by AnnSheybani | Sep 7, 2026 | Writing
Let’s talk about the file you’re not opening. Mmmm-hmmmm. You know the one. It’s got a name like BOOK_draft_v4_FINAL_new.docx, and it lives in a folder you scroll past on purpose. You know roughly how many words are in it. You know exactly how long...
by AnnSheybani | Aug 23, 2026 | Life, Writing
Every so often I write about Walt. How he got it in his head that sub-arctic temperatures sounded like a nice week away, and I went along with it, and came home short a few toenails. How I hand him the rental car counter, because I know he’s going to chew those...
by AnnSheybani | Aug 17, 2026 | Life, Writing
“Jealousy,” according to writer Anne Lamott, “ is such a direct attack on whatever measure of confidence you’ve been able to muster. But if you continue to write, you are probably going to have to deal with it, because some wonderful, dazzling successes are going to... by AnnSheybani | Aug 10, 2026 | Life, Writing
I’m at a stage in life and in business that requires me to kill some old habits. Oh, being frugal and learning to do it all on my own has gotten me here, but it won’t get me where I want to go. I know that. Maybe you do too. Which is where this story comes...
by AnnSheybani | Jul 29, 2026 | Writing
Somewhere around chapter four of a manuscript I read last month, I hit a personal story and slid right off it. I’m telling you, it was pure Teflon! Nothing was wrong with the story, per se. The sentences were clean, grammatically correct, which, trust me, is a...
by AnnSheybani | Jul 26, 2026 | Writing
The other day I got on a call with a coach I’ve known for years. Smart woman. Built a real business, wrote a real book once, the hard way, the way that takes eighteen months and costs you a little piece of your soul. This time she’d written a new one in a...
