All posts by Elisa Doucette
How To Write in Books to Become a Better Thinker
There may be no fiercer turf war in literary society than the preservation of a book’s pristine quality.
Seriously, those Oxford comma folks have nothing on this debate.
To write in, dog ear, markup, and annotate the books you read and love—or to carefully respect and honor the delicate spine and pure-white paper … that is the question.
I personally have been, and will always be, a contributor to the art of marginalia. Comments, symbols, highlights, underlines—they are all in there. Being able to mark important areas and note brief thoughts on what I’ve read are an essential part of understanding and interpreting what I’ve read.
That isn’t the case for everyone, though. In fact, some people get downright feisty about it.
How to Show the Writer in Your Life That You Love Them
Writers have…a reputation.
Whether it is that they are closed-off and obsessed, or flighty and bohemian, or difficult and pedantic, most of us have some sort of mental image of what we think being a writer is like.
That’s probably because we either saw it in a television show or movie, or we might have the pleasure of knowing an actual real-live writer in our own lives.
And we’ve based our idea of what a writer might be on them, creating an archetype in our heads that we either adore or have come to loathe.Continue reading
Writers vs Editors: A Battle for the Ages
“It’s probably just typical writer vs. editor issues.”
I physically cocked my head at the email from a client as we were discussing some squabbles occurring between one of the editors here at CYC and the content writer.
Having worked as a professional writer for a decade before I opened an editing agency, I’ve run across my fair share of editors.
Some of them sucked.
Some were just doing their jobs.
A rare few were those editors that inspire and support, who make you want to be a better person writer.
Improve Your Writing Process by Building a Mind Palace
I have written articles in under two hours that got over half a million views in less than 24 hours.
For me to sit and write 5,000 to 6,000 words in one evening writing session is not unheard of (first draft, of course).
A couple decades of experience and habit certainly help with being able to write this way, but I definitely am not the most disciplined daily writer you’ll meet. For that, you should seek out Stephen King or some other prolific creative person.