Read this at the blog and listen to the accompanying podcast here I’m already starting to think about next year’s StoryADay May and, here in this age of AI, I was struck with the awful thought: why bother? AI means you can generate 31 short story writing prompts in 90 seconds (5 minutes if you’re willing to wait for more polished prompts with a theme and multiple repetition. How do I know this? I asked it.) It takes me roughly 3 months of (admittedly part-time) work to research guest authors,...
19 days ago • 5 min read
Read online or listen, here It’s tempting to think that other writers have it easier, or other times were easier on writers. Wasn’t it easier to get published when there were more independent publishing houses? Wasn’t it easier to make a living at writing in the golden age of magazine publishing? All those other writers who are selling their work must have some kind of cheat code that they’re not sharing with us, right? This week I read the editorial in the February 1951 issue of Galaxy...
3 months ago • 3 min read
I’m thinking of doing a thing to make StoryADay May more accessible and enjoyable and I’d like to know if you’re interested. What Four weekly Workshop/Writing Dates during the challenge 75 minutes each 10-15 minutes of instruction and prompts 2 x 20 minute writing sprints 20-25 minutes to share snippets and discuss how it went(optional). Each week would feature a different prompt from the StoryADay Challenge (but you would be free, as always, to write whatever you want!). Writing together in...
5 months ago • 1 min read
What I learned about writing from the Phillies crashing out of the World Series race… I’m a fan of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. (Thank you for your condolences. Visiting hours will be between 6 and 8 pm) One of the things I love about baseball is the fact that it’s not over until it’s over, when suddenly, nail-bitingly, it is. (Like last night. Ugh.) But as I’ve become more of a fan of the game, other lessons have become clear that I think we writers could do with pondering....
11 months ago • 2 min read
I’ve been getting some questions about this year's September One-Story Challenge, so here’s a quick rundown of how it’ll work: How it works (at a glance) New mini-lesson unlocks daily (you’ll also get an automatic email reminder). Bite-sized actions each day (think 30-45 minutes) so you can succeed with a full life. Guided cohort conversations via the comments in the course–share wins, stuck points, and aha moments (you’re not doing this alone). Two Rest & Reflection days each week with no...
12 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader,, Quick behind-the-scenes update: I’ve been heads-down recording and revising the lessons for this year’s One-Story September Challenge: Mastering the Middle—and it’s getting sharper, stronger… honestly my best version of a challenge like this, yet. Why I’m excited to welcome you in: A cohort is forming now. Last year, around 80 writers went through the challenge together. I’m expecting we’ll stay below that number this year—perfect for real community without getting lost in the...
12 months ago • 1 min read
How cultivating wonder can keep your creative energy flowing, and why it's so important to nurture it... This time last year I was able to travel to Scotland for a very happy reason — to party with my my parents on their 60th wedding anniversary. The journey didn’t exactly go smoothly, but travel always offers the opportunity to see things in a new light: for example our inexplicably cancelled connecting flight from London to Glasgow turned into an impromptu train journey up the west coast of...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
...or: could you use a better inner coach, instead? Remember the Olympic games in Paris, when the media was flooding us with feel-good stories about quirky folks who had dedicated their life to pursuing excellence in one, extremely niche activity…and everyone thought it was cool? Good times. I was struck by the US Gymnastics team’s comments about how much happier they were, now that they had new coaches—coaches who motivated them with praise and love, rather than fear and shame. Oh, and they...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
I always thought that an artist’s was the hardest life of all. Its rigor—not always apparent to an outside observer—is that an artist has to navigate forward into the unknown guided only by an internal sense of direction, keep up a set of standards which are imposed entirely from within, meanwhile maintaining faith that the task he has set himself to is worth struggling constantly to achieve. This is all contrary to the notion of bohemian disorder.” Lucian Freud (via Austin Kleon) If you’ve...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read