They’re more a cultural joke than anything else: New Year’s Resolutions, those lists of detailed self-improvements we assemble in good faith to help guide our actions in future. Continue reading “The Writer’s Approach to New Year’s Resolutions”
It’s been awhile.
Yes, I’ve been away from the keyboard for a bit since my last post. No excuses, no explanations other than the unavoidable fact that life often intervenes when least expected.
What matters is, I’m back. With a vengeance.
I’m kick off my return to the word by joining up with the National Novel Writing Month challenge, during which I will be converting my short story A Little Hike into a full-length novel. Continue reading “Stop. Novel Time.”
I received a rejection notice this morning for a short story I’ve been shopping around. It’s the sixth rejection for this piece, and I have been fortunate to receive personal feedback with all of them. Unfortunately, the feedback has not been unanimous.
Why do I say unfortunately? It all comes down to the problem of deciding which feedback to consider, and which feedback to ignore. This topic came up a couple of time in the creative nonfiction workshop I was involved with last fall, as many of the younger students were facing this dilemma for the first time. Primarily used to receiving critical analysis from one or two authority figures (teachers, professors) and general encouragement from less critical audiences (friends, family members), they now found themselves on the receiving end of often contradictory opinions and advice from a room full of people not only intimately familiar with the written word, but the creative process as well. It’s one thing to have your friends read your work and either “like” it or “not get” it, but something completely different to be receiving in-depth critiques from a dozen or so fellow writers. Continue reading “Rejection Junction”
Ever received a review from someone regarding your work that was not just unflattering, but unabashedly hateful and abusive? If you are a writer, the answer to this question can only be yes. All writers are subjected to spitefully aggressive reviews, and some (like Dorothy Parker reviewing Winnie the Pooh) like to dish it out with equal enthusiasm.
So, with this in mind, here’s a HuffPost feature I stumbled upon this weekend featuring what is most likely a very modest selection of truly mean book reviews. Have any favorites of your own that you would like to share? Better yet, share some of the worst that your own work has received. The healing has to start somewhere.
Huffington Post Readers Picks: 6 Of The Meanest Book Reviews Ever PHOTOS.
Living Severed Head 