The Two Most Important Words For Writers
Today, I’m sharing the two most important words you’ll ever hear as a writer: beyond all advice, beyond all classes, beyond all books and blogs, DON’T QUIT.
Screw the Muse: You ARE a Writer
The end of the year can be strange for word-lovers. If you’re anything like me, your last “365” had great writing days and not-so-great ones. There were days when the muse sang and days when her only appearance was to say she didn’t exist. (And never had. Or never would again. You know how capricious the muse is.)
Well, screw that capricious muse. It’s time to take a stand. I’m calling all you word-lovers to take a step with me: it’s time to call yourself a writer.
Why Do You Write?
This may be one of the most important questions you ever answer in the course of your writing career. Why? Because there will be days when no one around you—including yourself—believes you can really do this.
On those days, this answer will be crucial.
Read on.
What to Do When You Run Out of Creative Steam
Here’s the thing about creative energy: it can dry up.
Writing is an amazing act of courage and creation, and it takes a lot out of us. All too often, we run out of steam, and usually at the worst possible moments—when we have a deadline, a story to finish, a publisher breathing down our necks, or even just our own internal editor’s demands.
The good news: it happens to us all.
The better news: there’s a way out. Read on.
There’s oil on your computer screen (writing prompt)
No, not that kind of oil. Not cooking oil, although the man in this photo is using plenty of it. I refer to the Rembrandt-like quality of this photograph. I’ve been looking at this image for ten years. It is one of the most stunning naturally lit, completely undoctored, photographs I have seen in those ten years.
This photograph carries with it profound and poignant meaning beyond the simple act of making poori, beyond its composition, light, and saturated colors, beyond its timelessness. It carries the stories of a quarter million people who perished ten years ago in a violent natural cataclysm that devastated the shores of eleven countries. No doubt you know which event I’m referring to. Its tenth anniversary is coming up this December 26.
Today I’m sharing this image with you because I’d like you to write a story about it.
The Best Way to Become a Better Writer
How do you become a better writer? Most people choose one of two paths: studying in school or writing whatever they feel like. This leaves out one important step…
