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7 Quick Writing Tips (and Editing Advice) to Bring Your Words to Life

January 4, 2017 by Lisa Tener

Writing Tips from Real Life

Writing tips can help you transform ho-hum writing into a big Hallelujah! After I sent some feedback and writing tips to a client, I spent this morning editing her revised manuscript. I was thrilled to see the author’s writing improve so dramatically from one draft to the next.

writing coach Lisa Tener — Your Book Writing Coach

Eureka! Whatever I told her, I realized I should share with you today. Every writer loves to know what she (or he) can do better to improve her writing and make it sing. These writing tips can make a world of difference in your own revisions.

Today’s writing tips all focus on making the words leap out from the page and form a picture for your readers. Whether you are writing a how-to book, memoir or even a novel, you will truly draw your readers in if you paint a scene and share stories.

Sure, your book may have its abstract moments, but here we will focus on 7 writing tips that make your stories come to life—whether you are writing brief anecdotes that support your self-help tools or part of a larger narrative, such as a memoir.

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writing desk — Paint a scene from the get go, so your reader isn’t playing “catch up.”

Paint the scene at the beginning. Have you ever had the experience of reading a story and imagining the character in one place, only to find three paragraphs later that the room was dark, not light; the character was surrounded by people, not alone as you had thought; and that it took place in the car, not the office? Not only does such construction confuse your readers, it frustrates them and takes them out of the magical world you are creating (yes, even in a brief self-help anecdote!). Instead, picture the scene in your mind and make the essential details clear up front.

Be specific about placement: Don’t make your readers have to guess whether your sister stood above you, sat next to you or put her head in your lap as you spoke. You can clarify placement by the verbs you use (“she sat” “she stood”). You can also clarify it by picturing the scene in your mind very clearly and then writing. Don’t overdo this (“She used her right hand to reach for the object on her right.”). Keep it simple and sparse, yet clear.

Use specific verbs to imbue actions with emotion and motivational cues: “She went to the store.” – WEAK! “She walked to the store.” – BETTER. “She sprinted to the store.” – GOOD. “She dragged herself to the store.” EVEN CLEARER.

Let your readers draw the conclusions. Don’t you go telling me that he was nervous and she was nuts. Instead, have him do something that shows he’s nervous—a tic, a stutter, wiping the sweat from his hands. Have the dialogue show how nutty she can be. As a reader, I get to draw the conclusion of what the action means and now I’m engaged, rather than hearing some ho-hum account with the life sucked out of it.

Avoid overuse of adverbs. Swiftly, slowly, angrily—these are shorthand ways of conveying information without much life. Instead, tell me she sprinted or ran; that he shuffled; that she threw a vase.

Take the time to find the perfect word. In a first draft, feel free to be lazy and allow the words to flow quickly without weighing them. However, in your next draft, look for the places where you used a word more than once, or used a word that doesn’t feel as precise as you might like. Use a thesaurus and see if you can get at “le mot juste.”

Read aloud. Reading aloud always helps you hear what works and what needs work.

Writing vs. Editing

In an initial writing phase, it’s fine to keep this information in mind, but you can also let it go and just focus on getting your words on the page. Once you have a draft, use these 7 tips to edit that draft and make the writing more powerful, specifically painting a picture your readers can see, hear, smell, taste, feel and sense!

Here is more advice on how to tighten your writing. You may also hit a point when you’ve done what self-editing you can and it’s time to find an editor to take you further along that path. This post will help you hire an editor, know what to look for and what to ask them.

Your Bonus Writing Tip

Enjoy yourself. When you have fun writing and editing, your readers get to share in that fun. Write or edit outside (if it’s warm enough). Or write and revise somewhere cozy and inspiring. All the things you do to bring yourself into a light and happy space will bring light into the writing and reading experience—without your having to try. Your writing just naturally picks up your state of being.

One thing I do to get myself into a state of flow before working on my blog posts, articles and books is to journal. The Joy of Writing Journal: Spark Your Creativity in 8 Minutes a Day can help you get into a state where writing flows with ease. Check it out!

Do you have any writing tips or anything you recently did that improved your writing? Please share. Feel free to ask your questions below as well.

35 Superb Reasons to Write a Book Now

January 1, 2017 by Lisa Tener

Thinking of writing a self-help book, how-to book or memoir?

Last year, I began the new year on this blog with 25 reasons to write a book now. Readers loved the inspiring examples and the opportunity to add some new motivation to their book-writing dreams.

Some even used this motivation to write and publish a book last year. Woot!

Continually inspired by my clients, I’ve expanded the list of reasons to write a book and added some fresh, new examples for 2017.

Ready to find your mojo?

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You want to leave your legacy: After Dr. Eric Pfeiffer retired from practicing medicine, Yale University Press published Winning Strategies for Successful Aging and Caregiving in Alzheimers and Other Dementias.
You’re finally ready to leave your corporate job behind, take the entrepreneurial plunge and start that new business you’ve dreamt about for the past decade: Huibert Evekink co-authored Feedback First in order to launch a new company, Future Teaming, which provides work teams with empowering experiences that enhance communication skills and information flow. They are off to a powerful start with strong corporate sales and plans to launch a complementary online academy this year.
Admit it, you’ve always wanted to add “published author” to your bio. Or not, but, hey, doesn’t the phrase bring your confidence level up a few notches? What an accomplishment! Marla O’Brien, author of Wine Within Your Comfort Zone, called becoming a published author the third best thing that’s happened to her, next to 35 years of marriage, childbirth and a successful teaching career.
You feel called to work with high caliber leaders or change-agents and you know your book can provide the needed credibility to serve in such a capacity. Dr. Randy Kamen’s work teaching mindfulness to CEOs began after publishing Beyond the Therapy Door. Dr. Kamen recently told me, “I now reach a global audience of influential people.” Talk about making a difference. Think of all the employees who are benefiting now that mindfulness begins at the top of their companies.
You know you could be helping and reaching so many more people with a book. It’s time to spread those wings, baby. Dr. Bruce Dow reached PTSD sufferers well beyond his private therapy practice with Dream Therapy for PTSD. And Chris Spurvey sold 8,000 copies of It’s Time to Sell in 3 weeks—just imagine how many people his book will help over time!
It’s time to tell your story. The Nautilus Awards committee agreed it was time for Kimber Simpkins—she won a Silver Nautilus for Full. So did Vint Virga, DVM, who told more than his own story. The Soul of All Living Creatures includes tales about dogs, cats, ocelots, wolves and other four leggeds who have sauntered, slunk and leapt into his life with their many wise lessons.
The New York Times hasn’t called you yet. It happened for Martha Rhodes after she published 3,000 Pulses Later and to Cathy Turney when Laugh Your Way to Real Estate Sales Success won a Stevie Award for Best Business Book of the Year.
Your clients/customers/readers deserve this. Cara Bradley’s On the Verge helps yoga practitioners and others bring mindfulness to their everyday lives—and doesn’t everyone deserve to experience the power of living in the now?
You love public speaking or teaching and you’d like to get paid—or paid more—for it. One published client recently told me she often gets paid in one day what she used to earn in a week as a psychotherapist.
You’re ready to speak at prestigious national and international conferences—and influence your field at the next level. After Gus Ferrer, MD and Burke Lennihan, RN published Cough Cures, Dr. Gus has been in demand as a speaker for several prestigious national conferences.
You’d love an excuse to travel to Bermuda—all expenses paid plus a stipend—or maybe a tour of England and Wales. Yes, the former happened to Pat Hastings when she published Simply a Woman of Faith and Martha Rhodes was invited by the Brititsh Government for a speaking tour to help launch the rollout of TMS therapy to their healthcare system, after 3,000 Pulses Later was published.
You want to empower people who are stuck and see no way out. That was one of Carol Labert’s goals in publishing Women with Controlling Partners. Her publisher, New Harbinger, was particularly excited to serve this under-served market.
Your book can help parents help their kids. Dr. Kathleen Trainor’s Calming Your Anxious Child is one great example of this. Her reach goes beyond the book as The Washington Post now regularly calls upon Dr. Trainor for advice for how to talk to kids about anxiety-provoking subjects in ways that help everyone stay calm.
You want to bring a light touch to a heavy subject. This was our goal with The Ultimate Guide to Tranforming Anger, the book I co-authored with Peaco Todd and Jane Middelton-Moz.
You’re ready to bump up your presentations to keynotes. That was Dr. Michael Banov’s goal—and it worked after Sunrise River Press published Taking Antidepressants.
You’d like to get more funding for your research: Dr. Michael Banov’s goal #2: achieved!
You’ve identified your “ideal clients” and now you’d like to fill your practice with these “ideals.” Bridget Engel uses her book Guidance to Go to fill her coaching practice with clients who resonate with her work with angels, as well as to fill her retreats.
You want the perfect marketing tool that sells your services for you. Mike Travis’ Mastering the Art of Recruiting is a great example of this.
You’re an expert in your field, but also a well-kept secret. It’s time to let the secret out and shine your light a little brighter. Okay, a lot brighter. Deb Scott’s The Sky is Green and the Grass is Blue turned up the volume on Deb’s light—and led to hosting a top rated show on blog talk radio—with over a million global listeners.
You have so much you’d like to say to Hoda. Abby Rodman, author of three books on marriage and divorce including Without This Ring, appeared on the Today Show twice.
You want to stand out in a field that’s growing more competitive. In addition to being filled with super-useful tips for its readers, Success Without Stress showcases Teri Scheinzeit’s ability to help women entrepreneurs stay calm and “Work Smarter, Not Harder.” As a result, she’s been attracting more clients who are looking for success that comes without the high price of stress. As a coach who manages to take one day off a week, and one week off a month, for her passions (travel and making music), the book also helps attract clients who are eager to “design” a fulfilling, outside-the-box lifestyle.
You have a major contribution to make to your field and a book is the perfect way to share it. Leslie Shapiro did that with Understanding OCD, published by ABC-CLIO, as does Vicki Tidwell Palmer’s Moving Beyond Betrayal.
You just wanna make the world a better place. Kathy LeMay upped her contribution to philanthropy with The Generosity Plan, published by Beyond Words.
You want to raise awareness about a public health issue. Victoria Dunckley did that and more with Reset Your Child’s Brain, which brings to light the effects of electronic screen time on children’s brains and a proven plan to solve the problem.
You’d like to work with a new group of people. Dr. Carrie Barron’s The Creativity Cure helped her expand her teaching beyond the college level.
You’ve been practicing signing your name in anticipation of your book signings. Your signature is perfected.
You have knowledge in your field that can be applied outside your field—and you’re ready to share it. Dr. Patricia Hoy applies principles of the arts to everyday life in her book Arts Awareness.
You see people being taken advantage of and you want to educate them so that doesn’t happen. Tara Mardigan and Kate Weiler’s Real Fit Kitchen helps athletes learn the mis-information about “health” foods being marketed to athletes and offers easy, healthy options for cooking on-to-go power foods for their competitions.
You know just how to help people create the change in their lives that they are searching for. As former Executive Director of the T. Colin Campbell Foundation, Micaela Cook Karlsen knew just how people struggled with implementing a plant-based diet, and she’d done the research—and put it into practice—to know how to make plant-based eating a way of life—hence, A Plant-Based Life.
People keep asking for your book and it feels kinda lame to say, “It’s coming” when you feel stalled. Imagine how great it will feel to say, “It’s here,” instead.
You want to honor someone you love. In Bless Your Little Cotton Socks, Dr. Diane Radford honors the memory of her mother, whose quirky Scottish sayings and sense of humor pepper every page.
You want to get to capture your family’s history before it’s too late. Pat Mitchell interviewed her mother, aunts and uncles to write A Girl From the Hill, about her mother’s life.
You’ve solved a problem in your own life and now you want to help others solve theirs. Nora Hall wrote Survive Your Husband’s Retirement as the book she wished she’d had when her husband retired.
Give your clients a “take home” to integrate whatever it is you teach them. Psychotherapist Stephanie O’Leary’s clients kept saying, “Your suggestions are amazing. You should really write a book!” They wanted something to help them practice what she taught them—during therapy sessions—about parenting.
You want to shake up the status quo that has been in existence for far too long. Susan MacDonald’s Inspiring Early Childhood Leadership: Eight Strategies to Ignite Passion and Transform Program Quality, provides early childhood leaders with the strategies and insights that they need to develop empowering new ways to improve the quality of early childhood programs.

What are your reasons for writing a book? Anything I’ve missed? Share your comments here.

MaestroConference and Social Conferencing: Two Kinds of Opportunity

December 22, 2016 by Lisa Tener

social conferencing Brian Burt — Brian Burt, CEO of Maestroconference

MaestroConference has changed my business and the technology has given my business an edge by making my courses highly interactive and especially powerful for participants. I’m a huge fan of what MaestroConference can do for those who teach courses.

In addition, Maestro is just close to my heart. The people I’ve worked with there have made suggestions that have made me a more effective teacher and have contributed to my classes considerably.

Nothing fancy, but it put a smile on my face to see this note pasted on the front door.

When I presented at the San Francisco Writer’s Conference a couple of years ago, I took a detour to Oakland to meet with the team and meet in person these folks who have contributed so much to the success of my business and my clients.

I arrived to a welcome note on the outside door and a card that everyone had signed. Everyone took a break for hugs and a roundtable discussion. It may sound trite but they felt like family.

This is a company with a standout product that has changed my business and top notch customer service. Did I mention someone on the staff baked and sent me cookies the following Christmas?

So, when Brian Burt contacted me about Maestro’s crowdfunding campaign, the top rated CF opportunity on Stratifund, I became an investor. I also wanted to share the opportunity more broadly, because I am such a believer in the power of this platform—for transformation and business. Of course, I encourage you to read all the fine print and details on the WeFunder website. Here’s just a bit more about MaestroConference in case you are thinking of investing or thinking about using the technology to make your online courses and conferences better.

Lisa: Can you say a bit about what social conferencing is and what sets it apart from other types of conferencing?

Brian: Social conferencing creates a connection with and among participants versus just lecturing them. Most conferences are broadcast events where the audience is passively listening or watching. MaestroConference’s social conferencing tools like breakouts, idea board and more allow participants to interact with the host and each other creating real connections.

Lisa: That connection is so key. I find that people come away from my calls with new, creative ideas for their books. They leave the calls feeling inspired and recharged. And the accountability during the breakout sessions of having to say what you’ve done the previous week—that’s motivating. People often say that even if they fall behind, they usually pick right back up a few days before the conference when they know they’ll be sharing their progress with a partner on the call. There’s power in the group to stay on task.

Can you tell me a bit about ideaboard—how it works and the kind of thinking it initiates? I haven’t used that feature.

Brian: The idea board is a way to capture everyone’s input, giving everyone a chance to vote on the ideas, and seeing what bubbles to the top. It’s great for selecting the questions to ask a guest (similar to Reddit “AMA” but with spoken answers), collecting ideas from breakouts, or picking topics to dive into. The host can choose the voting mechanism. [Here’s the help section on that.]

Lisa: Oh, I’m already getting ideas…I know all kinds of people are using Maestroconference—from the White House (to communicate with volunteers during the president’s campaign) to nonprofit organizations who are connecting with global partners. I’m especially interested in hearing how bestselling authors use Maestroconference. You have a pretty impressive roster—from SARK to Jack Canfield to You have some of the finest teachers.

Brian: We have great customers who have found benefits of MaestroConference like Jack who said that traditional calls can’t create interaction but “it can happen with MaestroConference.” One way we have seen authors in particular use MaestroConference is with “virtual” book tours.

These are either paid or unpaid events advertised by the author where they get to interact directly with people across the world who have read their work. They can answer questions, divide participants into small breakouts, poll them and more. This is a great way for authors to connect with their audience. And an interactive event can be much more effective at attracting those with a professional interest.

Meeting with the Maestro Team: Behind me is Joshua Home Edwards, the behind the scenes “driver” for most of my calls.

Lisa: Why does crowdfunding make sense for you now?

Brian: We decided to start a crowdfunding campaign because it aligns with our brand, and allows our fans to participate in the upside of a successful technology company. MaestroConference’s mission is to light up the world with the power of meaningful, large-scale conversations that connect lives, build relationships and change the world. Similarly crowdfunding allows individuals to collectively spur companies and ideas. Our mission of connections through conversations is the same as crowdfundings connection through investment.

Lisa: Why is this a good investment?

Brian: MaestroConference has been getting great word of mouth from our customers and growing with that. With the crowdfunding resources, we will be able to fund our sales and marketing teams, as well as continue to innovate great technology. It’s worth noting there are no guarantees, but there’s definitely potential upside as people are getting in at a price for early investors.

Lisa: What are MaestroConference’s plans for the future?

Brian: We plan on continuing to improve and add more benefits for our users. Video is key and is currently in “private beta” for some customers. We have already rolled out a CRM integration tool, Zapier, allowing customers to have their registrants automatically sync with their systems.

Lisa: I was excited to see that because we use Infusionsoft for our customer relationship management, including affiliate program, LeadPages for our registration for free calls and Maestroconference for the conferencing technology. It’s exciting to see that we will be able to use Maestroconference for our free calls now, in addition to our paid programs, since we’ll now be able to track affiliate info. Anything else?

Brian: We now also have audio streaming allowing hundreds of thousands of participants to listen to live calls.

Lisa: Wow, I don’t know of any conferencing technology that allows for such huge groups. I imagine that can be powerful for larger companies and nonprofits that want to connect people across the organization and in different locations.

Brian: We’ve also built most of a new screenshare tool that will be much more flexible and easy to use.

Lisa: That sounds good too. For now, I’ve focused on teleseminars but I can see how screensharing and offering webinars could be of benefit for certain classes and applications. Anything down the pike?

Brain: In the future, we’re planning to create breakouts by geography or social network. All very exciting features that we know our users will love.

Lisa: Yeah, my participants always get excited when they accidentally pair up with someone who lives near them. And a few have gone on to meet in person. It would be neat to make those connections intentionally and more often!

Thanks for sharing this opportunity, Brian. Readers, if you have questions about Maestroconference as an investment opportunity, you can check it out here. And if you want to look into Maestroconference as a vehicle for social conferencing, you can check it out here.

20+ Books That Make Awesome Gifts

December 9, 2016 by Lisa Tener

Books are Great Gifts!

In thinking about the upcoming holidays, I’ve put together a short list of meaningful gifts for folks on your Christmas, Hannukah or holiday list. All of these books will inspire. Some will entertain, some have the power to transform your friends and family into better leaders, and some will change people’s lives in ways they’ve longed for or dreamed of.

Every Christmas, my kids get about a half dozen books put together and they get devoured within days. I love getting books. Do you?

This season I have super exciting gifts ideas for you—from the book that can change your good friend’s life to the inspiration that will bring joy to your auntie’s heart to the book that will help your colleague finally get his book written (or maybe it’s for you!). I even have a couple of suggestions for the kids in your life.

Book Gifts for Parents and Families

1. A World of Good: Let’s start with the kids on your list, both grade school and middle school—or the inner kid in all of us. This book is for anyone who loves the Guinness Book of World Records.

In A World of Good, Willie Nugent shares the crazy capers he’s taken on to raise money for charity—many of them record-setting and one that even landed him in the big book itself!

2. A Plant Based Life: Anyone in your family or circle of friends struggling to eat healthier? Perhaps they have a health condition or just want to feel more energy.

Micaela Karlsen’s A Plant Based Life offers strategies to move towards healthier eating, as well as strategies and tools to stick to a healthful diet despite all the temptations that the holidays provide.

Perhaps order a second for yourself if you want to avoid developing your own resemblance to Good Old St. Nick this treat-filled season.

3. Cough Cures: ‘Tis the season, but you and your loved ones don’t have to—ahem—expectorate.

Gus Ferrer, MD, director of the Cleveland Clinic Cough Center, and award winning author and homeopath Burke Lenihan, RN, help you understand what’s in all those meds at the pharmacy, how to choose the right one, avoid the ones that can land you in the emergency room, and how to know when a good old-fashioned home remedy can actually be a better choice (evidence-based!).

The authors even teach you how to make your own home remedies and teas when the cough calls for it. This is a terrific book for moms of small kids, teachers who are constantly exposed to germs, older folks who may be more vulnerable to dangerous coughs and anyone who likes to be informed and empowered when it comes to health.

4. The Soul of All Living Creatures: This book, full of heart-warming stories about real-live animals by animal behaviorist Vint Virga, D. V. M., is a winner for pet-lovers, watchers of the Discovery Channel, those who love to learn about nature and those who remember with longing their discovery of James Herriot.

5. Calming Your Anxious Child: Know a child who worries execssively, doesn’t want to go to school, won’t talk in social situations or refuses to learn to swim? Here’s the perfect gift for his or her parents. Dr. Kathleen Trainor’s advice helped my kid (he now swims underwater and doesn’t give it a second thought).

6. Reset Your Child’s Brain: It’s not a subtle gift, but maybe you’re not subtle. Has your friend or family member complained of feeling powerless when it comes to getting her kids off video games? This book by Victoria Dunckley, MD empowers with facts AND a proven program.

Books for Business People

7. Feedback First: This is great a pick for anyone who manages teams. They’ll learn to be a better leader, give and receive feedback more effectively, better motivate the millenials on their team, be culturally sensitive and have a few laughs along the way, since author Huibert Evekink includes his entertaining cartoons in every chapter.

Don’t let the cartoons fool you into thinking this lighthearted approach is lite on power. The advice and tips in this book can make a huge difference for the manager and his or her team. And no need to only give it to managers. It’s a great book to share with your own team!

8. Success Without Stress: Picture for a moment the entrepreneurial woman in your life—the one who’s trying to balance work, kids, household and aging parents…she needs this book. Desperately. You will make her life easier, saner, her work more productive and effective, her relationships more joyful.

Maybe she’ll even learn how to master Executive Coach Teri Scheinzeit’s trick—one week out of every month she skips work and instead attends to her hobby—folk music. Teri attends music camps, festivals, takes her show on the road, or works on her next song or album. Teri taught me to, “Work smarter, not harder” and she’ll do the same for readers of this terrific book that offers all it’s wisdom is easy, bite-sized chunks.

9. Start Right Where Your Are: My colleague Samantha Bennett is brilliant at helping creative people finish their projects. Now, she takes those same skills to the entrepreneurial set—or anyone wanting to complete a project. Get past your editor, your inner critic, your inner saboteur and finally tackle the project with humor and aplomb, thanks to Sam.

10. Mastering the New Media Landscape: A great book for authors or entrepreneurs who want to reach more people with their book, message or business—or all three.

Authors Rusty Shelton and Barbara Cave Henricks will empower your friends to have the influence and impact they dream of—and it can help an author sell more books, too!

11. Social Media Just for Writers: My friend and colleague Frances Caballo has helped several of my authors develop their twitter following, including Carol Lambert who started from scratch. Int his bo

12. Laugh Your Way to Real Estate Sales Success: Is there a realtor on your list? I laughed my head off just reading the introduction “loosely translated from Genesis 1.” Part of the beauty of this book is that Cathy Turney’s brilliant real estate tips are packaged in her laugh out loud humor on every page.

Books That Can Turn a Life Around

13. Women with Controlling Partners: It would be a better world if we didn’t have to worry about that BFF or sister or cousin with the abuse partner. But in this imperfect world, thank goodness for Carol Lambert, who, for several decades, has led groups for women with controlling partners and helped them take back control of their worlds.

You’ll feel empowered that you now have a gift that you can give these women in your life. In my just change theirs.

14. Moving Beyond Betrayal: It’s earth shattering when someone’s spouse or partner betrays them. There’s no way to sugar coat that situation. Yet this book by Vicki Tidwell Palmer could be the most meaningful and helpful gift that person in such a situation receives.

15. 3,000 Pulses Later: If anyone in your life suffers from depression, and especially if they wonder about treatment options other than medication, this memoir by Martha Rhodes—plus introduction to TMS therapy—could be more than just inspiring. It could change a person’s life—and has, for many.

Books That Inspire or Heal

16. Arts Awareness: Any artists in your life? Or anyone who’s a bit creative and would love to read more about the different techniques and tools artists use in the craft to create beauty and inspire?

Dr. Patricia Hoy wrote this book to help anyone use the techniques of the artist to raise their own consciousness. Arts Awareness is also a wonderful gift for arts educators and others in the arts to expand their teachings and awareness.

17. The Creativity Cure: Still a classic, this book by Carrie Barron and Alton Barron, both MD’s, will come in handy preventing the winter blues from settling in once the holiday hoopla is over.

While it’s a great antidote for the discouraged, dispirited or despondent on your list, anyone is likely to benefit from this prescription for happiness.

18. How to Meditate and Why: Have someone in your life who keeps saying they want to learn to meditate but they just find it hard? This book by Mara Zimmerman makes meditation simple and accessible. Empower the would-be meditator in your life.

19. Behind the Therapy Door: Recently picked up by Central Recovery Press, there are still a few self-published copies you can scoop up before the holidays. In it, my friend and colleague, Dr. Randy Kamen shares fascinating stories of how her clients healed their wounds of the past and took back control of their lives.

And you’ll learn the mindfulness tools behind these stories so you can use them too!

20. On the Verge: Inspire your loved ones to wake up, enjoy life to the fullest and experience more peak moments with Cara Bradley’s daily mindfulness tools.

21. 52 Ways to Love Your Body: This will help your loved one start 2017 on a body-loving high note—and keep going all year. Kimber Simpkins’ second book is light hearted yet powerful.

A Stocking Stuffer for the More Challenging People in Your Life

21. Rethinking Narcissism: I suppose you could slip this in the stocking of your favorite narcissist and he or she won’t even know whom you’re refering to, and yet you may see some subtle changes in their behavior as they read on.

A Winner for Athletes

22. Real Fit Kitchen: This one’s for the athletes in your life, especially those who don’t mind messing around in the kitchen.

The easy, healthy recipes from nutritionists Tara Mardigan and Kate Weiler will get them off those fake-healthy protein bars and bringing their own energizing treats to their next triathalon.

And the Perfect Gift for the Budding Author

23. Quick Start to Kick Start Your Book: Okay this one’s a bonus and it’s not exactly a book. I developed this self-study program to guide the budding self-help or how-to author through all the important questions to ask BEFORE writing that book.

Your author friend will get clear on vision, goals, readership, features, tone, content and even structure. It’s only $97 and one of the most thoughtful presents you can give to someone who’s wanted to write a book forever.

Oh, is that you? Well, let someone you love know what you want for Christmas! Find out more about this empowering book writing program here.

3 Quick Tips to Start Writing Again

December 6, 2016 by Lisa Tener

Once you get out of the writing habit, inertia can make it easy to put your writing off. So, how to start writing again?

Cough Cures is helping an international audience now that it’s been translated into Spanish.

Remind yourself why you’re writing.

Staying connected to your source of inspiration for writing, throughout the day, helps you break through any challenges that come up.

Ask yourself, “What’s my vision? What goals do I have?”

Do you want to help a much larger group of people than you currently reach—sharing your wisdom and expertise, the way Gus Ferrer, MD and Burke Lennihan, RN, have done with Cough Cures?
Randy regularly speaks to a wide range of audiences, from CEOs to fans of Arianna Huffington and people interested in mindfulness tools.

Do you envision speaking to high powered CEO’s like Dr. Randy Kamen, author of Behind the Therapy Door?
Or traveling to exotic locales like Pat Hastings who teaches workshops and leads retreats based on her award-winning book, Simply a Woman of Faith—in Bermuda, on cruise ships and—her lifelong dream—Hawaii.

I have participants in my Bring Your Book to Life® Program develop a vision statement that captures their dreams for what will happen when their book is published. It includes their goals for what the book will do for readers, the larger community and for the author’s life and work.

They read their vision statements regularly—when they get up in the morning, before they start writing and when they go to bed at night.

Reading that vision statement on a regular basis helps you stay engaged, inspired, motivated and on track.

2. Set a specific date and block of time in your calendar to start writing—and finish.

Not just “I’ll start writing Monday morning,” but “I’ll write on Monday morning from 10-12.”

Keep that time appointment sacred. Treat it like a hot date or important business meeting.

If you tend to get burned out or low energy, plan an energizing activity right before writing, such as yoga, qigong or a walk in nature.

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3. Make yourself accountable for writing.

It’s easier to start writing when you’re accountable to someone other than yourself. One way to do this is to find a “writing buddy.”

You and your writing buddy can plan to meet in person at the local cafe or library, or just call each other on the phone to say, “I’m starting writing now.” Then call each other when you stop writing to say, “I wrote.”

Other ways to be accountable include a book writing coach or book writing course!

These 3 simple tips should help you start writing again—and keep you in action. Before you know it, you’ll have written a book!

Do you have any favorite tips? Share them as a comment below.

Any questions about writing your book? Just ask your questions below as well.

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