Tice’s advice for new writers
June 17, 2013 § 1 Comment
I’ve been subscribed for a few weeks to Carol Tice’s Make a Living Writing newsletter. While I’m not necessarily looking for freelance work, Tice sends smart, pithy daily tips on building client relationships, growing confidence, and creating an online presence. (Last week, she hosted a “link party,” where followers could share—and vote on—favorite writing-related links.)
I really liked a post Tice published last week, on “The Advice I Wish I’d Had as New Freelance Writer.” Her advice is funny and reassuring: “I wish someone would have told me right off that no one cares if you learned to write under a freeway overpass or at Columbia. If you can get the story and tell it so we want to read it, you’re in.”
Now that’s advice I can use. Tice also recommends “diving in, and being scared later” and “developing niche expertise.”
I’m happy to learn from Tice’s more than 20 years of freelance know-how. (Her website, by the way, is a gold mine of resources for would-be writers.) Keep those emails coming!
How Writers Interact With the World
April 30, 2013 § Leave a comment
Saint Jerome, the writer as a recluse…may have a lion at his feet, but he lacks other company—and, of course, he has no Wi-Fi.
His condition is distinctly different from that of the modern writer; her room is not only well-lighted and likely lion-free, but also furnishes an Internet connection, through which the world’s tumult pours…
It’s no secret that I love Draft. Not only because it allows me think about writing in new ways—but also because it helps me discover new writers. Writers who write about writing—and who love to think about and explore the same ideas that I do. This week’s piece is no exception.
How Writers Interact With the World – NYTimes.com.
illustration by Chloé Poizat.
Must-read writing on the Boston Marathon bombings
April 16, 2013 § Leave a comment
In the wake of tragedy, I find comfort in the work of thoughtful, skilled writers, those who somehow manage to put to paper the words the rest of us are still grappling to find. For me, writers’ words have always brought some sense to senselessness like this—or at least make me feel a little less alone.
Below is a selection of great articles I’ve read today in the aftermath of the attack on Boston.
- The People Who Watch Marathons, Erin Gloria Ryan, Jezebel.
- The Boston Marathon: All My Tears, All My Love, Dave Zirin, The Nation.
- Homemade Marathons, Susan Orlean, The New Yorker.
- The Marathon, Nathan Savin Scott, Thought Catalog.
- “If you are scared, they win. If you refuse to be scared, they lose.” Interview between Ezra Klein and Bruce Schneier, Wonkblog. Schneier actually published an article of his own in the Atlantic, but for me, this interview is even more crisp and powerful.
MARY GABLE 