My Top 5 Most Embarrassing (Un)Professional Moments
Posted by Justine Tal Goldberg in 
A recent interview with David in which he mentions the secret to literary output through self-loathing got me thinking about my own self-loathing, namely, the various missteps I’ve made in my writing career. There have been 8,556 faux pas to date—yes, I counted—and there will no doubt be many more. Here, I list 5 which represent the worst and the best of my experience. The worst because I cringe when I think about each and every one of them; the best because, in each case, I learned a valuable lesson. I’m going to shed my pride and share them with you now so you can a.) learn these lessons the easy way, i.e. by reading about them instead of living them, and b.) laugh with me. Or at me. Okay, at me.
Without further ado and in chronological order, my top 5 most embarrassing (un)professional moments, and how you can avoid them. read more
Self-Publishing Series at WBN
The publishing industry is changing … quickly. From the exploding popularity of e-readers to the mass closings of bookstores, it can be daunting to try and keep up. If you’re ready to take the future of your book into your own hands but don’t know where to start with self-publishing, we are here to help. WriteByNight is teaming up with TLC Graphics & Narrow Gate Books to offer a three-part series on all things self-publishing. From the starting steps all the way to design and marketing, these seminars will give you the know-how to make your book stand out.
Self-Publishing For Profit will teach you to lay the foundation needed to produce and publish a book that will drive readers to your product or service. read more
My Best Friend Craig(slist) + More Blogspiel
I’d like to preface this by saying that I have weak spot for portmanteaus and compound words (e.g. “blogspiel,” and “blogverse” in my previous post).
Checking Craigslist for freelance gigs makes me feel like I’m sixteen again. Except back then I was scanning the Caller ID to see if this or that boy called me. With Craigslist, I’m always on the lookout for the gig equivalent of first love. Freelance gigs that a) aren’t shady, and b) allow you to choose your subject are the rare and elusive unicorns of the literary world. read more
Austin Writers Loft Party
If writing, talking about writing, and meeting other writers are three things that appeal to you (and, let’s be honest, if you’re reading this blog, they do), then I would like to cordially invite you to the Austin Writers Loft Party.
Come out and join us for a night of eating, drinking, and schmoozing with writers of all genres and experience levels, from published writers and experienced editors to those just getting their start. This is a great opportunity to bring people from all corners of Austin’s creative and professional writing community together under one roof … for the first time. Can you believe no one’s ever done this before? read more
How Twitter Can Help Your Writing
When I was at the Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference this past June, there was a lot of talk about how having a Twitter account can be helpful and even important as a writer in today’s publishing market. I love Twitter, but have only been utilizing its mighty powers for a few months now. Before I began, I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. To me, it looked like Twitter was a watered-down version of Facebook, where all people did was post about where they were eating lunch or something funny their nephew said. Who cares? Boring.
I was talking about this with one of my friends who works in marketing, and she informed me I was wrong. She told me about how she was following all of these great people, learning about things she was interested in, and even making professional connections. I finally began to understand. It is not about what you say, as much as whom you are following. read more
It’s the Future, Guys: Thoughts on Ebooks, Blogging, and Getting Published
Hardcover books are going the way of the bustle
I visited the Borders website today, mainly because I wanted to see if it still existed. Borders is still in the liquidation process, and it’s eerie knowing this is the end for that giant among booksellers. But they had it coming. Borders mistakenly decided to stick to tradition and shun the ebook craze. Now they just can’t compete with the big boys anymore—ebook sales are skyrocketing while hardcover books sales are vestiges in the evolution of bookselling.
The dwindling sales of hardcover books could mean more trouble for debut authors who want to make a living writing. Because ebooks don’t create as much revenue as hardcover books, major publishers are passing up new writers and cutting advances. Debut authors often must turn to small independent publishers who can’t afford to dish out hefty advances. This forces them to look elsewhere to pay the bills, such as working piecemeal as a freelance writer. Yet, as many of us freelancers know, it also means getting a day job. read more
How Morning Pages Saved My Life
I was curious about Justine’s statement that morning pages changed her life. I would like to hear more.
Jeff Q.
Austin
Morning pages are the invention of one Julia Cameron, author of the well-known creative recovery program explicated in The Artist’s Way. They are “the primary tool of creative recovery” in a program that seeks to unblock blocked artists. In short and in Cameron’s own words, morning pages are: read more
A Writer’s Tools
Today we offer a guest post from Austin writer Aundraya Ruse.
One of the most wonderful things about the physical act of writing is its simplicity. Take a piece of paper and a pen (or open up a word document on the computer, etc.), unleash your imagination and just write. Sure, that’s the real meat of it all. But let’s consider a few other writing tools that I find to be essential. read more
Whither My Jockstrap?
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the differences between “creative” writing and book reviewing, but first I should address the elephant in the room. Good day, elephant; you represent the fact that I haven’t written a legitimate blog post since May 10. Much like my good friend acquaintance Nate, my own blog contains little evidence these days of my presence, but is instead a whirlwind of Jennas, Katies, and Michelles.
Which is not so bad. Nobody besides myself has been wondering “Where the hell is Duhr,” and Jenna, Katie, Michelle, et aliae, have provided, and will continue to provide, fresh, interesting and amusing content.
But just like Jenna wrote about yesterday, I feel like I’ve lost my writing voice. read more
Losing Your “Voice”
Ever go through periods when your writing sounds really awkward? Pardon me, but I’m having one of those days. It’s not the same as writer’s block. Writing is happening, but I feel like I’m trying to do a complicated dance. (I’m a bad dancer.) I’m able to write today, just without finesse. Without any discernible style. I literally lost my “voice” and writing authentically feels like speaking a new language. In short, I need to repair this disconnect between me and my writing.
Today I’m immersing myself in things other than books to work on style. Reading books on writing or quotes by inspiring authors sometimes leaves me feeling even more alienated from my own writing. However, before I talk about how I work on stylistics, I’d like to know: how do you deal with reestablishing your voice? read more
Letters For a Cause
Today, we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming (tune in tomorrow for Jenna Cooper’s “First Drafts“) to talk to you about one of our longtime clients, Marcia Drut-Davis. We’ve been working with Marcia since 2009, giving her guidance and direction as she committed her memoir to paper. Now her book, Confessions of a Childless Woman, is complete and she could use your support as she moves forward. (Read more about Marcia on her website.)
In 1974, Marcia was featured on CBS’s 60 Minutes in a segment called “Three’s a Crowd” in which she shared her decision not to have children. She says the hours of interview footage were cut down to three minutes of pure propaganda; read more
Why Nonfiction Matters
Today’s guest post is from Austin writer Aundraya Ruse.
A classmate of mine in an intermediate college fiction writing class once asked our professor a question that instantly filled me with some sort of disgust/anger combo: “Why do people even write nonfiction?” she asked. “What’s the point, if you could just write fiction instead and make up whatever you wanted?”
Instinctively I found her tone and bluntness rude. As a student who had written some of my best work in nonfiction courses, I silently scoffed at her (what I thought to be) pretentiousness. I spent the rest of the afternoon ranting to my friends—who most likely didn’t care in the slightest—about how ignorant this girl was and how I was glad she wasn’t writing nonfiction because the fiction of hers I had read was terrible anyway and she would only do a disservice to the nonfiction community. Or something along those ridiculous lines.
Your Writing Habitat
I live in a cave.
At least it seems that way. My apartment is on the bottom floor, and a gigantic tree casts a wide circle of shade out front. My patio has a high fence around it so no creepers can see in. I suppose this is for my benefit, but when I look out my sliding glass doors all I see is taupe-colored boards in desperate need of a paint job. I only have one window in my office and one in my bedroom. We face west, so the best sunlight is just as the evening news comes on. If I kept the shades shut the entire apartment would stay pitch black all day. Every wall is painted gray, which, in theory I suppose is better than insane asylum white. My floors are stained concrete. This drab paint job and stone cold flooring confirms my theory—my apartment is more a cave than a home.
Guilty (Literary) Pleasures
Even Gaston knows better
A few weeks ago I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Although I finished it in one sitting, the experience left a nasty taste in my mouth. The novel’s concept initially drew me in: introverted kid with mental health issues makes friends and starts living life more fully. I liked Girl, Interrupted, so I thought I’d give Perks a try. Yet by the time I realized I disliked the author’s style, I was at a point where I couldn’t stop reading. I found the protagonist (and narrator) Charlie an unsympathetic character. Worst of all, his affected diction rattled me. Charlie sounded more like Data than a teenage wallflower. But … by that point I had already grown to care about Charlie and his friends. How did that happen? Everything is filtered through boring, annoying Charlie’s point of view, so why didn’t I put the book down?
Because of the story. read more
To Be or To Be At?
The questions, problems, and personal moments of sorrow brought about by today’s grammatically challenged society are not new, and they are not going anywhere. Which leaves us writers to deal with them.
I’ve realized that perhaps grammar is an inherently difficult subject to write about. This is true on many accounts, but two predominant obstacles stood between this post and myself. The first was a concern that it would come across as pretentious. The second, and more personally compelling, was the reality that readers meticulously peruse any article about grammar and often lambaste the writer for making a single mistake.
So this sentence will provide the obligatory grammatical mistakes; incase anyone would like some.
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