Which Books Have Inspired Your Writing?
11
Sep
When I was a 5-year-old aspiring poet, I devoured books of poetry by Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allen Poe, memorizing lines that spoke to the part of me that knew I’d one day work with words. Later on, as a teenager, I read Bill Ervolino‘s humor column religiously, soaking in his words over breakfast while seated [...]
Choosing to Change Course Doesn’t Mean I Failed… Right?
6
Sep
<— This brilliant illustration perfectly conveys exactly how I’ve been feeling these past couple of months. I posted about my depression / career-related identity crisis just last week, and am still struggling to scramble my way out of that hole. Yesterday, I took my laptop to my favorite local cafe and tried to co-work with [...]
Why I Don’t Want to Have It All
29
Aug
Class started off slow. Instead of sitting cross-legged on our mats, hands resting palms-up on our knees, we rolled up blankets and placed them — lengthwise — beneath our backs. We stretched out, our heads propped up on blocks, our arms flung out to our sides, our eyes closed. We concentrated on the rise and [...]
So You’re a Freelancer. Do You Still Need a Resume?
10
Aug
I’ve always been a cover/query letter junkie. My freshman year of college, I learned from my most favorite professor of all time that all resumes looked the same. It was the cover letter that set you apart. So when I fled the corporate world five years ago to freelance full-time, I was relieved. Finally, I thought. I can [...]
Join My Quasi-Secret Word Nerd Facebook Group Maybe?
8
Aug
Hey guys. This totally doesn’t count as this week’s actual blog post, but I just wanted to let y’all know that I’ve created a quasi-secret Facebook group for word nerds. Basically, it’s an invite-only Facebook group I’m using as a testing ground for features that will eventually appear on the still-being-developed Word Nerd Networking site. I’m [...]
The Circuitous Route from Pitch to Publish
3
Aug
I once took a non-credit, continuing education class at the New School called From Pitch to Publish. It was about developing and pitching personal essays and narrative journalism pieces to print publications, but I feel the simplicity of the name hints at the vision many of us have of the book publishing process, too: 1. [...]
Why I’m No Longer Fit for an Office Environment
26
Jul
I’m already several hours into my workday, and I’m still unshowered, wearing the pajama top that sometimes slips down so low I unintentionally flash my husband. My hair hangs in oily, unattractive clumps, and I sorta smell. I mean, I’d like to shower, but I’m pretty sure that as soon as I disrobe, that package [...]
Spill It: Is All Your Work Created Equal?
17
Jul
I have to be honest with you guys. I haven’t made that much money this year. I know. I suck. When I first realized how horrifyingly, dismally low my income was for the first half of 2012, I immediately announced to my husband that I had failed at life, and that — from now on [...]
How to Let Go of Having It All
13
Jul
In viewing an infographic developed by JESS3 that aims to give readers a peek inside the mind of freelancers, I was completely unsurprised to learn that “lack of clear direction / path” is one of the top three things that keeps freelancers up at night. I can certainly relate. I’ve recently been engulfed in my own period of [...]
How To Handle a Career Setback with Finesse
5
Jul
I started writing about my attempts to get pregnant a little over two years ago, in May 2010. I had been asked to launch a parenting blog for YourTango, and the timing seemed fortuitous. By September 2011, however, I was writing about infertility, and my husband and I had made our first appointment at a [...]