Hillary DePiano's Blog, page 4

Take failure off the table

It was summer. My daughter was five years old and just learning to go underwater. All-day long she’d done tentative little dips, dunking her face, sliding across the surface of the water. Then she dropped her goggles. She lunged for them, but it was too late. Down down down, they sank to the very bottom of the deep end of the pool. Over and over, she dipped under to get them, but she never even came close to where they were. With each dip, she got more frustrated.… Read more

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Building a writing life

Our guest here at The Whine Seller today is a long-time friend of the blog, author and playwright Hillary DePiano, who stopped by to talk about her new book, Building a Writing Life: start a writing habit, make time to write, discover your process and commit to your writing dreams. We talk a lot on this blog about blogging, writing marketing copy and publishing books as an additional source of income but the weird thing about writing is, while there’s a lot of resources out there once you get started, ther...

Turn your writing dreams into a writing goal

While people often use the terms interchangeably when talking about writing or anything creative, there’s a big difference between a dream and a goal. A dream is a fantasy, a mental picture of how we wish it could be. A goal is a tangible thing you can work toward in the real world. The following is an adapted excerpt from Building a Writing Life: start a writing habit, find time to write, discover your process and commit to your writing dreams available now in paperback and eBook.… Read more...

Why do you write?

Ask any writer why they write, and you’ll get dozens of different answers. Some use it for therapy or meditation. For others, it’s a job or side hustle to earn some extra income. Many writers write to share their story or to make sure the world has the stories they needed when they were young. Some writers can’t explain why they write, they only know that they must, or life feels wrong and hollow. The following is an adapted excerpt from Building a Writing Life: start a writing habit, find ti...

Write it first, then worry about what comes next.

Don’t get ahead of yourself In an old Garfield book we had growing up, there’s a week-long gag about him becoming a writer. In one comic, he says something like, “Lots of people say they want to write a book, but very few actually do something about it.” The punchline is him, still having written nothing, sitting in front of the mirror in a smoking jacket saying, “Yes, this is how I will be photographed for my book jacket.” The following is an adapted excerpt from Building a Writing Life: sta...

Tell people you’re a writer to build your writing tribe

Build your tribe While we’ve been talking about getting the voices in your head on board with this whole writing thing, friends and family can help or hinder your writing in a million ways. One of the best things you can do to help your writing life is finding allies and friendly support, and that search starts with the people you already know. When you have people in your life that will support and respect your writing, that’s your tribe, and they can be an essential element for building and...

Writer, let go of your Dumbo feather

For years, I thought I could only write if I had the perfect circumstances. My favorite mood-setting music, my special writing spot in an inspirational setting and at least three hours of uninterrupted time. I rejected so many perfectly good moments when I could have been writing because I thought those ideal conditions were what I absolutely needed to write. It took me a long time to realize they were all just Dumbo feathers. The following is an adapted excerpt from Building a Writing Life:...

Read to be a better writer

Stephen King once said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” To be a writer, you need to read. Read often. Read widely. Read what you know you’ll love. Read what you think you’ll hate. Fill your head with the rhythm of words and stories until it all can’t help but come pouring back out on the page. The following is an adapted excerpt from Building a Writing Life: start a writing habit, find time to write, discover your process and...

Should you write what you know?

Write what you know? It’s hard to think of a writing cliche more prevalent than, “Write what you know!” The problem is that it’s not well understood and that confusion has lead many a would-be writer astray. Should you write what you know? Well, yes and no. The following is an adapted excerpt from Building a Writing Life: start a writing habit, find time to write, discover your process and commit to your writing dreams available now in paperback and eBook.… Read more

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Why is my writing so bad?

I have talked to so many would-be writers whose writing dreams stalled before they had begun and all for the same reason: when they started writing, what they wrote was so bad they just couldn’t continue. What if they just weren’t good enough to be a writer? What if they were doing it wrong? It stopped them in their tracks and arrested any forward progress they were making on their dreams. What I tell these writers is the same thing I will say to you: you will write poorly.… Read more

The pos...