Articles Archives - Page 108 of 122 - Craft Your Content

Category Archives for Articles

5 Lessons I Learned From Dealing with Writing Rejection

“When you’re following your inner voice, doors tend to eventually open for you, even if they mostly slam at first.” ― Kelly Cutrone, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You

The first rejection I had was when I was 12 years old. It was at a journalism workshop taught by a prominent local reporter.

Our assignment was to write an editorial about any topic we wanted. At that time, I was obsessed with medical stories and thought a piece about viruses would be a great idea. After about two hours, we each presented our drafts. He announced that he would grade us on the spot.

It took him about 15 seconds to scan my text before he shook his head and heaved a sad sigh.

“You’ll never be a writer.”

Harsh words for a 12-year-old, don’t you think?

Continue reading

be yourself

Don’t Be Yourself. No, BE YOURSELF.

It’s difficult to overestimate the influence that Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay “Self-Reliance” has had on subsequent creative minds.

For contemporary writers struggling to generate an original idea, Emerson’s advice to “learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across [your] mind from within” can still provide validation of their unique creative instincts.

According to “Self-Reliance,” you shouldn’t need validation from anyone else.

The crowd, it would seem, should have no bearing on how we understand the world: “the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

Continue reading

What I’ve Learned About My Writing While Working with an Editor

The wise and wonderful Elisa asked if I would be comfortable sharing my experiences of having the Craft Your Content team edit my writing. It never dawned on me how personal the experience would be, so I immediately said yes.

As I read through past drafts, I see now how much I have learned. Though quite a bit of it has to do with a mastery (or slight lack thereof) of the English language, much of it has to do with myself personally.

I wanted to share my experience because, more and more often, I see my own clients letting the fear of an editor’s negative feedback take over, and it prevents them from producing a higher level of content. It’s like they dial it in with their simplest writing to avoid any potential questions or edits.Continue reading

ideas

Idea Generation – How Ideas Are Made

There may be no two words in the English language that, when put together, strike fear in my heart quite like:

“Let’s brainstorm.”

Upon the utterance of such a phrase, which implies that I need to somehow instantaneously create or invent not one, but a plethora of ideas – good, bad, and “interesting” – quickly, out loud and in a group, no less… well it’s enough to make my poor, introverted brain explode.Continue reading