'I hope she met herself wherever she was—tears and all—for herself, her lost loved one, and her creative process.'
~ Lisa Cooper Ellison

brevity.wordpress.com/2024/04/12/sno…

Snot-Bubble-Cry Dance Parties That Boost Your Creativity ift.tt/F8Qu3rY

Fuck off, Microsoft. It doesn't even matter why.

So happy to teach Proposal Bootcamp this weekend! Amazing Abby Alten Schwartz will talk pitching/essays; we'll cover comps, writing a powerful overview, those key sample chapters, and (ofc) if you gotta write the whole book before selling it.

Intriguing interview with margo steines and Brooke Knisley for Dinty W. Moore. Unique approach to format in memoir.

Research is a powerful tool at every stage of the writing process–from idea to final draft.

Diving Deeply: Using Research to Explore, Expand, and Revise Your Work w/Maggie Messitt | 4/17 Two O'clock EST | $25

craft-talks.com/event/diving-d…

The odds of first authors getting published are not encouraging—some say we have as little as a 1 to 2% chance—but somehow our six-woman writing group crushed that statistic. How did we do it? ~ Laura Beretsky, Bev Boisseau Stohl, and Jean Duffy brevity.wordpress.com/2024/04/10/str…

A great convo with Margo!

Allison K Williams So much here. This stuck with me: 'But they’ve got to pull it off beautifully, and they’ve got to do it on purpose, not because they didn’t carefully examine other books in their genre.' **to myself**: DO THE WORK AND EARN IT.

Navigating the Timelines of Brutalities ift.tt/hZLM5VK

'Showing up to your project whether or not you’re inspired creates energy and momentum.'
~ Allison K Williams

brevity.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/its…

'Restarting doesn’t have to mean from the beginning. You don’t have to rethink the whole project or make a huge plan or set aside two weeks when your decks are clear (let me just pencil that in for never).'
~ Allison K Williams

brevity.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/its…

And if you have previously taken a structure workshop with me, this one has new and different material! I’ve had so much fun making new slides😂

For those of us with more unfinished projects than published ones: “That dithering part of us is basically a three-year-old negotiating between a sundress or their superhero suit for preschool today. Mother Creativity doesn’t care, as long as we get out the door.”

'To finish that book rusting in the back of your mind, you must actively bring it forward.

First, pick one. (You know you have more than one.)'
~ Allison K Williams

brevity.wordpress.com/2022/01/04/its…

Strength in Numbers: How Three Out of Six Writing Group Pals Published in 2023 ift.tt/CbYcMqK

over the past years i have been asked repeatedly about common misconceptions of being a published/“established” author. and in my opinion, the biggest one is this: that publication and recognition are

Shhhh, author-narrator, shhhh. We’re reveling in past-you’s story. Don’t interrupt.

Reflection, retrospective, and narrative voice in memoir:
brevity.wordpress.com/2024/04/09/ref…

Save reflection for truly adult moments where you-the-writer gain new understanding from examining the past. Put it at the end of the scene, not in the middle. Let the reader wonder/anguish/marvel with you *before* explanation or evolution comes.
More: brevity.wordpress.com/2024/04/09/ref…

This is supremely helpful advice. I can't wait to share this with my nonfiction students next term.