by Helen Calder When it comes to poignant quotations, we’re all a little bit prone to getting caught up in a temporarily enamored state of revelation. Let’s face it, we’re suckers for profound and pithy statements, otherwise the print industry wouldn’t profit from the mass production of motivational posters. That isn’t a bad thing, of course….
One of my major writing philosophies is that there will always be work to be done. Quite a few years ago, I started to look at the work of writing as a necessity. As a fact. I realized I had to accept that there will always be a ton of work: there will be revision, false starts, freewriting,…
I just returned from the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International conference (WPPI) in Las Vegas, and I’m over-the-moon jazzed with excitement! My fiance is a wedding photographer and I work for him part time – hence my attendance at the conference. Indeed, much of the conference was about creativity, technique, and a photographer’s unique eye. But…
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about writing, publishing, and the importance of taste. Many of my friends are in the trenches of querying agents and submitting novels. They’re racking up long lists of rejection letters and wondering why they aren’t good enough. They’re asking: Why doesn’t this agent want my book? Why didn’t they connect with…
I came upon a little bit of wisdom in an interview with artist and entrepreneur Leonie Dawson. This is the best answer I’ve ever heard to the question of who’s criticism you should value. Question: “How do you deal with people’s criticism?” Leonie’s answer: “Ignore anyone’s advice / criticism / judgements unless they are genuinely…
Last week I was catching up with a fellow pink-haired friend from art school, Martha Hull. She and I were chatting about the creative life, books, and running our own small businesses. In the midst of our conversation about the struggles of finding an audience and making art that we’re passionate about, Martha looked at her…
Writing is hard. Stick with it. And remember to do this:
I’ve been tagged by Sweet Sixteen debut writer Shannon M. Parker, author of the forthcoming novel CRUSHING, to find 8 Terrible Titles within my manuscripts. The irony is that I have about 300 bad titles that I brainstormed for ALL WE LEFT BEHIND, before my editor and I came up with one that stuck (and I’ll admit, my editor…
I know everyone isn’t a morning person. I wasn’t always a morning writer. I used to be a mid-day writer, believing I was like a flower that fully bloomed when the sun was high in the sky. But in the last few years I’ve changed my tune. I’ve started to brave the dark cold morning hours…
Are you participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) this year? It starts this Saturday (November 1st) and is a mad dash to write 50,000 words of a novel in one short month! I participated for the first time last year and loved it. It’s true, I was a big snob about NaNoWriMo before I…