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On Saturday, I went out to dinner with some friends as an early birthday celebration. We all ate our fill, and when the server came by to ask us how we felt about dessert, all of us laughed because we were so full. Sweet treats to follow? Please.
Speaking of desserts, I’m sure we all know the different between a desert and a dessert, right? Just in case, let’s review.
I am addicted to the song “Counting Stars” by OneRepublic. It’s the first thing I listen to in the morning. It all started when the lead singer of OneRepublic, Ryan Tedder, was a guest mentor on The Voice. Now, I know you’re gonna cringe, but I’ll say it anyway. I love music, and yet, even as a writer, I never digest the lyrics. Weird I know.
In this case something Tedder said struck a chord. He described the meaning behind the song (being broke, worrying about money, wishing not to worry…) and all of a sudden I wanted to listen to the song and absorb the lyrics. In doing so, I found a stockpile of similarities between the words in the song and my life as a writer. Let’s take a look at the lyrics and see if they hit you too.
I consider myself primarily a creative writer, but to pay the bills, I take on many the odd job involving writing. Because of that, I’ve been doing a lot of editing lately, editing blog posts, articles, books, and more.
With all this editing, I’ve found that I keep making several of the same changes again and again. Yes, there are typos and grammatical corrections, but a surprising amount of the editing I have to do is just simple formatting.
Prolific author Joanna Penn has a sign hanging on her wall that we all need to live by.
During hectic times, I like to jump-start my creative writing practice with the Present Moment writing prompt to pull me back to today, to notice what is rich and savory about this. Very. Minute.
I watched a video the other day about the portrayal of women in media in 2013, and it started out by celebrating some fantastic victories. The second Hunger Games film was one of the highest-grossing opening weekends of all time, and the main character is an independent female. The Netflix series Orange is the New Black, about life in a women’s prison, was a colossal hit.
But then it was quickly followed by a reality check of how women were objectified in print ads, commercials, and Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” video. The segment on the degradation of women was depressingly more than three times more extensive than the segment on positive portrayal. With that as inspiration, I’d like to introduce you to the Bechdel Test.
As a writer, you are bound to be a language lover and enjoy the infinite combinations that produce a unique effect, striving for the occasional strike of reaching the near-magical. You continuously learn words, perhaps obsessively dive into etymologies, underline admired phrases by other authors, and practice weaving words in the quest of developing your own style.
It’s not unlikely that you also write down sentences and paragraphs by others and read them aloud, enjoying their delicious taste which sometimes feels as if they’ve come from another, unknown and better universe.
A few days ago I was at TEDx Yerevan, which as always was a very uplifting experience. I’ve been there before, but this time was different because a my life had gone through an important change over the past year.
During coffee breaks and lunch, the most common question asked was, “So what do you do?” At the conference in 2012, when people asked me what I did, my answer was more complicated. I had quit my job and at that point just started writing Highfall—my first novel. Maybe that is why I answered with insecure phrases, such as “I am trying to write,” “I write a bit,” and “I want to be a writer.”
Sound familiar?
I don’t write thrillers. But after The Write Practice team and I talked with Joanna Penn, author and popular blogger of The Creative Penn, I kind of wanted to.
When Joanna agreed to chat with the team and I, she didn’t know we were going to post this here, but the conversation was so fascinating that I wanted you to see it. Fortunately, Joanna was generous enough to let me share it with you.
Have you ever attended a writer conference? If not, what the hell are you waiting for?
If you have, did you get the most you possibly could out of it? If you did, great. I want to hear all about it in the comments. If not, you need to read this post.
