The Renegade Writer Blog

Since August, I’ve been working two days per week and still earning full-time income writing for magazines. My goal, when I started this two-day workweek, was to spend more time with my now one-year-old son, have more fun, and do more volunteering. On my days off I do check e-mail just to make sure nothing [...]

In my post Extreme Productivity in early August, I talked about how I had my husband change my password to a time-suck writer’s forum and I downloaded a free Firefox extension called BlockSite to block other distracting sites. For a couple of days my fingers itched to type in those web addresses, but then the [...]

I’m working on a new 6-week e-course called Get Unstuck! for Freelancers (which starts September 14), which will give advice and assignments on motivation, organization, and productivity. (And yes…I am generally highly motivated, productive, and organized!) I’m packing tons of information into the six lessons — from beating procrastination to overhauling your to-do list to [...]

Before I jump into today’s post, I’d like to let you know that my next e-course on breaking into magazines, which has helped students land assignments from magazines ranging from Pizza Today to Woman’s Day, starts on Monday, August 3. That’s just a week away! Also, due to popular demand (no, really!), I’ve added a [...]

Last week I had a session with a mentoring client who is a very talented writer, but has trouble getting motivated to query. However, she mentioned that she was able to get her Ph.D. dissertation done on time. And we all know that a dissertation is no easy project!
To me, the difference between pounding out [...]

J. Robert Lennon spills writers’ dirty little secret in the L.A. Times: The fact that we really don’t work all that much. [lf]

This is my first week in my new office space in downtown Concord, New Hampshire. As you may know, on January 2 we welcomed Traver Maxwell to the world. Eric and I turned the home office into a nursery, and moved all my office furniture and equipment into Eric’s game room.
Now, Eric is no [...]

In 2005, I spent a few fabulous days at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. The next year, Diana and I got a free stay there when we gave a talk on magazine writing. I’d love to return for more spa treatments and wonderful dining, but it is pricey — and I mean really pricey.
Last [...]

For a couple of days at the beginning of last week, I felt completely unmotivated: more blob than human. One part of me wanted to market, work on my assignments, and generally be active and productive. But another, stronger, part of me wanted to lie on the couch and surf the Internet all week.
Then I [...]