Can I Still Call Myself a Writer?
6
Dec
I’ve had plans to be a writer for the past 28 years. And for the past 28 years, I’ve done a pretty good job of achieving success in that endeavor. It started with published poetry and both lit mag and school newspaper involvement when I was a young twerp. Later on, I was an editor [...]
How To Be Open To All (the Right) Opportunities
12
Jun
Several weeks ago, I shadowed one of my OMies as she taught kids yoga as part of the Newark Yoga Movement. It seemed like a fantastic program. The children were adorable. My friend was brilliant. But in the end — remembering how ineffective I’d been when doing volunteer work with kids in the past — [...]
How To Think Outside the Box When Developing Multiple Revenue Streams
20
May
Before I went full-time freelance nearly six years ago, I secured a permalance copyediting gig, an internship at a web magazine, and freelance publicity work from my former employer. I figured that — beyond that — I would just frolic about, getting assignments at a variety of magazines and magically paying my bills. And it [...]
One Quick Tip for Revitalizing Your Writing Life
7
May
Those who have been reading this blog for the past, um, forever know I’ve been in a bit of a writing slump. I’ve been feeling burnt out on the same old same old, lusting after lit mag credits, and wondering how to find a balance between the two. As a result, I just slowly… stopped… [...]
Is It Worth It To Drop Several Hundred Dollars on a Writing Conference?
29
Apr
I am a cheap bastard. Instead of spending money on pricey project management systems, I run my life through Google and GQueues. I avoid paid teleclasses and webinars in favor of business books that I dog-ear and pore through over and over again. I even married a web developer so I could get him to [...]
How Do You Bribe Yourself Into Getting Busy?
25
Apr
Those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed that I’ve been having a little bit of trouble with motivation these days. Monday, April 22, 2:27 p.m.: “I just picked up a book, slammed it down, and shouted at myself, ‘You can read that if you get shit done!’ Obviously losing it.” Tuesday, April 23, [...]
The Guru I Don’t Want To Be
3
Apr
A little over three years ago (holy crap), I launched Career Coaching for Word Nerds, a career coaching service for beginning freelance writers. I did it because, for several years, I had been receiving emails from writers pleading for advice, and I realized there was a real need for the help I could provide. Besides, the [...]
Why Freelancing Is Like Juggling a Bunch of Flaming Chainsaws
29
Mar
I went full-time freelance almost six years ago, and I feel as if the entire expanse of it has been one big experiment in finding (and maintaining) the right balance. And I’m not talking work/life balance. Please. Let someone else write 2,000 words about work/life balance, and whether or not I, as a woman, can [...]
What Got Me Here: Self-Education, Goal-Setting, Hard Work, and a Helluva Lot of Privilege
14
Mar
When the Nate Thayer / Atlantic kerfuffle occurred, I cycled quickly through a series of reactions. First, I felt a knee-jerk “Damn the man! Save the empire!” swell of joyful rebellion. Then, after reading senior Atlantic editor Alexis Madrigal’s response — an explanation of the limits of digital publishing — I felt recognition. That’s when I wrote this on [...]
Where the Magic Doesn’t Happen
29
Jan
My husband and I have been in our new house now for just over three months. And though the boxes have been unpacked, and the items inside (mostly) put away, things are not… quite… there yet. Almost every room needs to be repainted (and, at the moment, the walls sport splotchy blobs of spackle). We [...]