Blog by Toby Welch

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Finding Your Writing Voice

November 22nd, 2020
                           Joe Bunting, the author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller Let’s Write a Short Story!, had the following to say about finding your writing voice in a blog post on The Write Practice, “I asked Ted Dekker how long it takes for an author to find their voice. “It takes four to five novels,” he said. So if the average novel is about 80,000 words, then you have to write 320,00 ...

Top 10 Excuses for Not Writing

October 8th, 2020
Writers who avoid writing have the lamest excuses: “Not enough time.” This one is so pathetic. People have time to watch brain sucking TV shows or putter away hours at the mall or on the golf course but they don’t have time to write. This is a case of choosing different priorities, not about not having enough time. “Nowhere to write.” Again, lame. People who really want to write don’t wait ...

E-books Versus Hard Copy Books

September 7th, 2020
                             I watch people on both sides of the debate argue over whether e-books are going to bulldoze over hard copy books and I shake my head. The world becomes more digital as each day passes, ensuring e-books will continue to be in demand. And as long as e-books continue to be one-dimensional with no physically gratifying sense for those who love the tactility of flippi ...

And Even More Writers Advice to Their Newbie Writing Self

August 6th, 2020
It would be so awesome if we could go back to when we were just starting out in this writing journey and share some pearls of wisdom with the writer we were when we were newbies.John Warner, workaholic, retirement failure, author of Emperor of the East Slope and the award- winning Golden Quest shares what he would tell his starting out writer self: “To complete a book is a cherished mileston ...

Writers on Location

July 6th, 2020
I met a fellow writer while walking my dog. She admitted that she does her best writing in cemeteries. There is a graveyard within walking distance of her home and she finds them anywhere she goes. As she pointed out, while most people don’t give much thought to cemeteries, you can find them almost anywhere. Her favorite one is five minutes from where she works and she feels like she is i ...

Just Say No

June 18th, 2020
Being able to say “No” is vital when it comes to finding more time to write. Is there something in your life that you are doing (a volunteer position, a committee spot, babysitting for a relative, for example) but you would rather spend that time writing? Do you belong to a group that feels more like a chore than a fun activity? Resign from the group and dedicate the new-found free time to ...

The Importance of Not Comparing Yourself to Other Writers

May 30th, 2020
Shanan, a writer and the creator of The Procrastiwriter website, shared in a genius blog post why we should stop comparing ourselves to other writers: “If you’re reading this, the odds that you have at least one social media account are pretty decent. And if you’re a questionable human being like me, you’ve probably had at least one friend tied to your social media networks whose carefully c ...

Top 10 Evergreen Topics

May 11th, 2020

No matter how much time passes, some topics never go out of writing style. They are handy fall-back subjects to cover when you are looking for ideas to write about. And if you can cover the topic in a fresh and exciting way, editors will love you for it.

- Sex
- Money
- Food
- Relationships 
- Weight loss
- Family
- Holidays
- Careers/Jobs
- Home improvement
- Pets and pet care

Happy writing!

Even More Writers Advice to Their Newbie Writing Self

April 30th, 2020
Vance Nevada lives in Blackfalds, Alberta, and is the author of Wrestling in the Canadian West and is the 2010 winner of the James C. Melby Historian award. He would tell his beginning writer self three things: "1. Never underestimate the usefulness of an editor.  Even if you are a subject matter expert, by the time that you have written, re-written and reviewed your own material over and ov ...

A Publisher’s View on Writers Doing a Book Series

April 18th, 2020
Pat Rediger, the publisher of Benchmark Press, publishes series books and has some advice for authors, “Try the initial book in the series and if it sells well then you can consider the next book. Sometimes authors are predisposed to create the series before they know the initial book will sell, and while we encourage them to be optimistic, they need to be realistic and assess the market befo ...

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