Fair Pay: 6 Tips for Writers (and writing teachers)
Last month, as I filled my dining room table with receipts and mileages and 2022 credit card bills—all to prepare and file my 2022 taxes—I noticed a pattern.
Sharing Your Writing Drafts? Here's My "No" List
This morning, as I started yet another round of edits to my novel in progress, I thought, “Couldn’t I just hire someone to read and edit for me? Let them scribble all these notes and reminders in the margins.
Holiday Gift Ideas for Writers
Last year, the best gift under my tree was a packet of black, ball-point pens from one of those office supply mega stores. I mean “best,” as in, this was the gift that got me really excited, that I couldn’t wait to open up and use.
What Questions Should You Ask Before You Lead a Writing Workshop or Retreat?
Most of us are flattered when we're asked to speak to a group or lead a creative or expressive writing workshop. But there are questions to ask before you sign up.
I’m passionate (some would say ‘cranky’) about our right to tell our own story, to document our lived experiences as they have happened to us and have been processed through our individual consciousness.
Writing and Winter Blues
Can writing help me on my blah or down days? Can writing help with winter blues?
By mid November, my mood starts to match the New England weather outside my window.
In winter, my brain and my words turn monochrome, moody and sludgy.
Ditch that Messy Draft. Embrace the Blank Writing Page.
Should I write a new draft? Or throw my writing away?
Yesterday I decided to dust off an old, Thanksgiving holiday-themed essay. It had already been drafted and re-drafted, so (I convinced myself) it would only take an hour to edit, fix and pitch.
On Labor Day: What Your Day Job Brings to Your Writing (and vice versa)
Once, during a job interview, one of the interviewers confessed that she had google-ed me.
Then, she asked me if, as a creative writer, I actually had time for any other work—including that potential job.
This wasn’t friendly small talk between two just-met strangers.
My New Morning Run Is Giving Me New Writing Tips
Two months ago, just before Thanksgiving, I handed in my notice to leave my job in healthcare communications.
Some folks told me I was brave. Others inferred that I was either spoiled or crazy or both.