TakingDictation

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3 Practical Ways to Cope With Rejection as a Writer

Locked inside my head are multiple famous stories of writers who got rejected, only to become famous and make it big: J.K. Rowling, Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Jack Canfield, John Grisham, and Stephen King...
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Adult Books Should Have Pictures, Too. Here’s Why

The progression is a familiar one: As you move up in years, the number of pictures in your books goes down. Right?! This is the way it is, but maybe it shouldn't be. Reading as...

How Sunk Cost Keeps You Reading (and Writing) Bad Books

It often doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to stop a job or task once you start. You can't recover what you've invested, so you feel obligated to keep going to avoid taking a...

Why I Hated ‘Bridgerton’ on Netflix

Image via Canva During the pandemic, like so many others who are trying to navigate life with lockdown restrictions, I turned to Netflix. And because I have an affinity for period books and films (minus...
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Pantsing or Outlining: Which Is Better?

Pop quiz: Is pantsing or outlining better when writing? Pantsing is great because... Initially, I fell into the winging-it or pantsing camp. That approach allowed me to write freely with very little constraint whenever I...

Where New Writers Should Write for Free

Writers long have operated under the belief that they might need to write for free for a while to establish some credibility and earn bylines. But is this still the case? Should you, in fact,...
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Why Classifying Books By Genre Needs to Die

If you go to agent or publisher websites, a common call is for writers to create something entirely fresh, something that doesn’t fit the usual molds. But even with those statements, I’m not at all...

5 Tips for Creating a Killer First Draft

Image created by Wanda Thibodeaux via Canva Writing is a process, meaning that it’s not a great idea to expect to crank out a perfect first draft. But I’m a sucker for efficiency and quality,...

Your Unfinished Writing: Please Don’t Trash It

When I was back in college, I worked at the writing center for the university. Some nights, it would be ungodly slow, and there would be long lulls between helping students with their work. On...

Why Standup Comedians Are the Best Writing Teachers Ever

Image via Canva For a while now, I’ve been indulging in watching standup comedians online during my teeny bits of free time. (Netflix specials are fun, as are the late-night shows.) If you’re a writer...