Dad helping my brother launch a water-filled rocket
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Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space.Learn more.
My dad could do anything. Really. Whenever my siblings or I got stuck trying to complete any practical task, we turned to him, and predictably, he was able to fix, open, close, or repair it. Every single time.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to get in touch.
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You’ve likely heard it before: Follow your passion. It’s often framed as, “Follow your passion and good things will follow,” with the not-too-subtle implication that your passion will result in prosperity. I have always felt skeptical about this, since I’ve witnessed many frustrated folks who “followed their passion” only to discover that what they loved offered no particular value to anyone else.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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Have you ever made a decision, then wondered why you ever thought it was a good idea? These days I help professionals who want to share in writing their skills and life lessons learned, then turn that writing into a self-published book. There was a time, however, when I needed all the help I could get.
At the grand canyon of Yellowstone National Park. Some fears (like of heights!) are worth clinging to.
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Glancing through the glass window, she tucked an unruly lock of her dark, shoulder-length hair behind one ear. She leaned inside the office door, her dark eyes scanning the room; her knee-length skirt covered substantial hips.
“Marisol?” she asked, hoping my co-worker was nearby. My eyes darted down the piece of paper on my desk, hoping to fix on a useful phrase. “Marisol não está aqui,” I told her. Marisol isn’t here. I read with care from my “cheat sheet,” the unfamiliar syllables of Portuguese tumbling awkwardly off my tongue. The woman nodded, drew her head back and strode off.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
Another successful exercise of Zen Dishes
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I returned to my home weakened, yet desperate to do anything. After surviving brain surgery that left my right side paralyzed, I was sent to a rehabilitation facility for two weeks. During my stay the staff had insisted we inmates (patients, that is) perform what they called “standing therapy.” We were encouraged, teased, and cajoled into standing for periods of fifteen minutes at a time. Most of my fellow inmates were stroke victims, almost all elderly, and they needed a lot of cajoling. I was much younger than the others, needed no cajoling, and resented the undisguised condescension in the therapists’ voices.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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Have you noticed when an author has used lots of different words? Hmmm, maybe you didn’t notice. Most likely it simply sounded interesting, and the writing felt like it moved along at a good pace. Maybe you noticed that the author noticed everything in their path. Say they are walking along a city street. They notice this, then draw your attention to the cracks in the sidewalk. Then they say, “Hey, I just noticed that the traffic is slowing down.”
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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Or perhaps you simply need to post your work elsewhere…
Yes, you can edit your own writing. But should you? Well, sure. In fact, you really do need to edit your own writing. Raw writing is almost never the best you can produce. The very least you can do is take a good look after the flame of writing has died down a little.
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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Group photo from a recent gathering
You’ve thought of joining a writing group. Maybe someone has told you to join a writing group. Perhaps you have heard about how cut throat writing groups (sometimes called critique groups), can be. You have avoided going to a writing group.
But… that book you read where the author talks about how helpful the members of her writing group have been. Those writing conferences that people rave about (and pay good money to attend.)
Guest post: Em Turner Chitty previously published this article on her Substack
I taught English language and writing for many years, edited (and graded) thousands of essays, raged at the inadequacy of the way we are taught to teach it, and now for the first time in my life am dipping my toes into the waters of actual writing every day for myself, maybe for a few others. And I’m finding it way more difficult, and myself feeling more vulnerable, than I ever expected the experience to be.
The Girl Scout–happy to be in school. Not so thrilled to check or rewrite her assignments
Marjorie Turner Hollman helps authors self-publish their books. She is also a disability advocate, sharing information about Easy Walks (not too many roots or rocks, relatively level with firm footing, and something of interest along the way) in open space. Link to all Marjorie’s books.
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Proof reading: You learned that in elementary school, right? You remember elementary school. Even up into high school, you knew that when a teacher told you to “Proofread your work,” it meant that you were supposed to read through what you had written, looking for spelling mistakes. In later grades, you also needed to decide if your sentences made sense, and if not, to rewrite them.
What you likely never heard during your years of formal schooling (perhaps even into college?) was that “proof-reading,” in the publishing world, means exactly what the words say. Proof-reading is actually reading (reviewing) a proof (test) copy of a manuscript that has been laid out, almost ready for publication as a book (or ebook or audio-book these days).
