Rock Your Writing

GMC: not just for stories.

Cathy Yardley — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 15:46:13 +0000

If you’ve been around the fiction-writing-reference block, you’re probably familiar with the concept of GMC… Goal, Motivation, Conflict. (If you aren’t, I strongly recommend you go grab a copy of either Debra Dixon’s book of the same name, or a copy of ROCK YOUR PLOT, which touches on it as a foundation for plotting.) Basically, […]

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Are you making these two key time management mistakes?

Cathy Yardley — Fri, 06 Dec 2024 14:56:19 +0000

The funny thing about time. I’ve found that most writers I work with have a funny relationship with time. Given any “container” of time, they assume they can do approximately two to four times as much as they’re actually capable of. Similarly, they assume that tasks will take half to a quarter of time […]

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Looking for more readers? Be specific.

Cathy Yardley — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 14:45:16 +0000

Being specific. I read a well-loved book (and I enjoyed it, too, don’t get me wrong) but I discovered that the reason there were jarring elements was that she’d intended for the story to take place, believably, “anywhere.” It’s set in the U.S., or at least hinted at. It is not by an American […]

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How to write when things are hard.

Cathy Yardley — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 13:39:58 +0000

How do you keep writing? So… how are you doing? In the past week, especially if you live in the U.S., things have been… chaotic, to say the least. For some of us, there is an active despair. Demoralization, depression, rage, grief, all there in a shaken cocktail of emotions. Who can write in […]

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How to prevent writer’s burnout, part 3

Cathy Yardley — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 13:35:10 +0000

We acknowledged that we were in burnout. We stopped the immediate downward spiral, finishing the stress cycles. We worked on identifying what was keeping us in quickstand. From there, we triaged as much as we could out of our schedules, slashing away at commitments and drains. But what if you can’t cut anything else out? […]

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How to prevent writer’s burnout, part 2

Cathy Yardley — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 13:33:10 +0000

The problem with burnout is you’ve taken all available personal resources, to the point where you have nothing left. Unfortunately, the demand for resources is still chugging along, and odds are good you are either trying to meet demand (or even increasing demand) without acknowledging that you’ve got nothing left to give. You’re going […]

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How to prevent writer’s burnout, part 1

Cathy Yardley — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 16:13:00 +0000

BURNOUT: The struggle is real. I’ve had what has been called “writer’s block” many times over my career. What I only recently realized is: what we call writer’s block is, quite often, burnout. Which is probably why some people experience it, and others don’t (and can’t understand what it is.) For the moment, let’s just […]

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What happens when you ignore self-care?

Cathy Yardley — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 14:01:31 +0000

I had big plans… I had very, very big plans for August 2024. I was speaking in New Zealand and Australia, giving workshops on writing to two different organizations. I’d never been to either place, so needless to say, I was thrilled. New Zealand went off without a hitch. I delivered a keynote speech […]

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How to improve your reader’s experience.

Cathy Yardley — Wed, 19 Jun 2024 14:55:09 +0000

Learning from UX. In my coaching and editing practice, I work with nonfiction authors as well as fiction ones. I have worked with a good number of people from the tech world, specifically UX design. If you’re not familiar with that field, UX means “User Experience” and a UX designer’s purpose is to make […]

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Why systems are better than habits.

Cathy Yardley — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 15:04:23 +0000

Cluttered desk syndrome I have ADHD. Even with meds, keeping my environment tidy is a challenge at best. Ironically, I feel intense relief when I have a “clean” desk. I’m just not built to automatically maintain one. Here’s what happens: I’ll get ready for the day, maybe starting with an administrative task. Suddenly, I […]

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