Category: Contemporary Women Writers
How many Beta Readers do you need?
Someone in my writing group recently sent his first chapters to five different people … and got five very different responses. The result: he’s more confused than ever. Beta readers—those readers you trust your manuscript to before sending it out to an agent, editor, or publishing house—can give valuable feedback. They read with more distance […]
5 Ways to Spot and Avoid Sketchy Editors and Publications
I still remember that summer afternoon when my mother came upstairs to find me weeping into my pillow. I was 20 years old, and I had just discovered that my boyfriend had been cheating on me. Of course, I told my mother the edited, sanitized version of the story, omitting that part about walking into […]
Dear Me on a Bad Publishing Day…
Dear Me on a Bad Publishing Day, Rejection is part of this. You’ve known that for a long, long time. It wouldn’t be quite right to say you’re fine with it, but you’ve made peace with it as part of the process. You’re a pretty glass-half-full, I’ve got this sort of gal. Every now and […]
When a “spicy” Indian storyteller goes looking for inspiration…
Earlier this year, my writer friend, Leah Zibulsky, invited me to one of her creative nonfiction readings on the lower east side. There were four, smart, sassy storytellers presenting that evening. As I heard Leah and her comrades share their dating stories at Dixon Place in NYC, I whispered to the woman on my left, […]
Recovering from Depression: My Writing Journey
Two years ago almost to the date I told my mother that I wanted to kill myself. That I cried every day and that I needed help. I was twenty-seven, a year out of university and working as a EFL and Business English teacher in various companies around town. I never quite earned enough money […]
The Insanity Defense
It’s the subject of constant debate and since the beginning of the written word, authors and artists have been asked the question: “Where did it all go wrong?” If anyone has asked you this question, you may in fact have an advantage over other writers or creative folks. It implies that you can spin a […]
How Courageous Are You?
Since publishing my own story a year ago, and gathering the stories of women who wished to share their truths in a collaborative anthology, I have been reminded just how difficult it can be to put our truths out into the world. Sharing our stories makes us vulnerable to criticism and judgment. Yet our life […]
Between Two Worlds
“I am alone in my room, between two worlds.” – Sylvia Plath “I like it better when you’re not working on a book,” my youngest daughter announced the other day at breakfast. “Really?” I asked, rather taken aback. “Why is that?” My daughter speared a piece of sausage with her fork and gave me a […]
What it Takes to be a Writer
Virginia Woolf is famous for having said that to be a woman and a writer, one needed a room of one’s own and five hundred pounds a year. In essence, she was advocating for space and time. Of course she was correct. Of course these are two essential components of a successful writing life. It’s […]
Procrastination
I’m just over halfway through writing my novel and the whole process reminds me of the one time I went on a diet. I started it on the Monday morning, which is of course the Law of Diets, and by Tuesday lunchtime I was feeling a little bit thinner and very virtuous. Look at me, […]
Recent Comments