All the rejections from articles, essays, and poems lay in a heavy heap over my heart. They are evidence of one thing that I have to keep learning repeatedly. Success doesn’t come from replicating successful writers. This I have to tell myself after yet another agent/teacher recommends I read a bestselling book in hopes their innovative ideas, voice or style rubs off on me. This after my insecurity makes me succumb to Oprah’s often told lesson of trying to imitate Barbara Walters. But she learned, “I can be a better Oprah Winfrey than a pretend Barbara Walters.” But no matter how tempting…
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No matter how long you’ve been writing, it always gets to you. The formal rejection letter. The kind, but full revision request. No reply. Writers are subjected to rejection as part of their job. But it doesn’t make things easier. While I tend to get over it faster than I did 7-years ago when I started as a freelance writer, it still hurts the ego. Like a scab that you constantly pick at, my mind constantly asks, “Why oh why did I make that dumb mistake?” That is, until I heard this Soundstrue podcast with Playing Big: Find Your Voice, Your Mission,…
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“Friends sometimes ask, ‘Don’t you get lonely sitting by yourself all day?’ At first it seemed odd to hear myself answer No. Then I realized that I was not alone; I was in the book; I was with the characters. I was with my Self.” – Steven Pressfield, The War of Art The more I commit to writing fiction, the more I appreciate the genius that is Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. I made up a fiction’s children story on the fly. My husband and I were resting at the most beautiful country cottage in Point Reyes. It was a…
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One of my favorite things about being a freelance writer is the opportunity I have to continue to learn about life. Something I hadn’t known previously to my research, for example, is that your handwriting can give insight into your health as you age. If you’re interested in how it can reveal illness, disease and healthy aging, check out my article in the front pages of The Writer magazine’s October issue. It should be on the stands now or soon.
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Nonfiction writers can glean insight from Barbara Walters advice on Oprah’s Master Class. After years of interviewing celebrities and past presidents, she shares a few of her inside secrets for a successful interview. Curiosity. Curiosity may have killed the cat. But it makes an interviewer’s career. Walters says, “I think that the interviewer/correspondent should have curiosity. If you don’t have curiosity, you’re not going to make it. Listen. Good listening skills are a dying art. We’re often so busy trying to think up the next genius question, we miss out on important revelations, body language and the truth behind what our subjects are…
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{by guest blogger: Marcia Zina Mager, The Write Coach} One of my all time favorite quotes about the writing process comes from one of the world’s greatest painters, Vincent Van Gogh. “Mediocre I do not despise at all. And one does not rise above that mark by despising what is mediocre. In my opinion one must begin by at least having some respect for the mediocre and know that it already means something and that it is only reached through great difficulty.” Whether you’ve written for decades or are just beginning, Van Gogh’s insightful wisdom can take you far in…
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Writing is a choice. It takes effort to sit your butt on your chair every day. It takes courage to move pass bricks and blocks and superficialities and safe talk. It takes a phenomenal amount of patience to wait for a response. You need a healthy dose of self-esteem to endure the inevitable onslaught of rejection: no response or worse yet, a negative one. So the one thing that can help you get pass the difficulties is to ask yourself why you write in the first place. For me, writing is a spiritual practice. It lets out the uglies. But…
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It happens at the most inopportune times. It happens when you’re driving, when you’re in the shower, when you’re running. When your mind finally quiets down, inspiration hits! That’s a great thing unless you’re in motion and can’t jot it down. What do you do in those situations? Do you pull over on the side of the road (hopefully you don’t try to text while driving)? Do you shorten your shower? Do you stop running mid-way? Or do you just let the idea slip right out of your hands? If you’re like me, you’re desperate to save inspired thoughts and…
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What do you when you’re writing gets stale? You do the following… INCREASE YOUR VOCABULARY. Writing can become mundane even for the writing enthusiast. And when you’re bored, your readers are bored. Mix it up by expanding your vocab list. Check out This site, which teaches words like, “argute,” and “snudge.” You might not use every word you learn in your next manuscript, but the exercise will force you to spend time outside the box. Read more over at The Freelance Life where I’m guest blogging.
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Think of these features as the fast food of writing wisdom. Quick. Meaty. And effortless. Grab and go back to your writing. This week’s post is on fiction straight from the words of Rachel Joyce, author of a recent book I read and am still digesting: The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. In the back of this inspiring novel, I found an interview between Joyce and another author, Charlotte Rogan. I gleaned a handful of fiction and even insights on life from their conversation. I hope you will too: Rachel Joyce: “Reading is a creative process. As writers, we must…