• Substack: How do you make yourself write when executive dysfunction is kicking your ass?

    This week’s Q&A is all about writing when executive dysfunction is in full force. Whether it’s ADHD, burnout, or just a foggy brain day, I break down the practical tools I use to keep writing: time-limited sprints, writing out of order, messy first drafts, and dictation. Plus, how to build a “low-energy writing menu” so you can still make progress, even on the rough days.

    Check it out on Substack: lizwritesbooks.substack.com

    Have a Q you want A’d? Ask it on Tumblr: http://lizwritesbooks.tumblr.com/ask

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  • Substack: How do I get better at writing?

    Substack: How do I get better at writing?

    Over on Substack, I’m talking about how to get better at writing–not how to get published, not how to market, but how to actually improve your craft.

    Plus: a little writing journal advice and a small shout-out to those of us who need permission to write absolute garbage first drafts.

    You can find it her: Liz Writes Books | Substack | How do I get better at writing?

    Have a Q you want A’d? Ask it on Tumblr: http://lizwritesbooks.tumblr.com/Ask

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  • Substack: Any writing tips for people with ADHD who get constantly derailed by new ideas?

    Substack: Any writing tips for people with ADHD who get constantly derailed by new ideas?

    This week’s Q&A is for the ADHD writers with a million ideas and zero finished drafts. I’m sharing the system that helped me stop jumping ship every time a new concept hit: breaking the writing process into smaller, independent phases. If you’ve ever felt like you’re cheating on your current book with a new idea, this is for you.

    Check it out on Substack: Liz Writes Books | Substack | Any writing tips for people with ADHD who get constantly derailed by new ideas?

    Have a Q you want A’d? Ask it on Tumblr: http://lizwritesbooks.tumblr.com/Ask

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  • Substack: How long did it take to finish your first novel?

    Substack: How long did it take to finish your first novel?


    Your first finished novel doesn’t have to be fast—it just has to be finished, and sometimes that means learning to push through the stalls without panicking.


    My first finished book took 7 months—but before that, I started and abandoned at least 4 or 5. Writer’s block? Sure. But also burnout, self-doubt, distraction, and shiny new idea syndrome.

    Head over to Substack to learn how I get unstuck (and finish the damn book):

    Liz Writes Books | Substack | How long did it take you to finish your first novel?

    Have a Q you want A’d? Ask it on Tumblr: http://lizwritesbooks.tumblr.com/Ask

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  • Substack: How to know when your book is ready to query?

    Substack: How to know when your book is ready to query?


    So you’ve finished a novel—congrats! That’s a huge accomplishment—most people never make it that far. But now comes the terrifying question: how do you know when it’s done? The short answer is: you don’t. But here’s what I’ve learned about deadlines, querying, rejection, and whether hiring an editor before you query is actually worth it.

    Today over on Substack, I talk about how you know you’re ready to submit.

    Read it here: http://lizwritesbooks.substack.com

    Have a Q you want A’d? Ask it on Tumblr: http://lizwritesbooks.tumblr.com/Ask

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  • Substack: How to Move Past Fear and Write

    Substack: How to Move Past Fear and Write

    Today over on Substack, I talk about moving past the fear and writing when your novel keeps giving you side-eye. It’s got pasta dough metaphors, ADHD hacks, and a reminder that what you feel about your work isn’t always what your readers feel.

    If you’re like me, and you struggled with actually finishing your first book (or your second, or your third), staring at a blank page gives you an instant panic attack, or your favorite Starbucks barista hands you a box of Kleenex when you walk through the door, this Q&A is for you.

    You can check it out here: http://lizwritesbooks.substack.com

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  • Substack: How to Protect Your Writing Time

    Substack: How to Protect Your Writing Time

    I’m now on Substack!

    You can follow me at: http://lizwritesbooks.substack.com

    Todays’s post is a flashback to July 2014, but the question and answer still holds today: How do you make people respect your writing time?

    If you’re like me, and you have a problem overcommitting, saying yes when your to-do list screams no, volunteering for shifts on off days, or setting boundaries that pop like bubbles, this Q&A is for you.

    You can find the post here: Q&A: How to make people respect your writing time

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    Substack FAQ

    Does this mean the blog is going away?

    No! The blog will still be around for regular blog posts.

    Monthly updates, weekly Q&A, and polls are moving to the Substack.

    Do I have to pay to read your Substack?

    Absolutely not. And you never will.

    How often will the Substack/blog be updated?

    I plan on doing monthly posts for the blog and twice-weekly posts for the Substack.

    The main difference between the two is that the Substack is for writers and the blog will be more for writers and readers who may not be as interested in how the literary sausage is made.

    I have a Q, where can I send it?

    You can send questions to me directly at lizwritesbooks@gmail.com. If you want to ask anonymously, you can still use my Tumblr ask box: https://lizwritesbooks.tumblr.com/ask

  • Thoughts on Mindfulness

    Today I dread writing.

    I’m 60% finished with this book, square in the saggy middle, and aside from a few tentpole scenes, I have no idea what comes next.

    Years ago, when I was much more inexperienced with this feeling of dread, I would let the anxiety win. I would stop returning to the page. I would finish nothing.

    Now I see it for what it is: a necessary but temporary discomfort on the way to having a finished draft.

    Doesn’t mean I feel it less, or that the duration is shorter than before. Often not. Often it feels worse than it ever has. Often I toil for days or weeks before I finally break through.

    But I know now that if I keep working and sit with the discomfort long enough, there’s a finished book at the end of it all.

    This process-this sitting with discomfort thing–is actually what made meditation and mindfulness make sense for me.

    I’ve practiced meditation for years. Sometimes I find it helpful, but often I’m just going through the motions, meditating because I said I would meditate, but not really finding the flow.

    Now I get it: it’s not about finding the flow, it’s about learning to sit with discomfort. Practicing sitting with discomfort, even.

    Writing first drafts (this is the year of first drafts) is a whole lot of discomfort, in my experience. And I’m hoping that by learning how to sit with that discomfort, day after day, a little bit at a time, I’ll also get better and faster at drafting, and treat it with understanding and compassion rather than judgment and dread.

  • Unanswerable Questions

    I started 2024 with big ambitions, hopes, goals, and all that other stuff that comes with the start of a new year. Three days in, I was hit with a debilitating migraine. Now all of those carefully made plans for January need to be re-assessed.

    This is annoying, but it’s also life.

    I’m also hitting the midpoint of a book, and I’m wondering if I have made a disastrous mistake 13,000 words ago. Is it better to write through this draft as-is, or will it be better to go back and rewrite the book from that point forward.

    This is also annoying. It’s also life.

    I’ve been taking a lot of stock of my writing life recently. I’ve been in this industry for over a decade now. Many of the writers I started with have moved on to new lives, new hobbies, new careers. I, myself, have also tried on new lives, new hobbies, new careers. I don’t get excited about things the way I used to. Or panic the way I used to. I’ve hit a stretch where there’s a comfort in the routine of writing. Even on the bad days.

    I always thought I would hit a place where I had all the answers, if not through experience, then through osmosis. But the truth is, I don’t know how to write a book today any more than I did twelve years ago. I’ve been agented for eleven years, and I still get nervous sending things in.

    I still stress about whether I’ve made a mistake 13,000 words ago, and fret over if it’s better to fix it now or continue as-is and see how it plays out.

    The difference between me now and me then is that I now know it doesn’t matter. There is no wrong choice. The best choice is the choice that gets the draft finished. And if it needs work after the fact, even a substantial rewrite, then that, too, is just life.

  • Writing Thoughts: Supportive Care for Writers

    Today, I miss being a college student.

    Not being young, exactly–I was officially a grown-ass adult when I went to college–but the support system. I enjoyed being on campus. I enjoyed the community. It lent a structure to my life that I’ve been unable to provide for myself thus far.

    I wonder if a lot of neurodivergent creatives feel this way. Because the ones I’m friends with really flourished in college for this reason. They were able to, for a short amount of time, devote themselves wholly to their work, without having to worry about supportive self-care tasks. Everything is within a walking distance. The small community is built around learning and skill-growing.

    I’m waist deep in a book right now, and I’m in that mad sort of place where if I think about it too long, I will talk myself out of every decision I’ve made, decide the entire book is wrong, and try to rewrite it from the ground up. I’ve done this before to books, and those books never see the light of day. They have 27 chapter ones, but that’s it. That’s all there is. And it’s probably all those books ever will be.

    So I have to be super careful at this stage not to think too much about the thing while at the same time moving forward with the writing of the thing. It’s easy for me to become so zoned in on the writing that I forget those important care tasks–like eating and drinking. You’d think by now I would have figured out some magic trick to work all this out, but I haven’t. It’s still something I’m working on.