Compliments Matter (or, Tell Someone You Value Their Work)
In the past two months, I’ve twice met the same former student in my gym. Each time, we have a wonderful conversation about what he’s reading, his newfound love of writing, his dreams for the future, and so on. Each time, he reminds me just how much one of my classes influenced him to be […]
On Impostor Syndrome
Pretty much every writer I know has had or continues to suffer from the infamous “impostor syndrome.” Authors, academics, bloggers, etc. If they do some kind of writing, they’ve likely had a moment of pure doubt about their abilities, their place in the “field,” their right to success, and so on. Part of what makes it […]
On Writing Projects: Decisions Decisions
In less than a week, I’m meeting with my friend, Jen, for a discussion about writing as part of a new podcast she plans to release on her Patreon page. Essentially, we’re trying to take a stab at actually writing something. For me, it’s a return. For Jen, it’s brand spankin’ new. In an effort […]
On NaNoWriMo and the “Work” of Writing
It figures that in the middle of my “writing brain reboot” session, the infamous NaNoWriMo would waltz into my life to taunt me. That’s an exaggeration. In reality, I haven’t paid much attention to it in years. I’ve only tried NaNoWriMo and NaPoWriMo (the poetry one) once. Both times, I failed. Both times were in […]
On the “Right” Kind of Reviews
One of the things that often bothers me about the reviewing process is the idea that some reviews are inherently more valuable than others. By this, I don’t mean in the sense of the quality of the writing itself; after all, some reviews really are nothing more than a quick “I liked it” or are […]
Why I’m Blogging…Again…At Last
You may have noticed I’ve started blogging again. Since Monday (10/20), I have released one blog every weekday on everything from favorite 80s scifi movies to neo-Nazis in my city to terrible movies to my thoughts on spending years reading mostly women. All of this is part of my effort to jumpstart my writing brain. […]