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25 posts tagged writing
In Which I Reveal That I’m a Negligent Writer
I often don’t finish things that I start. Especially when it comes to writing.
Inspiration strikes, or whatever, in the middle of the night, and I’ll take to my computer, jot down a couple of paragraphs and hit “SAVE” with the knowledge that someday I’ll return to that project.
As a result, I have countless orphaned one page babies—desperate for my attention and riddled with daddy issues.
For example, this short story I started to write from the POV of an ape in a zoo back in god knows when…
My son urinated on me today. It wasn’t the first time, and undoubtedly won’t be the last, but the way he went about it really irks me. You see, he did it in front of our handlers. In the middle of a show. And I really feel now, looking back, that his intent was that of humiliation.
There I was, hanging from a tree (we have a rather spacious exhibit, not like those savages in the circus), trying to demonstrate my flexibility, when I felt the warm trickle across my back and the cold reality of laughter erupting from the crowd.
I know what you’re thinking: “But what happens to this father-son dynamic?! When will we get to read the full-length version of this tour de force?!”
The truth is, that day may never come, friends.
Free Advice to Aspiring Freelance Writers: Part 1
For some reason—maybe mercury is retrograde, or the impending premiere of Homeland has made people feel ambitious—I have been getting this question a lot lately:
How do I become a freelance writer?
In some capacity, I have worked as a freelance writer for the past 7 years. I started writing for magazines in college and since then I’ve been fortunate enough to write for places like Ecorazzi, Funny or Die, E! Online, The Soup, Fashion Police and Mad Atoms.
Each year I’ve been getting new gigs and I keep getting that question:
How do I become a freelance writer?
The truth is that there’s no right way to do it, but, as someone who has worked freelance, I have some tips and advice that might help!
How to Get Work
- Look for work everyday.
No one is going to hand you a job—but if that job person is out there send them my way. I check the following websites daily, and I have consistently gotten jobs this way.
ProBlogger Freelance Writing Gigs MediaBistro Craigslist
- Start a Blog
Clippings are the biggest hurdle for most people. To get a freelance gig you need clippings, but to get clippings you need a freelance gig. Sigh. What to do?!?
Start a blog. Allow yourself to write articles on what you’re interested in. I use Tumblr and you could too.
- Blindly Email Editors
To this day I email the editors of websites I like to read. If you look in the contact section on most websites, you’ll see a list of people available and ready to take your emails. You can feel free to blindly email those folks with a nice inquiry, something along the lines of…“Dear [insert name], I am emailing you today because I respect and am an avid reader of [insert website name]…”
More advice to come! Any questions so far?
My Fiction Piece Published Today!
Photograph by Desert Raven
Hey friends!
Some of you may recall that I recently found out that a short fiction piece I wrote is getting pubbed.
Today it went live on Storychord and I couldn’t be happier with the look, sound and feel of it.
Here’s an excerpt from the piece:
A breeze came off of the ocean and poured through the screened-in porch. The damp heat of it coiled around Jack like a heavy coat, and the space suddenly seemed too warm and too small. The air smelled of wet pennies and seaweed, the way an approaching hurricane season always did. It made him edgy, thinking of those waters heating up for a big storm. The wooden planks of the swing jammed against him and burned hot against his back and thighs. He looked up and saw that the stuffiness had even encumbered the blades of the ceiling fan. It was quiet except for that hushed loop of the fan and the rasp of the swing.
Would love for you all to read it in full here and, if you’re feeling generous, REBLOG or LIKE it on Facebook!
Also, tell me what you think, maybe?
First of All…
There’s a store called The Literary Gift Company and none of you have bought me anything from it, so there’s the first problem.
Secondly, they have literary maps—as in, famous authors’ names penned into the shape of the United States, Britain and Northern Ireland.
What I’m trying to say is, I can see Vladimir Nabokov’s name and maybe, just maybe, that means I am him.
Do you see, do you finally see now?
Fiction Writing Announcement…
I’m over the moon happy to announce that I found out yesterday that I will be a published fiction writer very soon.
(!!!@#$%SCREAMING#%$!@!!!!!)
A short story I wrote (which, to be fair, received no less than 20 rejection letters from various publications) has been accepted to Storychord.
Storychord is an online publication that I have always admired. It’s curated by Sarah Lynn Knowles, who runs SARAHSPY and is Vice President of The Furnace Review, and brings short stories, artists and musicians together in one place.
My short story, “Tracking the Nest,” will be published in an upcoming issue—I’ll keep you posted as to when—and will be paired with a piece of art and a music selection.
Did I mention I had to go through 20 rejections for this one acceptance letter? It feels really fucking good.
:D
It’s always fun to hear writers talk about how they succeeded, especially because it usually doesn’t involve anything about a certain college or a special mentor.
I really enjoyed listening to Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. He’s refreshingly upbeat and I loved this piece of veiled advice:
“I learned to write by writing. I tended to do anything as long as it felt like an adventure and to stop when it felt like work which meant that life did not feel like work.”
“The way to write a book is to actually write a book. A pen is useful, typing is also good. Keep putting words on the page.”
I’m Lazy, Apparently.
This revelation came to me this week because I need to work on my thesis, a novel, which is due come the first week of August.
Allow me to walk you through it:
Monday: With that looming deadline over my head I suddenly kicked into an ultra high gear that I didn’t know existed; up at 6 am to write for an hour, working from 8 to 11 at night when I’m home from my job at ‘The Secret Circle.’
I’m not great at math, but that’s 4 hours of writing a day and I have a full time job… why wasn’t this happening before?
So, then I get the idea that I’ll do this everyday and by the time August rolls around my thesis will be good to go.
Tuesday: The morning came and when my 6 am alarm went off things weren’t looking so ready to write, so I hit snooze… over and over again until I had a half hour to get to work and no time to write.
But no problem, I can write when I get home! That is until my friend Elizabeth asks if I’d like to go to a party near my house and I willfully give in because I’ve been at work all day and a drink sounds super yummy.
Wednesday: And then this morning, where the same Tuesday scenario seems to be happening already and I feel badly because I think about how well Monday went and my failed plans for world thesis domination.
I need more Mondays in my life, all I’m saying.
Waking Up Early.
Did I mention that since getting my new job I wake up at 6 am everyday so I can get all my writing done?
That’s me with my coffee, in a robe, about to blog this to you. Also, no makeup- so enjoy that fresh face!
This is a real job posting.
Frank Sinatra enthusiasts only.