Finding the courage to write “I worry that I’m not good enough,” says Joy Bautista Collado, although she can’t define precisely why. “I need courage.” And, even though other people encourage her to write, she doesn’t try to publish much because of her fear. “My biggest insecurity,” the writer from the Philippines confides, “is that
Deadly sin of over-confidence: managing your ego Now, I usually don’t brag. I really don’t. But, in this post, I’m going to do so, openly and without shame. Through my entire elementary school career, I was the spelling bee champion. Yes, I was. Without question. I didn’t just win some of the weekly spelling bees.
How to critique writing effectively Last week, our blog post on critiquing focused on: finding the right critique partner(s) for your writing helping you to eliminate feelings of defensiveness to get the most out of the feedback provided This week, we’re turning the topic upside down and sharing tips on how to provide quality feedback
How to be open to receiving quality writing critiques In 2008, I had an opportunity to pitch a script for an historical fiction play that highlighted the role that people in northern Ohio played during the pre-Civil War years. A small percentage of Ohioans, mostly during the years between 1830 and 1860, helped slaves to
Celebrating writing mentors Recently, the head of the Cleveland Job Bank, Kelly Blazek, made the news – at first locally and then nationally and then internationally – for writing harsh responses to younger job seekers. The story has even apparently qualified as Hollywood gossip; been dubbed “BlazekGate”; risen to the level of a top trending
The dreaded writer’s block – and ways to smash through the barriers If you ask 100 people how to define writer’s block and/or what causes the blockage, you’ll get at least 101 answers, ranging from those who don’t believe in the phenomenon to those who have elaborate theories on the subject. When making the case
The Search Guru chats with K.D. Sullivan, CEO of Untreed Reads Publishing For four years, I edited a full-color print magazine, one that was costly to produce. The tone of the publication was friendly, cheerful, upbeat and neighborly, while the audience consisted largely of conservative women in their 50s. In one issue, we were including
Catch 22: expert sources or engagement first? At first glance, the formula for creating great content (that can be promoted on social media channels) might look simple and straightforward: Google likes and rewards websites with quality content Therefore, I will write quality content for my blog One of the best ways to create quality content
The power of storytelling in your online copy When I was young, I wasn’t allowed to play in our front yard. I couldn’t choose when I could – or couldn’t – flush the toilet. I wasn’t allowed to turn up the music and just dance, either. Now before you think that I had a deprived
Defending jargon as part of quality content (sort of) In 1981, my sister and I went to the movie theater to see Stripes, a film starring Bill Murray and co-starring Harold Ramis. Murray plays a character whose life was going nowhere: he’d just lost his job, his car was being repossessed and his girlfriend was
