cancer & lung infection treatments for my mom (which will take at least through July), but life has settled enough that I can
- [The Write Life: Hello, Wrench](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/09/08/the-write-life-hello-wrench/) - Sometimes life throws a wrench into everything. That happened to me at the beginning of August with several family emergencies and health problems colliding at the same time. We weathered a multi-day struggle of figuring out which able-bodied adult was taking care of who and trying our best to not simultaneously burnout. During the worst
- [The Write Life: The Juggling Act](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/08/08/the-write-life-the-juggling-act/) - While writing is never an easy undertaking, I’ve been struggling more this year. Focus has been difficult, as has maintaining priorities. “Eyes on the prize” is a mantra I’ve been repeating as I continue to become distracted by other responsibilities and projects and things that Sound Cool but have been stealing my attention and energy.
- [The Write Life: The Qualitative Side of Writing](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/07/08/the-write-life-the-qualitative-side-of-writing/) - This month has been a lot of Overworked, Stressed Out, and Too Much. All those things in combination make it very difficult to have a productive creative life. Most days this month I met my minimum writing practice by the skin of my teeth, but I met it and, even on the days when I
- [The Write Life: Writing in Community](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/06/07/the-write-life-writing-in-community/) - I’ve recently been focused on mental health, and since I write all the time, how mental health relates to—and sometimes hinders—writing. While I’ve discussed many methods I use to maintain productivity and focus (and will be doing so again in a workshop on June 12), and ways to repackage and reevaluate my goals to keep
- [The Write Life: Redefining a Failure](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/05/09/the-write-life-redefining-a-failure/) - Sometimes there is no sugar-coating life, and our best-laid plans crumble into failure. That’s what happened to me this past April after signing up for a writing boot camp at SavvyAuthors called One Scene a Day. I started the month with the best intentions of shoving my way through a huge chunk of my novel,
- [The Write Life: Finding Focus](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/04/07/the-write-life-finding-focus/) - My writing life has been very scattered of late. While I still have writing time planned daily and I haven’t broken my streak (still at least 250 words a day every day, just like the last several years), what I’ve been working on has been haphazard. After I finished my last writing project in early
- [The Write Life: Time for a Break](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/03/07/the-write-life-time-for-a-break/) - Sometimes you just have to admit you’ve reached the end of your rope. Which is where I am right now (and why this post is much shorter than usual). I’ve been pushing myself through deadlines, frustrations, responsibilities, dropped balls, anxiety attacks, creative blocks, and every kind of doubt known to writers. It’s not healthy! And
- [The Write Life: Writing from a Dry Well](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/02/08/the-write-life-writing-from-a-dry-well/) - Woof. As far as months go, this one has been stressful. I’d like to claim it was good stress, the kind that causes me to dig deep and get things done, but mostly it was the kind that drains my energy and leaves writing time as struggle time. Other responsibilities, lots of piling work, emotional
- [The Write Life: Scheduling a Creative Retreat](http://www.allimartin.com/2022/01/07/the-write-life-scheduling-a-creative-retreat/) - The idea of a solo writing retreat has always intrigued me. I excel at self-directed work, and I’m fairly productive while working independently, but stripping away all my distractions and responsibilities to focus on creativity felt indulgent. Or more specifically, like something other creatives were allowed to have, and I wasn’t. (Spoilers: that is a
- [The Write Life: Writing Without a Block](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/12/08/the-write-life-writing-without-a-block/) - Writer's block is the bane of writers. And even though some people claim it doesn't exist, it is totally real. It shows up in the wake of poor mental health, exhaustion, overwhelm, doubt, and a hundred other things that can distract and deplete our creative energies and focus. If you've ever stared at a page
- [The Write Life: Shaking Loose](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/11/08/the-write-life-shaking-loose/) - Unsurprisingly, I spent the majority of my writing time and thoughts in October looking ahead to National Novel Writing Month. As a municipal liaison (that's one of the volunteers responsible for creating events at the local level), my focus tends to be on others, rather than on myself. I spend my time scrounging up volunteers,
- [The Write Life: Outline – Revise – Surprise!](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/10/08/the-write-life-outline-revise-surprise/) - This month my writing life was focused almost exclusively on outlining. (Also on Kate Bishop, since I wrote an article about the other Hawkeye for SlashFilm in anticipation of the Disney+ Hawkeye series debuting Nov 24.) DragonCon kicked off my September with a workshop by Bethany Kesler called "This Is How We Time/Space Travel and
- [The Write Life: Routine](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/09/08/the-write-life-routine/) - I’ve been struggling to figure out what to write about for this post. For this month, my writing life has been mostly routine. Words are being produced, progress is being made, but there’s not really anything for me to talk about. (Correction: actually, there is a project I would love to gush about, but it’s
- [The Write Life: Writing Retreat](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/07/08/the-write-life-writing-retreat/) - During May when I was busily seizing opportunities, I decided it was finally time to take advantage of my alumni status and join the UCF MFA writers at the annual writing retreat at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. I had been to the ACA previously for another event, so I was already familiar with
- [The Write Life: A Full Plate](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/06/08/the-write-life-a-full-plate/) - This month has been built on seizing opportunities. Which is not a mode I've been operating in for some time. My recent modus operandi has been: See opportunity. Want opportunity. Assume I am fit for opportunity. Question all of my qualifications and abilities to fulfill opportunity. Assume someone else wants or needs opportunity more than
- [The Write Life: The Mountain Is So Tall](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/05/06/the-write-life-the-mountain-is-so-tall/) - When you’re starting out in a writing career, it’s easy to look and see what's at the top of the mountain. Publication! That goal is easy to see, and the path to that goal is easy to figure out: write a book, get an agent, get published. So, you start walking that path by working
- [The Write Life: Self-Care March](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/04/06/the-write-life-self-care-march/) - My mental health plummeted over the month, so I’ve been concentrating on self-care, including what I can do to diminish the impact of the stressful, productivity-focused, anxiety- and rejection-filled life of being a writer. Here are a few ways I’ve changed behaviors to be a little kinder to myself: 1. Pass, Not Rejection Whether
- [The Write Life: Sci-Fi February](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/03/08/the-write-life-sci-fi-february/) - Near the end of the month, I attended a virtual workshop with the Orange County Library called Putting the Sci in Sci-Fi, led by author and scientist Premee Mohamed. The workshop was an in-depth exploration of moving from sci-fi inspiration to story, but one of the things that stuck with me was something Premee said
- [The Write Life: A Focused January](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/02/08/the-write-life-a-focused-january/) - January was certainly a difficult month for finding focus, but somehow, I chipped through the distractions a little at a time to get myself organized for the next few months. Much of that organization came in the form of setting up a Click-Up workspace so I could lay all my various projects and schedules side-by-side
- [The Write Life: Fresh Start December](http://www.allimartin.com/2021/01/07/the-write-life-fresh-start-december/) - Normally at this time of year I do an end-of-year assessment on the goals I set in January, or do some kind of wrap up to talk about what I achieved. But 2020 was so wildly unpredictable that most goals I set for myself quickly morphed, and I came to accept that writing things that
- [The Write Life: Prepping October](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/11/06/the-write-life-prepping-october/) - October is always a busy month for me because it's all about the NaNoWriMo Prep. As a Municipal Liaison for my local region, I spend less time prepping myself and my project, and more time prepping events and social media posts and coordinating with local writing groups. One of the biggest events I handle in
- [The Write Life: Escaping September](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/10/07/the-write-life-escaping-september/) - September was another long, weird month that seemed to drag so much more than the summer. (I’m still constantly thinking it’s the end of July or August.) But the slog of September also brought my usual escape from the stress and frustration of the year: DragonCon. DragonCon was of course a virtual experience for 2020,
- [The Write Life: Helpful August](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/09/08/the-write-life-helpful-august/) - This past month I hit a wall in my work-in-progress. I really struggled revising the end of a chapter and making it feel ~complete. What I wrote was fine, but it wasn't really good, and it didn't do the things a chapter end should do (specifically both wrap up and carry forward). And the whole
- [The Write Life: Tea Drinking July](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/08/07/the-write-life-tea-drinking-july/) - For the first time since I started posting The Write Life, I'm struggling with what to say. July has been a particularly difficult month. I've been grappling with feelings of isolation and loneliness, a decrease in creativity, and generally the suffocation of being hemmed in (which would have nothing to do with quarantine, am I
- [The Write Life: Organizing June](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/07/07/the-write-life-organizing-june/) - In June I took a break from my Writers Five goals so I could concentrate on getting organized. I recently started using Trello to organize and track freelance editorial projects. And, after having success with that, I decided Trello might be just what I need to organize my writing life. I've had a bad habit
- [The Write Life: Reconvening May](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/06/08/the-write-life-reconvening-may/) - One of the worst parts of quarantine for me is giving up going to conventions. I love conventions. I love being around people excited about stuff, geeking out with professional geeks, and seeing people display their obsessions in all manner of creative ways. But the convention community is creative, perseverant, and bold as all hell,
- [The Write Life: Quarantined April](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/05/08/the-write-life-quarantined-april/) - The second month in quarantine slowly felt more and more normal as new routines settled into habits and new habits became familiar. Some changes, actually, are welcome and have provided more structure to my day and made me more productive. Whereas March saw my motivation and productivity slowly folding like a flan in a cupboard,
- [The Write Life: A Socially Distant March](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/04/07/the-write-life-a-socially-distant-march/) - Well, this month certainly has been a year, hasn't it? First, I hope wherever you are, you're safe, have everything you need, and are scared enough to take every precaution but not so scared that you're immobilized. Mostly, I hope you're taking care of yourself in whatever fashion that needs to be. (Which could be
- [The Write Life: Try Anything February](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/03/06/the-write-life-try-anything-february/) - This past month I hit a landmark in my daily writing goal: 1,500 days of writing! I talked about how I started writing daily when I hit 1,000 days back in 2018, so if you want the origins of this obsessive goal, check out the post, 1,000. While I'd like for this announcement to be
- [The Write Life: A Contemplative January](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/02/06/the-write-life-a-contemplative-january/) - I started this month as many other writers did: considering my goals for the year. The past few years I've been in flux as I establish my editorial business, build my Patreon campaign, and write, write, (revise), write with the goal of traditional publishing. Many of the goals I set at the start of previous
- [The Write Life: December 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2020/01/09/the-write-life-december-2019/) - I hesitate to say that in December I took a break. (I mean, my to-do lists are intense, and a lot of community planning happens in December, so it is by no means a light month.) But, no, yeah, I took a break. In November, I wrote more of my nonfiction project than I had
- [The Write Life: October 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/11/08/the-write-life-october-2019/) - October is NaNo-prep for many people. The last few years I’ve been working on the same novel, so prep usually consisted of me spending the month re-reading what I’d already written, taking notes on what was missing, and tweaking the outline. But this year that novel gets a break and I’m using NaNoWriMo for a
- [The Write Life: September 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/10/11/the-write-life-september-2019/) - You might think The Write Life is up a little later this month because of the absolute insanity that was my life in September (revisions, editing projects, falls, and escaped cats, oh my!), but it was really so I could wait and post about the NaNOrlando Writers Conference. In 2017, I hoofed it to the
- [The Write Life: August 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/09/09/the-write-life-august-2019/) - Yep, you guessed it: it's the annual post about DragonCon. As always, DragonCon is a magical place in which time doesn't flow correctly. It is both so long and way too short, wherein on Friday you're thinking about how much time you have to do everything and on Monday you're begging for one more day
- [The Write Life: July 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/08/08/the-write-life-july-2019/) - This month was all about workshops—workshops I attended and workshops I presented. My first stop was the Orange County Library to learn about world building from Arielle Haughee. Her approach to world building starts with creating maps, ranging from the broad to the more specific aspects of the world. I tend to make maps late
- [The Write Life: June 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/07/10/the-write-life-june-2019/) - Summer is convention season, which means that just a couple weeks after the OCLS Book Festival, I was driving over to Maitland for a weekend at OASIS, the Orlando Area Science Fiction Society’s annual convention. They were celebrating OASIS 30, but this was my first time in attendance. It’s kind of amazing what can be growing
- [The Write Life: April 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/05/08/the-write-life-april-2019/) - Ever wonder what it takes to be an every day writer? It’s this: planning, determination, and prioritizing writing. My friends and I decided it was high time we visit the Magic Kingdom for an epic 12-hour theme park day. I write every day and while I want to prioritize having fun with my friends and
- [The Write Life: May 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/06/07/the-write-life-may-2019/) - In the middle of the month, I took a one-day vacation to the OCLS Book Festival. I’m calling this a vacation because even though I absolutely wrote that day, and even though I was taking notes in the pursuit of my writing career, the event, schedule, and whole day was a wonderful pause on my
- [The Write Life: December 2018](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/01/08/the-write-life-december/) - I started December by finishing off a final revision of my Clockman novel. (Yes, another final revision.) This pass included addressing some concerns I had about Chapter 12 and then reviewing the entire manuscript for filler words and adverbs to make sure the sentences were as tight as they could be. I used some of
- [The Write Life: January 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/02/08/the-write-life-january/) - While I was addressing comments on my steampunk novel, Lara Eckener was kind enough to share Victorian drop candy with me! Drop candy is made by rolling heated sugar between brass molds. As it is pressed between the molds, the sugar cools and hardens. To release the candy pieces, the rolled film is dropped, breaking
- [The Write Life: February 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/03/08/the-write-life-february/) - This month was the highly anticipated release of the Netflix adaptation of The Umbrella Academy. This weird little comic by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá has been living in my heart since 2007, and I was terrified and excited to see it come to the small screen. Netflix has done all right by the Marvel
- [The Write Life: March 2019](http://www.allimartin.com/2019/04/09/the-write-life-march-2019/) - In mid-March my friend ran a mini-workshop on branding for myself and two other author friends. In addition to getting away for the weekend and spending entirely too much time browsing through the rooms and rooms of used books at Chamblin Bookmine, we discussed who we each are as authors, helped refine brand statements, and
- [I Tweet, Therefore I Write](http://www.allimartin.com/2017/06/27/i-tweet-therefore-i-write/) - Twitter is one of my favorite online resources for writing. It’s a great place to meet writers and find opportunities and inspiration. Everyone uses Twitter differently, but here are five ways I use Twitter to help my writing career. 1. To Connect With Other Writers Connecting with other writers is one of the best things

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- [point of view](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/point-of-view/)
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- [writing:verb tense](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writingverb-tense/)
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- [edit:crutch](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/editcrutch/)
- [edit:language](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/editlanguage/)
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- [depression](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/depression/)
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- [umbrella academy](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/umbrella-academy/)
- [adaptations](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/adaptations/)
- [nonlinear storytelling](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/nonlinear-storytelling/)
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- [ocls book festival](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/ocls-book-festival/)
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- [oasis](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/oasis/)
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- [conventions](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/conventions/)
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- [writing:workshops](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writingworkshops/)
- [worldbuilding](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/worldbuilding/)
- [map making](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/map-making/)
- [OCLS](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/ocls/)
- [orange county library](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/orange-county-library/)
- [stargate](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/stargate/)
- [military sci-fi media](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/military-sci-fi-media/)
- [alternate & historical fiction](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/alternate-historical-fiction/)
- [american sci-fi & fantasy media](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/american-sci-fi-fantasy-media/)
- [the umbrella academy](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/the-umbrella-academy/)
- [david blue](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/david-blue/)
- [nanorlando](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/nanorlando/)
- [orlando public library](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/orlando-public-library/)
- [nonfiction](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/nonfiction/)
- [short stories](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/short-stories/)
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- [harry potter](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/harry-potter/)
- [break](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/break/)
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- [writer's five](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writers-five/)
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- [writing coach](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-coach/)
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- [writing group](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-group/)
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- [mental health](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/mental-health/)
- [music](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/music/)
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- [organization](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/organization/)
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- [tea](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/tea/)
- [adagio](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/adagio/)
- [harney & sons](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/harney-sons/)
- [isolation](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/isolation/)
- [loneliness](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/loneliness/)
- [writing rituals](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-rituals/)
- [rituals](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/rituals/)
- [writing support](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-support/)
- [cheerleaders](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/cheerleaders/)
- [editors](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/editors/)
- [stuck](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/stuck/)
- [unstuck](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/unstuck/)
- [weird](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/weird/)
- [virtual](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/virtual/)
- [writing advice](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-advice/)
- [Karen Osborne](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/karen-osborne/)
- [Emily Colin](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/emily-colin/)
- [Sofiya Pasternack](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/sofiya-pasternack/)
- [Jenny Broom](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/jenny-broom/)
- [Jennie Jarvis](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/jennie-jarvis/)
- [José Iriarte](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/jose-iriarte/)
- [Elle E. Ire](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/elle-e-ire/)
- [write around virtual disney world](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/write-around-virtual-disney-world/)
- [writing](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing/)
- [disney springs](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/disney-springs/)
- [port orleans](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/port-orleans/)
- [kilimanjaro safari](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/kilimanjaro-safari/)
- [galaxy's edge](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/galaxys-edge/)
- [haunted mansion](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/haunted-mansion/)
- [grand floridian](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/grand-floridian/)
- [accessibility](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/accessibility/)
- [virtual events](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/virtual-events/)
- [patreon](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/patreon/)
- [self-publishing](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/self-publishing/)
- [novella](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/novella/)
- [novel](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/novel/)
- [planning](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/planning/)
- [outlining](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/outlining/)
- [writer resources](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writer-resources/)
- [calendar](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/calendar/)
- [genre expectations](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/genre-expectations/)
- [Premee Mohamed](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/premee-mohamed/)
- [genre conventions](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/genre-conventions/)
- [submissions](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/submissions/)
- [submission tracking](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/submission-tracking/)
- [outside](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/outside/)
- [word count](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/word-count/)
- [kindness](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/kindness/)
- [publishing path](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/publishing-path/)
- [positive thinking](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/positive-thinking/)
- [opportunities](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/opportunities/)
- [rejection](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/rejection/)
- [writing retreat](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-retreat/)
- [atlantic center for the arts](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/atlantic-center-for-the-arts/)
- [florida](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/florida/)
- [wildlife](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/wildlife/)
- [schedules](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/schedules/)
- [balance](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/balance/)
- [time management](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/time-management/)
- [project management](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/project-management/)
- [podcasts](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/podcasts/)
- [routine](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/routine/)
- [write hive](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/write-hive/)
- [write hive lite](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/write-hive-lite/)
- [kate bishop](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/kate-bishop/)
- [hawkeye](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/hawkeye/)
- [slashfilm](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/slashfilm/)
- [prompts](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/prompts/)
- [drafting](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/drafting/)
- [municipal liaison](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/municipal-liaison/)
- [volunteers](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/volunteers/)
- [rebel](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/rebel/)
- [exhaustion](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/exhaustion/)
- [burnout](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/burnout/)
- [overwhelm](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/overwhelm/)
- [doubt](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/doubt/)
- [creative block](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/creative-block/)
- [creative process](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/creative-process/)
- [UCF](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/ucf/)
- [self-direction](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/self-direction/)
- [stress](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/stress/)
- [cemetery](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/cemetery/)
- [water](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/water/)
- [finishing](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/finishing/)
- [confidence](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/confidence/)
- [writing life](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-life/)
- [failure](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/failure/)
- [writing process](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-process/)
- [SavvyAuthors](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/savvyauthors/)
- [word count tracking](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/word-count-tracking/)
- [career goals](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/career-goals/)
- [career changes](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/career-changes/)
- [character](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/character/)
- [writing prompts](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-prompts/)
- [fantasy](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/fantasy/)
- [original fiction](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/original-fiction/)
- [paranormal](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/paranormal/)
- [death](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/death/)
- [writer confidence](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writer-confidence/)
- [creative confidence](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/creative-confidence/)
- [self-doubt](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/self-doubt/)
- [creativity](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/creativity/)
- [dinosaurs](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/dinosaurs/)
- [chronic illness](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/chronic-illness/)
- [mindset](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/mindset/)
- [mindfulness](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/mindfulness/)
- [executive dysfunction](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/executive-dysfunction/)
- [toolbox](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/toolbox/)
- [writing space](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-space/)
- [work/life balance](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/work-life-balance/)
- [boundaries](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/boundaries/)
- [mental space](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/mental-space/)
- [writing modes](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-modes/)
- [consistency](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/consistency/)
- [stangnation](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/stangnation/)
- [frustration](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/frustration/)
- [robots](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/robots/)
- [artificial intelligence](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/)
- [ai](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/ai/)
- [writing kindness](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-kindness/)
- [writing career](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-career/)
- [creature](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/creature/)
- [chameleon](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/chameleon/)
- [writing workshops](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-workshops/)
- [writer instinct](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writer-instinct/)
- [vampires](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/vampires/)
- [devils](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/devils/)
- [demons](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/demons/)
- [novel writing](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/novel-writing/)
- [appearances](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/appearances/)
- [book launch](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/book-launch/)
- [events](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/events/)
- [daily writing](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/daily-writing/)
- [illness](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/illness/)
- [health](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/health/)
- [physical health](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/physical-health/)
- [writing desk](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/writing-desk/)
- [acceptance](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/acceptance/)
- [distractions](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/distractions/)
- [struggle](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/struggle/)
- [crutch phrases](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/crutch-phrases/)
- [language](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/language/)
- [grammar](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/grammar/)
- [missing words](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/missing-words/)
- [dialogue tags](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/dialogue-tags/)
- [dialogue](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/dialogue/)
- [tense shift](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/tense-shift/)
- [verb tense](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/verb-tense/)
- [setting](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/setting/)
- [alternate history](http://www.allimartin.com/tag/alternate-history/)