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Award-winning, Nashville-based writer, editor and journalist Katie Lewis talks about the creative community, being a freelancer, setting deadlines and remaining healthy and inspired.
Creatives know how scarce and unreliable money can be, which is why so many opt for unrelated full-time employment so as not to put the stress of a relied-upon income on their passion.
It’s the main reason I like giving away things for free. The 52-Week Project -- free writing prompts each week for a week -- has been a beautiful experience and so amazing to see embraced. Today, I’m really excited about another free venture: The One-Week Daily Writing Devotional.
Read moreWhether you studied it in school or taught yourself by reading every book you could get your hands on, a creative writer needs one important quality: a voice that’s all their own.
Surprise! Just like every other aspect of writing, developing your voice is tough work. And how do you know once you’ve finally done it, you’re right there, and your voice is clear and unique?
Read moreJournalists know the most important part of their actual writing process is crafting a gripping lead. The beginning of a creative non-fiction piece should be enticing, provocative, a teaser, a foreshadowing and supported by what's to come in your piece.
Once the lead is discovered, the rest of the story writes itself.
Read moreAs a creative, you know inspiration can be found anywhere. When your heart is open and ears are tuned, a turn of phrase or observation might kickstart a scene you've been stuck. You'll try anything to capture that spark, right? Me too. That's why I've been listening to podcasts every day. Here are nine of my favorites.
Read morePart of the work I do to pay the bills (gasp, creative writing pays peanuts?!) is content marketing. This is when I craft website content, blog posts, marketing emails and advertising copy for another company. It's fascinating to tell a brand's story in their own voice, much like we creative writers develop our characters' unique voices.
What I won't do, though, is stick someone else's name onto my product.
Read moreHas a friend or family member ever performed a spot-on imitation of you that left you wondering if you really knew yourself at all? We each have speech patterns and favorite topics that make us unique.
We don't want to change who we are but instead celebrate these eccentricities. And, if you're a writer, you want to be able to identify them; they mean you're finding your voice (ah, the ever-elusive writer's voice!). After decades as a writer, I've learned one of my patterns is alliteration.
Read moreWhy aren’t you running your writing life? You’re spending hours a day trolling that writing group you joined on Facebook, cheering on others’ wins, and supporting those who struggle with motivation. The latter, dollface, is you.
You’re lazy, and it isn’t a good look. I have a few things to say about that.
Read moreScientists have debunked the widely touted theory that 10,000 hours of practice make you an expert in a skill. Experienced writers everywhere sighed in relief because we continue finding ourselves boxed in by the passive voice and sapped by anemic vocabulary.
Let's talk about those weak words that pepper our writing when we aren't confident and make us doubt our creative aptitude.
Read moreWe're writing shorter and shorter emails these days, making brevity the name of the game. Yet are you committing email mistakes that could cost you business relationships? Let's look at how to improve one-to-one emails.
Read moreAs a deep lover of the handwritten letter, I have a huge stash of stationery and cards. Yet even as a writer, when I sit down to compose a letter or greeting card message to a loved one, I'm often stumped. I tend to cycle through a few versions before hitting upon exactly what I want to say.
We're all stumped from time to time. To that end, I've created 31 templates for a handful of occasions. Feel free to borrow and tweak for your next handwritten note.
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