I’ve placed nothing in magazines, but received the best rejections of my life. I’ve published next to nothing on my blog and Substack, but I have more followers on my TikTok account than I ever thought I would have. I’ve also logged the least amount of hours for writing this year than any other year … Continue reading 2023 Year in Review
2022 Year in Review
If you’re sick of yearly round ups from people who’ve written a million words, climbed Mt. Fuji using only their hands, and developed rippling abs, you’ve come to the right place. I set many resolutions last year and kept only one of them. But many wonderful things happened this year that I never expected. I wanted to share the numbers and explain how they don’t express the larger message: that I’m getting close to writing the kinds of stories I’ve always wanted to write, and the life to support my writing. This is the fifth data-backed story of my year.
Story Inspiration: The Heebie-Jeebie Beam
Like my previous inspiration posts for “Singot”, “The Hole in the System”, and Perceiver, I wanted to talk about why I wrote “The Heebie-Jeebie Beam”, what I learned about my writing process while writing it, revising it, and working with the editor of Metaphorosis to publish it.
TikTok Announcement
So I’m on TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@longhandhabits/video/7106693912466656554?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7105218216121599534 I post reviews of books about writing, craft, storytelling, and other related topics. Plus, I also post short videos on tips to help you write tighter, tell stories better, and how to improve. I don't claim to know everything--these videos aren't prescriptive--rather, they're meant for viewers to take what is … Continue reading TikTok Announcement
2021 Year in Review
What did I achieve? What did I miss? What went sideways, and what pleasantly surprised me? This is the data-backed story of 2021.
Writing Confidently When You’re Insecure
Here's the best advice I’ve received on Imposter Syndrome, concrete ways I revised my writing to sound more certain, and how I finally became confident of my work and acceptance chances.
YA Cleanliness Rating System Rated Shit: Thoughts on Ratings and Bans
It wasn’t immediately obvious why people raged about the cleanliness ratings until I began to think more about it. There’s a difference between what administrators of YA Book Ratings intended, what ratings actually do, and how this impacts children, teenagers, and adults. And how it ties to banned books.
Story Inspiration: The Hole in the System
“The Hole in the System” is based on three things. It’s about a plague of holes. It’s about systems. And it’s about the shopping cart theory, the viral theory that you can determine whether a person is a good or bad member of society depending on whether they return their shopping carts. A post about what inspired me to write it.
Story Inspiration: Perceiver
I cannot separate the creation of Perceiver from becoming a writer: of growing aware of my place in the world, discovering what I value and fear, and what I need to write.
2021 Mid-Year Review
Major book news, short story news, a review of how I spent my time the first six months this year, and thoughts and feelings about the future.