Your Custom Text Here
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.
Yesterday, I did something I never could have anticipated. When I hit a point in my current writing project where I felt stuck and stilted, I dug out a piece I put to bed a few weeks ago. I reread it.
It bolstered me. I felt awe in the creative process and appreciation in my ability to write what I meant to write. And then I wrote, wrote, wrote fueled by the proof that yes, I can do this. I've done it before. I'll do it again, and now.
Read moreWhen you sit down to write, it could all go south. OR. Or. It could be amazing. You get to choose where fear lands, and let's just agree right now that your writing is more important. Push fear off a cliff, friend.
Read moreYou don't have to be a Grammar Master to be an incredible storyteller. You can weave a yarn, but maybe you have trouble conjugating verbs. No worries! Here are a few oft-forgotten grammar rules to improve your writing.
Read moreBesides reading the work of authors you admire, there are, of course, ways you already know to grow your writing. And then there's perhaps my favorite way, the one that feels like a loophole and appeals to procrastinators: Do anything else.
Read moreFor the last six months, I've committed myself to a running practice. It's an evolution, as is any new practice, and I read today how new runners should start where they are instead of looking at the end goal — say, running a marathon. Creatives are so hard on and expect so much out of themselves, wanting to publish their first novel before they've written a word. What would it feel like if instead, you took only today, and focused on making time for writing instead of finding time?
Read moreDoes it feel uncomfortable to call yourself an artist? Writing is a form of art, of course, yet it can make a writer squirmy to think of his/her work as art.
I spoke with four fellow writers about how they cope with fear and confidence in their creativity. I hope, like they did me, their words help you feel less alone.
Read moreFor October, my favorite of months, I took a break from writing publicly. And I received this huge gift, which is that I learned how to be tender with myself and not criticize what I previously would have called mistakes. As Mary Oliver writes, I finally knew what I had to do, and began.
Read moreEverything that happens to us is public these days, and it has me wanting to know myself at the core, without filtering through how my life will be broadcast and who I am as a writer. Who's the self beneath there? I intend to find out.
Read moreSometimes, no matter what we try, we can't get to our desks to write. Or if we do get there, the writing doesn't come. I hope we can be in this thing together, helping ourselves back to a place where we can do and enjoy the work without fearing it or tempting it with bribes. I've stopped expecting writing to look a certain way because our writing lives change over time, and it's time to embrace that cycle.
Read moreWhile most of my clients are pinch-myself-fantastic, I've had my share of unpleasant collaborations. Rather than grumbling on sites where others share the dumb, rude, thoughtless sentences their know-nothing clients have uttered, I've tried to make it a learning opportunity to help attract well-meaning, knowledgeable clients moving forward.
That's why I reached out to five established writers and marketers to get their take on what makes for a positive client relationship.
Read more