
June 8, 2022
1. Write what you love.
Not what’s trendy. Not what’s selling. Not what everyone else thinks you should write. Write for you first. Write what you love. Writing isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time, effort, focus, and attention. Writing stories you don’t love is extremely painful and makes life miserable as a creative being. Be brave enough and bold enough to write what you love.
2. Write when you want to write.
Not everyone is a morning writer, a night writer, or a lunchtime writer. Not every writer wants to or needs to or should write every single day. (I don’t and won’t.) Figure out what works for you. This is a creative process. Heavy emphasis on the process part. It’s constantly evolving and changing. Figure out when you’re the most productive and creative. If you work a day job (or night job), writing time will be what you can manage, but capitalize on every single bit of it anyway. If the words aren’t coming through, don’t beat yourself up. Being creative on command is a skill that can be mastered, but it’s not something you want to rely on solely. Forcing yourself to write only when you really don’t want to is a great way to make yourself miserable. That said, on the flip side, you still have to write sometime. Figure out what works best for you. The creative process can be painful. Figure out how to do it with the least amount of pain for you. It’ll be different than my process, but that’s because it’s your process. Above all, give your story your attention. Think about it. Then, get it on the page.
3. Have the discipline and determination to finish what you start.
I don’t have many unfinished, half-written books. Only a few actually. Unfinished, half-written books won’t help you become a successful author. Vet your ideas. Pick the best one. The one that excites you the most. Write that one. Finish it. If you don’t finish it, it’s really hard to call it a book. This is not an easy road. It takes a lot of discipline and a ton of determination to finish a book. It’s not just you who struggles with crossing the finish line either. Even career authors with 40 books under their belts don’t always feel like they know what they’re doing or if they can finish the book. Landing the plane can be hard sometimes (and that can be exactly what it feels like you’re doing)! Give yourself grace and compassion. Then finish the damn book.
4. Make Creative Flow your best friend.
This is the number one way to succeed as an author. When you make Creative Flow your best friend, you step up onto a completely new and different level of creativity. You are co-creating with the universe, and the stories that come to life are magical. I don’t write any of my books alone. I don’t write any of my books without Creative Flow. It’s with me and I’m with it, and together, we craft beautiful work that can be enjoyed by millions. What is Creative Flow? Magic. The Universe. God. The Divine. The source of all creativity. Learn how to tap into that and people will think you’re the brilliant one, instead of just the channel the brilliance comes through.
|

Passionate Ink: A Guide to Writing Erotic Romance
by Angela Knight
The forecast is in: the future of romance is hot and steamy. But riding the wave to success takes more than stringing together a couple of sex scenes or opening the bedroom door on your traditional romance. In her brand-new “how-to”, USA Today bestselling author Angela Knight shares the down and dirty details on writing erotic romances that will keep your readers coming back for more. Passionate Ink (un)covers the erotic novel from conception to completion. Straight talk, no purple prose. First, Angela will show you her useful writing techniques that have made her a successful author. Then, she’ll teach you what’s hard (besides that!) about making your erotic romance erotic: action, both in and out of bed, the anatomy of a sex scene, eroticism and ‘kink’, and good dialogue, or talking dirty without sounding dumb. If you want to enjoy the heat, then strip off your inhibitions and take a dip into Passionate Ink.
*Meg learned so much from this one!*

The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
by Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way is the seminal book on the subject of creativity. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life. Still, as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published twenty-five years ago, it is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work. Julia Cameron reflects upon the impact of The Artist’s Way and shares additional insights into the creative process that she has gained. Updated and expanded, this anniversary edition reframes The Artist’s Way for today’s creatives.