On working with writers
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Thank zeus for newbies
I have a colleague who sometimes grumbles about newbie writers. “There’s another nurse/teacher/yoga instructor/high school dropout with no relevant credentials. What makes her think she can break into freelancing?” This is a point of irritation for a lot of established writers: just because everyone can write, everyone thinks they can be writers — as if learning the craft and the business were…
6 Steps for the Time-Crunched
We’re heading into one of those times of years where there are more demands on my time than time to deal with them. But as ever, I have a solution to my time-crunch problem. I just have to dig it out and remember what it is. Step back. I ask myself, “What are you doing,…
Ready . . . or not?
I’ve been reading on agent blogs lately that they’re getting a lot of submissions that aren’t “ready.” I take this to mean there are easily identified problems in the manuscript that could have been corrected before it was sent out — from inconsistencies in the plot to typos. My experience on the other side of…
On being a specialist
One of the editors I work for recently commented, “You are a jack of all trades!” She meant that she was impressed with the variety of things I know something about, which is a direct result of the fact that I am easily bored. For this client, it helps that I know a little bit…
Big Projects and Productivity
A comment on a previous post points out that people sometimes get stuck on long projects and stall because they haven’t figured out the next step. “Write a book” seems a little daunting. You can’t get it done today. So you shy away from getting started at all. Productivity gurus talk about figuring out…
On burning bridges
For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been reading some version of this advice over and over: Don’t burn bridges. Be nice to everyone. You never know when someone will be able to help you down the road. Which, oh please. Sometimes the best thing you can do in life is burn bridges. Douse them…