Your First Draft Is Not Shitty

Your First Draft Is Not Shitty

Ernest Hemingway said, “The first draft of anything is shit.” Ann Lamott said, “What I’ve learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head.” And I say, “Nope. Your first draft is not shitty. Your...
Story Ideas from a Cat

Story Ideas from a Cat

This is a guest post from Harper Hodges. She writes at thecatwhowrites.com. Harper took over the cat who write’s blog when Pooh Hodges, a regular columnist for The Write Practice, died. Pamela Hodges, the regular writer today, is not a cat —so she asked Harper to help her write today’s post.

How to Fight Creative Doubt

Several weeks ago I wrote a story for The Write Practice about the hidden value of a handwritten letter. In my file, labeled Letters, I found a thirty-year old letter from Tokyo. The letter was addressed to me, at The Tokyo Journal, the magazine where I worked as a photographer and graphic designer in Tokyo, Japan in 1985.