To Be Wordy or Concise, That is the Question

There is something to be said for writing that is concise and to the point, but I have learned that brevity isn’t always better. Sometimes, being specific or adding additional details can provide more understanding of the subject matter and create the full picture for the reader. On the other hand, including too many details can overwhelm the reader and the information will not be retained. 

Finding that balance is key. Yet how do you know which approach to take? 

I’ve always had difficulty deciding whether to be brief or to elaborate. However, over the years, I have collected several tips and tricks that have helped me get the biggest impact out of my writing without comprising meaning. 

In this post, I’ll share these tips and tricks with you. We’ll take a look at different writing formats, context, constraints, how personal is too personal, and getting feedback. This will help you decide whether to be brief or elaborate when writing, depending on your individual needs.

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From Screen to Pen: Finding Writing Inspiration From Movies

I’ve always loved movies. Growing up my world was largely shaped by movies, as from an early age going to the cinema was a way of life for me. The locations, characters, and events of all the movies I watched informed me about the world at large.

But while studying filmmaking in college and working on various projects, there was something else happening in the background that I didn’t really notice at the time. I was learning to write. That is to say, I was becoming consciously aware of writing as an external process to filmmaking, yet also interwoven.

The work I was doing on films was enhancing the thinking I had about writing. I was learning to write in new ways that were wholly surprising and inspiring to me.

The narrative, or as it’s often referred to in a film script, the hero’s journey (encompassing the personal story of the protagonist and their thoughts, feelings, motivations, and fears) was no longer hidden to me.

Perhaps subconsciously seeping into my mind, this hero’s journey along with the dialogue, the poetry in visuals (which began on paper), and the overall pacing and flow of the story, were all rising up and giving me new ambition to explore their worlds.

I was becoming acutely aware of how storytelling was being used in movies. This led me to the awkward, late-stage epiphany that no storyline just magically appears out of nowhere in a medium. Any idea must first be written. 

In this post, I share with you some of my personal experiences in filmmaking and writing to offer you a different approach to writing, one that challenges you to open your mind to a more visual way of storytelling: by finding inspiration through movies.

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Dealing With Imposter Syndrome In 2022 As A Creative

Besides the obvious physical harm, COVID-19 also impacted many people mentally. Especially for creatives, going back to normal feels difficult. I find myself comparing my current work to that before the pandemic, and a sense of inability to do what I used to, and even anything satisfactory, keeps creeping back.

As creatives—that is, writers, artists, and other people who create something for people to engage with—the weirdest things can affect our mojo and getting it back is always our top priority if we ever lose it. 

If the pandemic made you feel like a fraud, or you’re finding it hard to get anything done, you might be dealing with imposter syndrome. I am a post-covid imposter syndrome victim, and I am in the process of getting my mojo back. I am doing a great job so far, so I would like to share my tips for beating imposter syndrome in the post-covid season.

With the world going back to normalcy, with most of us going back to our desks at work and trying to be creative in the way we used to, we need to get those creative juices up and running with full confidence. 

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How to Manage Your Writing Career While Parenting A Toddler

Whenever I tell people that I am a writer and a single mom to my three-year-old son, it’s common that I hear questions about how I do it. It’s either that or them saying how amazing it is that I get to do it all on my own. 

To be honest, I love hearing the compliments but sometimes, I want to tell them that I actually just want to take a break because the daily struggle is exhausting. 

Despite these occasional feelings of being overwhelmed, I know I am privileged to be able to witness all my son’s milestones and have a career that allows me to support us both. 

As a single parent, there are really only two ways to go about earning enough money for you and your kid/s. You either work a full-time job and hire babysitters or nannies (or have family close by and willing to manage childcare) to take care of them while you’re at work, or you find a career that allows you to be a parent and a provider at the same time. 

Here’s how I learned to be both a writer and a single mom and how you can do the same thing.

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