Brains are frustrating things. One thing can gum up the works, and if you’re not familiar with brains — passingly, no degrees necessary — and more specifically with yours, it can be hard to figure out why. Even when you are familiar with your own brain, they’re like cats. When they’re hurting, they hide it.Continue reading “On obligation and creative paralysis”
Author Archives: purplejabberwock
On opportunities for learning
(Or, why it would be a good idea to take advantage of WGM’s Teachable sale.) Dean Wesley Smith, Kris Rusch and WGM are doing another half-price sale on writing-related courses, both craft and business. It’s their fourth this year and their fourth ever, and every time they say they hope it’ll be the last, becauseContinue reading “On opportunities for learning”
On doing your own covers and rebranding
I think I’ve talked about this before, but among indie authors it’s a truism that covers are both sacred and a MacGuffin. Do it right, and they’ll ensure sales. But better not do it yourself, because you might screw up. That might be a little unfair, but not far off the mark. The vast majorityContinue reading “On doing your own covers and rebranding”
On emasculating ourselves with negative humour
Stand up (or sit down) if you’ve ever made a joke about needing a friend to stand over you with a whip and chair to make you write. Or about being easily distracted. Even with other stories instead of the one you’re ‘meant’ to be writing. Or about procrastination. Or about being unable to finish.Continue reading “On emasculating ourselves with negative humour”
On putting in the effort vs doing the work
The conventional advice, when pursuing writing as a career, is not to give up your day job. Generally speaking, good advice! One still needs to be able to support themselves. Which I ignored, for several reasons. Firstly, the place where I was working had become untenable to me and I had to quit for myContinue reading “On putting in the effort vs doing the work”
Word spotlight: Politics
There’s a question going around in Twitter’s writing community asking writers how they feel about blending politics with professional media. I have a few feelings about that, and couldn’t figure out where to start on a tweet thread, so I decided to do a word spotlight instead. This is definitely going to be an ‘etymologyContinue reading “Word spotlight: Politics”
On weariness and knowing when to put down
I am tired. Today, I’m tired. Nothing seems good, and everything is hard, after several long weeks of everything seeming hard. I read a post by a writer this morning which observed that their difficulties writing might stem from the inability to be vulnerable … that releasing the numbness to feel emotion while writing, andContinue reading “On weariness and knowing when to put down”
On ‘putting it off’ and the value of timing
Last week I blogged about the hidden negatives of the ‘do it now’ narrative. After I wrote it, I continued contemplating the subject and realised — well, it’s not totally a one-sided concept. Like I said in the other post, the reason ‘do it now’ is such a common thing is precisely because the pointContinue reading “On ‘putting it off’ and the value of timing”
On ‘doing it now’ and the illusion of speed
Recently I had a realisation. I’ve spoken in my blog before about the essence of speed and the difficulty slowing down and being calm or gracious about it. This realisation relates to that. It’s no secret that today’s society is a fast one. With immediate access, FOMO, ‘get in first or lose your opportunity’ salesContinue reading “On ‘doing it now’ and the illusion of speed”
On critical vs creative editing
Not a new topic for me, this, but one I have a few feelings on and one I thought would make a good opener to my cross-posting to tumblr. (Which I am now doing. For the record. Hi, tumblr followers.) From my very scientific observations of writers in general, most of them seem to viewContinue reading “On critical vs creative editing”
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