Here’s the rudest, cruelest awakening to telling your story in
writing: Most of the time, you will feel like you’re failing. Like what
you’re spewing out onto paper (or screen) is the lamest, most cliché,
least ...READ»
The crux of writing a successful (interesting, moving, powerful, life-changing) memoir is, of course, being able to remember the experiences that shaped a certain period of your life. But you have to do more than simply recall those ...READ»
It’s like the girl from Kansas said: There’s no place like home… that is, to evoke hundreds of memories, stories, and emotions that you can use for writing your memoir. (The second part of the sentence, Dorothy did not say.)When ...READ»
There’s a lot of memoir-writing advice out there. Some of it is good, some is completely obvious (and therefore unhelpful), and some crosses the line into stupid and potentially harmful to your story. A few choice examples of the ...READ»
The short answer: as hard as it takes for those boundaries to break.I’ve said often that if you’re not turning someone off, you’re not turning someone on. You can’t please everyone with creative work. And, in fact, you ...READ»
All right, seems like a vague question. So first I’ll explain my idea of creativity. To me, being creative means presenting something unique and powerful to the world—a fresh perspective on what can be a deadened landscape; a ...READ»
In a recent interview about his new book (a novel, mind
you), James Frey was asked what hour of the day inspiration most
strikes. His answer, which I’m paraphrasing, was a scoffing,
“Inspiration is for chumps. I work from ...READ»
Okay—so you’ve got a brilliant, innovative product or service. So
what? If no one knows about it, no one cares about it; it may as well
not exist. The only solution, everyone seems to agree, is PR. But the
best ...READ»
Neighbor/competitor/family member/friend/postman: “So, how’s work been lately?”
You (business-owner): “Oh, you know. Keeping busy.”
Sound familiar? For business-owners, “keeping ...READ»
How many times a day do you hear a radio or TV ad with rueful,
obvious acknowledgement of the recession? You know, the ones with
over-earnest voice-overs that begin something like this: “These days,
we’re all cutting back on ...READ»
