Amanda Shofner's Blog

One of the trickiest things to do as a writer is find a writing habit that works for you. Many—maybe YOU—have joined NaNoWriMo in an attempt to find a way to establish a habit that’ll finally work.

But if you’re only writing every few months, you don’t have a good writing habit. You only need to ask yours...

Ever had a writing rut? Blogging rut? A life rut?

It happens to the best of us. Me. You.

But whenever you land headfirst in a rut, how do you react?

That didn’t become a famous adage for nothing. If you’re stuck, clinging to your normal routine or behavior patterns won’t get you out of your rut. Ruts are life’s way of saying, “This isn’t working” or “It’s time to do something different.”

Embrace exper...

When I took my first college-level English course, my professor had us read “Shitty First Drafts” (from Bird by Bird) by Anne Lamott. The point? Your first draft is supposed to be shitty. It was something I understood on an intellectual level, but never applied to myself.

In fact, I have a long history of ignoring the revision process. It’s the curse of having your half-hearted writing attempts exceed the expectations of your teachers. That’s not to say my writing was brilliant. It wasn’t. But ...

This post was originally published on February 27, 2014, and was updated January 19, 2022.

This post is a challenge to mine your everyday life for ideas

Telling you “Inspiration is everywhere!” won’t magically make it easy to find ideas (if only), but you might be surprised where you can find your next idea. Here are a few places you can find inspiration:

I have weird dreams. Like the ones that involve wet or soggy footwear? Gross. While those don’t translate into much ...

This post was originally published March 27, 2014, and was updated January 19, 2022.

Writing is an incredibly lonely and isolating activity. It’s just you, your words, and your thoughts. And if you’re anything like me, not all your thoughts are positive.

That’s why it’s dangerous to write alone. And no, I’m not talking about co-writing. I’m talking about a group of writers working on their own projects. Without someone—or a group of someones—to get you out of your head, writing is an u...

This post was originally published June 27, 2013, and updated on January 19, 2022.

Getting better at writing can be as fun and as easy as writing in six words. Yes, really!

A few years ago, a friend introduced me to the book Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. I was smitten. I began to keep a journal with six word entries. I even started a blog that chronicled pictures of what made me happy and six word captions.

I loved writing in six word...

This isn’t the post I intended to write this week. It is the post I need to write, though.

You see, when they talk about a “week from hell” that’s exactly what this week has felt like. Messy and slow commutes due to weather nearly every single day. My smartphone permanently dying. Feeling like the dumping ground for problems at work. Spreading my negativity to everyone around me. Having no patience that I literally want to throw things.

And the week’s not even over.

But sometimes life goes s...

“Alive or dead,” my grandma said, “I want to go home.”

We laughed then, because we were at the hospital and she was dying. There was a real chance she wouldn’t make it home, where she wanted to be. So we laughed, because it was that or cry. And she’d already scolded my aunt for crying.

I’ve had a lot of mixed feelings toward my grandma over the years. She was outspoken and not always kind with her opinions. She gave me bear hugs and slipped me c...

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Writing can be hard. And when you have a non-writing job that pays your bills, finding the time and energy to sit down and get words down can be challenging.

I get it. I’m right there with you. I mean, I’ve been thinking about writing this post on self-care for writers for at least a year. It happens.

It’s easy to forget that day jobs or relationships, even when they’re going well, can drain our mental capacity and leave little for writing. It can be hard to justify doing non-writing activit...

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After reading the first book in this series, Run to Ground, I knew I had to get my hands on the second book, On the Chase. Thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for providing a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. My love for Katie Ruggle books continues unabashedly, and I look forward to more books in the Rocky Mountain K9 Unit series.