This is the fifth entry in our mini-series on dealing with rejection. If you saw the 2009 movie Star Trek, which was, of course, a reboot of the classic TV show, you might remember the scene where Spock gets into a fight with Kirk, then steps down from his command. The reason was that he … Read more
If you get heavily involved in the writing community, you have to be careful. Why? Because there is a whole sub-industry devoted to writing tools that supposedly help you be more productive and creative. Are many of these helpful? Yes, of course. For example, I swear by the writing app Scrivener. I write almost everything … Read more
There is a common trait among successful writers, and it has nothing to do with skill, talent, genre, or style. Instead, it has everything to do with taking responsibility for your own life choices. Most people are passive observers of their own lives. They accept the choices that life hands to them. They assume what … Read more
One of the most famous lines from Shakespeare’s Hamlet is “To be or not to be, that is the question.” More than a line in a famous play, it’s also the central idea of the writer’s life. The American novelist Paul Theroux said, “You can’t want to be a writer, you have to be one.” … Read more
What causes some writers to be successful and not others? Is it talent? Opportunity? Or just plain old luck? That’s what many people believe. When they see a writer who is successful, they attribute it to chance. They assume that if you bloom, it means you happened to get planted in a good garden, and … Read more
English teachers in high school and college often get a bad rap. It’s unfortunate because English teachers are by and large wonderful people. But students who did not do well in those classes sometimes blame teachers for killing their writing dreams. First of all, you should never give a teacher that much power over your … Read more