“Just Do Your Own Work:” On the 10th Anniversary of Séamus Heaney’s Death

Photo credit: Sean O’ Connor, 2009

As a 17-year-old undergraduate student in Dublin, I was lucky enough to have Séamus Heaney as my professor and the chair of our college English Department.

It’s funny the things you remember about someone. In addition to his poetic talent and genuine kindness, Séamus Heaney was the first man I ever saw wearing western-styled cowboy boots. Also, he could tell a great, great story—mostly about rural life in Ireland.

One day, I remember him telling this long scéal about a farmer who dithered about whether he should or shouldn’t go across the fields to knock on a neighbor’s door to borrow a shovel.

As a rural kid, who felt outclassed and intimidated by that south Dublin campus, I hung on Heaney’s every word. By story’s end, I think I was the only student in that classroom laughing my head off and longing to hear more.

Now, almost 40 years later, here I sit here in America, where, on the 10th anniversary of Mr. Heaney’s death, I can still hear him reading Beowulf to us in that second-floor classroom. On that day, I was far too young and definitely too immature to appreciate my own privilege.

Writing Advice That Lives On

Long after I graduated, in two separate media interviews, Séamus Heaney gave some writer advice that resonated with me back then and, to this day, has become a kind of touchstone for my own work.

First, just before he was awarded the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature, I read an interview in some magazine in which he spoke about his then-dual life as a working professor and as one of the world's greatest modern poets.

Back then and now, as a writer with a day job, I loved the part of the interview where he stated that he had always considered it his first duty to earn a living and provide for his family.

Later, in a separate interview, Heaney told the reporter that, as a writer, we shouldn’t let ourselves get distracted by—or compete with—other writers. Instead, Heaney counseled, “just do your own work.”

Speaking of work, read Heaney’s poem, “Digging” at the website of The Poetry Foundation. Earlier this summer, when I was invited to recite or read a poem for our local “Favorite Poem” event, “Digging” was my automatic choice—though, of course, I could never read it like the master poet and reader himself.

Listen to the Nobel Laureate poet recite “Digging” here.

Rest in peace, Séamus Heaney, (1939- 2013).

Be Independent: Own and Drive Your Own Writing Career

I’m a bit of a Grinch when it comes to holidays, but this July 4, American Independence Day, it feels like we have some things to reflect on. Also, as we still grapple with the losses and unknowns of our COVID pandemic, there are many things to celebrate.

So in honor of July 4th, here are my top four tips for beginner writers and, yes, all of these relate to forging your own independent path as an author.

Be Independent: Own and Drive Your Own Writing Career

1.    Courage: It takes courage to go to that deepest part of you to put some words on a page. So as a writer, you better have some courage or go out and get some. Now, baby steps here. Push yourself to do one daring thing each week, to write beyond your comfort zone or your fears. Or submit your completed work to a new journal. Or dabble in a new genre.

2.   Commitment:  Writing has to take priority in your life. Or at least place it among the top three things that really matter to you. You will never advance your writing career if you keep letting other things or people eclipse it. 

3.  Write what you can:  If you can only manage 200 words before work or on your lunch hour, then that’s what you do.  Yes, the 12-hour writing marathon is great if you can manage it or tolerate it. But most of us cannot. So write what you can—and give yourself credit for doing that.

4.     Run away from your life.   I go on writer's retreat a few times per year, and it never fails to jumpstart my love affair with the written word. By immersing myself in the work, I also get a lot of writing done.

---

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy these two posts: Big American Anniversaries and “Writing and Courage.”

Fair Pay: 6 Tips for Writers (and writing teachers)

Last month, as I filled my dining room table with receipts and mileages and 2022 credit card bills—all to prepare and file my 2022 taxes—I noticed a pattern.

Some of my expressive and creative writing workshops earned my regular hourly fee. Others were for a reduced, agreed-upon cost. Still others were freebies. And one was supposed to be fee-based, but turned out to be a non-paying gig.

Now that you’ve filed your taxes or asked for an extension, here are some been-there tips for getting paid for your time and expertise as a writer:

1. Talk money early: I’m proud to report that this math phobe is getting way more comfortable at saying, “My hourly teaching fee (or presentation fee or freelance writing fee) is $xyz. Does that fit with the organizational budget?” Saying this line and asking this question avoids wasted conversations and becomes much easier with practice and time.

2. Faux literary friendships don’t mean money: As writers, we often love to connect about just-read books. Or we swap opportunities or share experiences. But friendships aside, your time and expertise are just as valuable as other folks’ time and expertise. For example, that plumber who came to my house last year was a lovely fellow and yes, we had a grand chat, but I still had to pay him his set hourly rate.

3. Read and re-read your contract: This one is related to Number 2. Just because you’ve been hitting it off or chatting over the phone or email or even helping out with the event planning, don’t trust or assume that the hiring contract will be written in your favor. Avoid making naïve and costly assumptions. Read every line of that contract. Then decide if this event is right for you (see above about the surprise non-paying gig).

4. The author contract is about more than payment: Look for other, non-monetary items on that presenter’s contract, including audio visual equipment and the presence (or not) of on-site IT support or a delegated Zoom moderator. When you arrive at the site or digitally connect with your audience, you don’t want to invest your valuable time trying to get everything to work. Trust me on this one.

5. Time is money: If it’s a two- or multi-part workshop, ask if you will be expected to respond to students’ between-session emails. It’s fine if you do, but you need to know what to expect. For day- or weekend-long events, are faculty meals included in your stipend? Will you get reimbursed for accommodation costs or mileage? Again, don’t assume. For a multi-week or semester-long program, estimate your real time allocations—including prep time, teaching time, Zoom meetings, student email responses and other duties. Based on these, project your hourly rate. Is this rate financially viable for your budget?

6. Work for free? Yes, but be selective: If you’re going—or can afford to—work for free, make sure that the hosting organization’s mission aligns with your own values or interests. Or ask if there’s a non-monetary payout. When someone asks for a freebie, I ask myself two questions: (1) Am I being asked to work for free because someone has spent down (on other writers) or mismanaged their operating budget? Or (2) Do they really value my expertise, and this will be a mutually rewarding event or project?

The bottom line: Like everything else in our lives, choosing to lead a writing workshop (or do some business or grant writing or give a presentation or mentor a group of young writers) is a choice—usually a happy one. But remember: This is also time taken away from your own creative or writing time. So before you say “yes” to that freelance or programming request, think about what you need, what you can afford, what you’re willing to sacrifice and why.

That “noblesse oblige” thing? For those of us who have bills to pay and taxes to self-prepare, it’s a luxury we don’t have and cannot afford.

---

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy:

“How Much Money do Writers Earn or Make?”

“What Questions Should You Ask Before You Lead a Writing Workshop or Retreat?”

“On Labor Day: What Your Day Job Brings to Your Writing (and vice versa)”

Sharing Your Writing Drafts? Here's My "No" List

When Should We Share Our Writing Drafts? And with Whom?

This morning, as I started yet another round of edits to my novel in progress, I thought, “Couldn’t I just hire someone to read and edit for me? Let them scribble all these notes and reminders in the margins.

By outsourcing, wouldn’t I fast-track the process from scribble-y draft to almost clean manuscript?

No. I’m not even close to the share-able state yet. Plus, I’m pretty reticent about sharing any of my works in progress (WIPs).

Finally, as a writer with a day job, I rarely or never have the time for weekly or monthly manuscript swaps or meetings with other writers.

Sharing Your Writing Drafts: Here’s My “No” List

1. The Unempathetic Person - Especially if you’re writing about something highly personal, painful or traumatic. In this case, be extra, extra, extra vigilant about who gets to see or preview that generative writing or those early drafts. For a start, let’s borrow from Brené Brown here and avoid anyone who may respond to your story with, “At least.” You know these folks. You reveal a personal story and they respond with sentences that begin with, “At least.” (At least you had a house to get foreclosed on/past-due food to give you food poisoning/a partner to fight with you.)

   It’s hard enough to write from a place of pain. Don’t add to this hardship and pain by giving your writing draft to … well … a self-centered pain.

2. The Family: Some family members can and will read your writing with an open mind. Others cannot or will not, and will (a) insert themselves into your story (“isn’t this character based on me?”) or (b) assert that their version or memory of this event is the only and better version or (c) be incapable of separating you, the kid, the sibling or the cousin, from the accomplished, grown-up writer that you are now.

   Two tips: (a) Don’t share generative or early-drafts of the work with a family member. Wait until you’re close to final draft (b) be clear with yourself and your family why you’re sharing and what exactly you want that family member to do in their post-reading response to you.

3. The Limited, Tone Deaf Person: Here, I’m talking about someone whose life experiences or reference points are so limited or privileged that they can’t even try to “get” your story or poem—let alone give those pages a fair reading. For example, a few years ago, after several back-and-forth emails, an acquisitions editor and I hit an impasse. They liked the writing. But they didn’t get what was story-worthy here. On a hunch, I turned to my old buddy Google. Ding! There it was: a set of this person’s own writings that were so social-class-bound and tone-deaf to contemporary headlines that, frankly, I should have known better than to submit here. The good news: As kids, most of us started reading because it opened the doors to a world that was foreign from ours. So most beta readers or potential editors can and will make the comprehension or cultural leap.

   But a few cannot. Or won’t.

As well as these three, let’s not forget Willie Nelson’s rules or personal “No” list.

As we decide how soon and with whom we choose to share our writing drafts, Willie’s list of outlawed behaviors is a good guideline for us.

In the above three-point list, have I missed anyone?

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy these related posts:

How Much Can We Write about Our Families?

How to Write Safe Truths in our Personal Essays or Memoirs

---

How Much Money Do Writers Earn or Make?

Before we get into money and numbers here, here’s one writer’s response to the earning-a-living-from-writing thing:

“A couple of years ago I went to a writer’s conference, and speaker after speaker basically said, ‘I always wanted to write, but I had to work, but then I married a rich guy and quit my job and now I can write.’

Several of us wondered how to sign up for the ‘find a rich guy’ break-out session.”

By the way, this writer wrote this after attending a session I had led at a conference in New York City. My topic: being a writer with a day job (based on my 2011 book).

How Much Can I Earn as a Writer?

Right.

Now, let’s get to the money.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for authors and writers is approximately $67,000 per year.

Now wait.

Before you wonder why your last memoir or poetry chapbook or novel didn’t yield even close to that much income, the U.S. Bureau conflates non-creative (copywriting, bloggers, journalists, marketers et al) with creative writers (fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, play and other writers).

More realistically, in 2018, The Authors Guild led a study or survey of 5,067 professional American writers. From their book sales alone—not counting speaking fees, teaching or other income—the study’s participating authors earned an average of $3,100 a year.

You don’t need anybody to tell you that that’s way, way below the national poverty rate, and that most of us work a second job or day job or a side hustle.

On Being a Writer with a Day Job: What Day Job Works Best?

To earn enough money to live and pay our bills (and taxes), should we writers use our editorial and interviewing skills to support our creative writing? Or should we go and find a non-writing job to save our creative juices for when we sit down to create?

This one is a tough call and, among all the writers I interviewed for my book, Writer With a Day Job (Random House, 2011), it was a mixed bag.

One interviewee worked as a ghost writer. One taught writing classes. One did PR writing for a financial company. Another worked as a hospital-based nurse. Another worked in a shoe store.

How Much Do Freelance Business Writers Make?

I’ve done my share of freelance business writing and editing—mainly (but not exclusively) for non-profit clients in healthcare. I like healthcare. I like science. I love interviewing patients and families and clinicians.

I’ve also had some wonderful clients, and this work has helped to pay my bills and given me exposure to many different areas of life, healthcare and writing styles.

But if you’re starting out, how much should you charge your business or non-profit clients?

This depends on a number of factors, including the following:

1. How experienced you are as a business writer

2. If you specialize in writing in one particular industry or field (finance, insurance, technology, healthcare, philanthropy, wellness, real estate or others)

3. The area of the country or the world in which you live

4. The complexity of the writing project you’ve been assigned

5. So … how much should you charge? Check out the Editorial Freelancer’s Association’s website, including their “Editorial Rates” page.

The New York Public Library lists 10 famous writers who all worked non-writing day jobs. Whether we work full or part time or freelance, we all find our own way to make the work-writing balance work for us. The important thing is to know your life priorities and to keep creating.

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy these blog posts:

What Your Day Job Brings to Your Writing (and vice versa)

Before You Sign Up to Teach That Writing Workshop

National Library Week and the Public Good (bonum publicum)

How public libraries might be our last true bastion of bonum publicum or public good

After I graduated from college in Dublin, I set up house in a studio flat at the top of a house in a tiny, one-street town in the Irish midlands. The town’s biggest claim to fame was that it hosted Ireland’s largest weekly cattle mart. In my memory now, it was a lonely, cow-shit-smelling place for a 20-year-old to start her working life as a teacher in a four-classroom parochial school.  

Back then, 1982, my apartment house had no residential telephone and, of course, this was way, way pre-cell phones or internet. 

However, the town's public library was open a few evenings per week, and the librarian and I had almost identical reading tastes. So when certain new books came in, she auto-reserved them for me on a hunch that I would like these titles.

Her hunches were never wrong. 

I never told my librarian friend this, but often, as I chatted across that circulation desk, the sound of my own voice startled me.  Except for those library visits and my stop at the town supermarket, I was completely alone--unless you count the seven and eight-year-olds in my rural classroom. 

Still, isolation had its perks. Without a TV or a record player, with little or no social life, there was much more time for reading. And the longer and denser the library book, the better I liked it.

What I Read Back When

Now I live three thousand miles away from that town where I tried and failed to launch my adult life.  Nowadays, as I balance work and home and writing and a trillion digital distractions, I marvel at what a 20-year-old kid like me managed to read each week.   

I devoured most of the works of Heinrich Böll, the German post-World War II novelist. I read fat biographies of Maud Gonne and Agatha Christie.   Short story collections. Novellas.  Novels galore. I  wept when I read "The Well of Loneliness," a heartbreaking and previously banned love story about an illicit and banned lesbian relationship—a topic and a lifestyle that were taboo and illegal in 1980s Ireland.  

I'm still an avid reader, but these days—at least from a financial point of view—I no longer need to borrow books that other people have read before me, where someone has left light pencil marks in the margins or cookie crumbs in the crevices. 

A Lifelong Library Patron

The Emma L. Andrews Library and Community Center — my local library where I volunteer and serve as commissioner.

Being a library patron is not about money.

It's about being part of a real, flesh-and-blood or virtual community of readers.

For me, it's about remembering the things and the people who were there for me during the lowest and loneliest times of your life.  Our public libraries might be one of our last bastions of genuine bonum publicum or public good.

So during this year's Library Week 2022, let's remember and celebrate our public libraries and how they save us.

In-Person or Online? Which Writing Workshop Is Best for You?

Leading a virtual writing workshop during the fall of 2020.

In late spring 2020, as we all adjusted to the COVID-19 lockdown, I moved most of my creative and wellness-writing workshops online.

Two months later, by mid summer, I had learned this: It’s not enough to be a talking head blathering away on that screen.

Instead, there are two must-haves and no, they won’t teach you this in Zoom 101:

(1) A commitment to student safety, inclusion and writer agency and

(2) Awareness that we all learn differently, so it’s important to have alternate or back-up ways in which to share curricula, writing prompts, sample readings, ways to engage and write.

Actually, now that I think about it, these also apply to in-person workshops, but in a “live” workshop, these needs are more inferred than deliberate.

So Which is Better? Virtual or In-Person Writing Workshops?

So much of it comes down to our comfort level with—or willingness to try— technology. Also, as I learned in my long-ago undergraduate teaching college in Dublin, all of us learn differently.

As I’ve written before, each workshop delivery mode has its advantages and drawbacks. Now, as we transition back toward—hopefully—a new, old normal, these might help you pick between virtual or in-person offerings.

Virtual Writing Workshops: 4 Advantages

Convenience: You don’t have to leave your own home. You can even take a workshop while visiting the in-laws (hey, maybe that’s the best time).

Geographic diversity and reach: In a personal essay workshop this winter, as well as learners from New England states, I had a student from Aruba and a student from outside Dublin, Ireland. Also, virtual workshops are almost weather proof, so less likely to be canceled.

Cost: Generally speaking, online workshops are more cost-effective. Some are free. You also save on overnight accommodations, public transportation, childcare, driving, parking, lunch and other costs.

Diversity of learning styles and inquiry modes: Many workshop leaders will provide access to the audio visuals or the slides for your own, off-camera viewing—plus handouts. Depending on your style, you can ask questions in a variety of ways. Here’s a tip: If you ask for the instructor’s post-event slides, ask nicely. Sharing after-class curricula is a kindness, not an expectation.

Virtual Writing Workshops: 4 Downsides

Zoom fatigue: From Stanford University to the Harvard Business Review, many researchers and experts agree: Online and on-camera interactions are tiring. According to Stanford, they’re more tiring for women than for men.

Reduced or distracted student-to-student engagement: In my experience, many students engage more online. A few get distracted by whatever is beeping on their other electronic devices or barking from their back rooms. As an instructor, it’s up to me to manage this so that all registrants have a good experience.

Student privacy: Particularly for memoir, creative nonfiction or expressive writing students, we never know where the writing will take us. That’s why, often, I do not allow the hosting organization to record. It’s about respect and safety. I also invite participants to take themselves off camera while they’re writing—depending on their comfort levels. And, of course, sharing writing is always optional.

Impatient students: As our pandemic wore on, there was reduced tolerance for small, fixable issues, such as a time lag while sharing a screen or video or audio clip. For a tiny few students, frustrations with personal technology setups become a reason to scapegoat someone—anyone—for a WiFi fail. Would we ever act like this in a face-to-face setting?

Staying Human in a Digital World

Even for the techno-shy, the need and motivation—or for some, the isolation— can outweigh the trepidation.

For example, this past January, for one of my free workshops, I had one participant who had never taken an online class, but she taught herself Zoom 101 so that she could connect and create with the rest of us. Her presence and writing were a beautiful gift.

Later, after a separate workshop for a different organization, a student sent me this note:

This ongoing COVID can make me feel like I’m in a cultural wasteland; your classes are a welcome, fully equipped lifeboat.”

Virtual or In-Person Writing Workshops: What Will be the 2022 Old-New Normal?

As we enter the COVID pandemic’s third year, as writing follows the rest of the world toward a model we might call “skittish hybrid,” will we find it tough to adjust to sitting in a room and chatting with other, flesh-and-blood writers?

I’m guessing it will be different for each of us and our personalities or learning styles.

I’m actually leading two, in-person workshops this summer. I’m also leading two virtual classes. So I’m not retiring the audio head set or the sweat pants or the fuzzy slippers. Not yet. Maybe never.

Which do you prefer? In person- or virtual writing workshops? Feel free to write your preferences and experiences in the comments below.

---

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy these articles:

Questions to ask before you agree to lead a workshop or retreat

OK, Zoomer: How to get the most out of a virtual writing workshop

How to Write Your Way Through a Blue Christmas or Winter Blues

Yesterday, on the winter Solstice, my essay, “Blue Christmas? You’re Not Alone” was published at “The Wisdom Daily.”

The piece is about how, for many of us, this time of year is more about loss than celebration.

Now, considering that this blog is intended to give writer tips and advice, I suppose you could say that it’s not really a fit here. The essay is not about the writing craft, and it doesn’t offer any advice on personal essay writing.

Yet, the piece is a lesson in how, sooner or later, we get to write what’s really important to us.

I’ve wanted to write this essay for years. And now, in just three rounds of writing and drafting and re-writing, I have.

And, if I’ve spent many pre-Christmas seasons feeling blue or sad, I’ve countered that feeling by writing in my journal.

In fact, for the past 10 or more years, I can’t remember a Christmas morning when I didn’t take my coffee upstairs (or one year, I even got to sit outside) to write.

It’s become my own personal holiday ritual. It’s brought me many small moments of joy. See the linked blogs below for tips on how to write during sad or stressful times.

Here’s an excerpt from the essay:

“‘Finally,” I remember thinking, as I snapped a photo of the (blue Christmas church service) date and time. “Someone is publicly acknowledging that, for some of us, the holidays are not all merry and bright. Instead, every day in December is a tidal pull downward and inward, toward some in-born sorrow.’”

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy

Writing, Wellness and Winter Blues

A Book for Christmas. A Gift for Life

6 Tips for Writing During Anxious Times

What are the Best Holiday Gifts for Writers?

Last year, the best gift under my tree was a packet of black, ball-point pens from one of those office supply mega stores. I mean “best,” as in, this was the gift that got me really excited, that I couldn’t wait to open up and use.

Gift Ideas for the writer in your life - most under $10

My ballpoint pens had that rubber padding or sleeve around them, so I knew they were going to be much easier on my middle-finger writer’s bump.

And yes, there is such as thing as a writer’s bump. Mine dates back to doing my leaving certificate exam at my convent school in County Mayo.

Among all the people on your gift list, writers are really easy to make or craft or buy for. Basically, we'll adore just about anything that will make our writing lives easier—particularly if, like most writers, we’re balancing writing with a day job and a gazillion other things.

Here are my 9 gift ideas for the writers on your list

1. Small, pocket-sized notebooks: We need them for those middle-of-the-night ideas.  You can find them almost anywhere—including at large, cheap retail stores.

2. A box of professional looking thank-you cards (or two): I love to send out hand-written thank-you notes to business associates, editors, friends, book-discussion group hosts, bookstore event people and others.

3. Pens: Many. Pens.  Did I mention pens? See my intro above.

4. Post-it notes and index cards: Many, many post-it (sticky) notes--preferably in different colors and sizes. Index cards are good, too.

5. Blank journals:  Journals are where we do our morning pages and rough sketches before the first actual draft of the essay or story or book. Plain, lined journals are best. Artist's sketch pads work nicely, too. 

6. Gift cards to coffee shops, book shops and cafes: These days, in the era of COVID, it’s hard or unsafe to write in a coffee shop. But the sun will shine in 2022, and we’ll be able to write at those outdoor patio tables again. Coffee- or tea-shop gift cards are a winner. So are cards for bookshops.

7. Packs of ear plugs: These work well when we're writing in a cafe or restaurant or on the train commute.

8. Gift card to a guest house, writers retreat or writing workshop: So far, my gift ideas have been modestly priced, but if you really want to indulge and delight the writer in your life, buy them a gift card to a comfy hotel or a writers retreat or a virtual writing workshop. Make sure that the use-by dates are open so your writer can book a weekend or week that works for them.

9. A day pass or a membership at a co-working space: This doesn’t have to be any place too fancy, and there are plenty of choices out there. Or, if you live in or near central Massachusetts, check out this shared space, The Mill River Writers Nook, which is designed by a writer for writers. It offers single passes and memberships.

Enjoyed this article? You may also enjoy these blog posts:

How to Write in a Café or Coffee Shop

What’s the Best Kind of Writers Retreat for Me?

On Halloween: How To Face Down Your Writing Fears

Vampires?  Witches?  Ghouls? Politicians? Yes, they're Halloween scary (maybe), but they've got nothing on our spookiest writer moments.  Right?  

What scares you most as a writer? How to fix the scary scaries of the writer’s life

Here are the three aspects of the writing life that can send us screeching and cowering under our bed covers.  I'm also including some suggested fixes. 

1.  How to Overcome Writers Block (Eeek! The Blank Screen!)

You wake up with this idea that's so clever that you skip breakfast and grab a quick coffee on your way to your writing desk. Then you type furiously while visions of that Pulitzer dance in your head. You stop. You re-read.  You want to puke.  You delete it all and now you're plain stumped for what--if anything--to write. 

Or you’re under a big, hairy deadline, but then, 12 hours before submission time,  your brain circuits all fizzle and blow. Now you can't speak, let alone write. Oh. Hell.

How to fix writers block:  Get outside and take a walk or a run. Don't worry. The writer's pity party will still be in full swing when you return.  When you get back, pick up your hand-writing journal to tease out what’s stalling you in this project. Or, if you’re not under deadline, take a break from this freakish project to work on a different one—preferably in a different genre.   

 2.       What to Do With That Rejection Letter

 You drafted, re-drafted, edited, polished (and polished). Then, you submitted that short story or essay to that well researched and apparently perfect market.  You followed their submission guidelines. Your piece is within the required word count.    And now, here in your email in-box is one of those, “This-didn’t-work-for-us” notes.

How to recover from writers rejection: First, exorcise (as in, “cast out thy demons”) all self-blame or -flagellation. If you truly worked hard on your submitted piece, then remember that all writing and reading is subjective. I mean, how many New York Times bestsellers have you read that you honestly, truly loved (in my case, not many)?  Also: This rejection may have little or nothing to do with the quality of this piece. It’s certainly not an indictment of you as a writer. Or as a person. If the editor was kind enough to offer suggestions, use them to create a better draft.

The best cure for writer’s rejection? Review your piece, fix any boo-boos and, within 24 hours, submit it to a new and more selective market.  

3.  When Are You Too Old to Write That Book or Essay or Memoir?   

Never.

Next scary question, please?

No, seriously.  Today’s workplaces demand more and more of us, and our 24/7, hyper-connected lifestyle doesn't help. In or beyond the workplace, it seems like there’s always someone who needs you. You’re facing down a milestone birthday and here's that inner voice telling you that  life has whizzed by, and so has your dream of being a writer. 

How to combat your own writer’s ageism: First, you deserve to write. And taking time out to write does not mean that you are reneging on your work or family responsibilities or caregiving. Instead, writing means taking care of your own wellness to make you a better employee, a better parent, a better caregiver. Look at your entire week. Find some spots in there for quick, incidental writing opportunities.  Insert those days and times into your appointment calendar. Early mornings?  Lunch hours? Café on the way home from work?  Turn off the T.V. at night. If it really matters to you, make a plan and start tomorrow.   

Enjoyed this post? You may also enjoy:

Why You Deserve to Write

What You Need to Get Started as a Writer

How to Write During Anxious Times

What Questions Should You Ask Before You Lead a Writing Workshop or Retreat?

I’m passionate (some would say ‘cranky’) about our right to tell our own story, to document our lived experiences as they have happened to us and have been processed through our individual consciousness.

As a writing workshop facilitator, it’s an honor and privilege to create the space in which new or seasoned writers can do this.

So when someone calls or emails with a potential writing workshop request, it’s really flattering. And, once that organizational host asks, it’s often tempting to immediately say, "Yes."

However …

Before signing that writing workshop contract, here are four questions to ask.

1. What is Your Budget for this Writing Workshop?

   Go on, ask it: "What is your allocated budget for this workshop or event?" This up-front question saves potentially wasted conversations and time.

   Let me tell you why.

   Free classes are under-appreciated. No, they don't "offer great exposure," or "look good on your CV or resume." Instead, no-cost often means no-show or partially engaged learners. Or it's an invitation to your hosting organization to take you and your expertise less than seriously. So name your fee. Then, document that fee and your invoicing terms and payment due date(s) in your formal contract.

   Should you ever offer a pro-bono workshop? Yes. Definitely. Or offer one income-based scholarship for one spot. But except for your own chosen non-profit causes, never agree to teach or facilitate a creative group for free--even if you can financially afford it.

2. Ask to Narrow or Focus the Workshop Topic

   Sometimes, a host or events person contacts you with a general idea: "We want to offer a writing class." or, "We saw your book and would love to do something on writing."

   Nudge them to narrow the focus. A well-defined topic will be much easier for the host organization to market and will make it simpler for potential students to grasp, conceptualize and prepare. So as the potential presenter, ask about the target audience, its demographics, and known or potential needs. Then, armed with this information, begin to frame and name your workshop.

3. Ask About the Writing Workshop Venue and Setup

   Here are three been-there scenarios: (1) I once landed in a new city to teach a day-long writing workshop in a building that was (surprise!) under heavy reconstruction. Think hard hats and jack hammers here.

   Half-way through the morning, I discovered that (surprise again!) there was no functioning toilet. (2) Years later, for a weekend-long intensive (different organization), our group was assigned a windowless room in a hotel basement. (3) Later still, in New York City, I had a plush hotel room and a mandatory, pre-workshop meeting with the hotel audio visual person to do a test run.

   Now (cue the quiz show jingle here), guess which workshop got me five-star instructor ratings? Nope, it wasn’t the noisy, no-toilet building.

   Nothing stymies learner engagement more than presentation rooms that are cold, musty, overcrowded or windowless. If possible, ask to visit or video-visit the venue to check it out beforehand. Also, if you’re in a school or library, ask what other programs are being offered simultaneously. Finally, document your specific audio visual needs right in your workshop contract.

   4. Who’s Boss Here? Establish Who will Really Lead this Workshop

   Once, I got hired to facilitate a three-day summer writing retreat in a gorgeous mountain setting in New England. Fantastic, right?

   Um ... Many host interruptions and content contradictions later, the students grew confused and distracted. They reminded me of children who wanted to listen to one parent while persistently glancing over their shoulders for the other parent’s consent or approval. This did not make for a good writing workshop experience. In fact, I wondered why I was hired or there.

   Writing workshops are dynamic and participatory, but someone needs to be the designated and consistent leader. Or leaders.

   So in that pre-workshop call, ask if your potential host will be there for the entire program. If so, ask what their on-the-ground role will actually be. Once you ask, listen to the answer. Then decide if this opportunity is right for you.

Writing workshops are magical. They’re fun and energizing. But before you agree to lead a workshop, prepare your questions and ask what you need to know before you say, "yes." On the workshop day, your host organization and your students will thank you for your pre-event care and preparation.

---

Enjoyed this post?

You may also enjoy: OK, Zoomer: How to Get the Most out of a Virtual Writing Workshop

OR 5 Tips for Doing A Great Author Reading or Event or Presentation.

Interested in setting up a wellness or creative writing workshop for your organization?

How to Write in a Café or Coffee Shop

You know that old saying, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone?”

This is my local coffee shop, Chococoa Baking Company. It’s locally owned, and I love sitting on their patio—yes, even in winter.

During our 2020 COVID pandemic lockdown, this bore true for me, and the thing I missed most from my “normal” life was … no, not dining in restaurants, not outdoor barbecues, not shopping centers (yuck), not bars and certainly not gyms (yuck again).

In those late-spring 2020 days, before our state government or our New England weather permitted outdoor dining, the thing I missed most was sitting in a coffee shop or café. I know. In light of all our other deaths and losses, this was a very small complaint, right?

Still, early in our COVID days, I knitted myself a pair of fingerless gloves and I stitched up a double-layered mask—both specifically intended for cold-weather patio visits.

Now, post lockdown, I only go about once or twice per week—just enough to look around and see that, just like me, other folks are at their tables, working on their creative projects.

However, for writers, not all cafés are created equal.

New in town? New at writing? Or you just want a place to go, a place to put some psychic distance between your day job and home?

5 Tips for Writing in a Café or a Coffee Shop

• Music and masks: Unless you write well amid noise, if the music is too loud or piped right onto the outdoor patio, it will drive you to distraction, not creativity. Here’s a tip: Never, ever leave home without a set of noise-blocking ear plugs. I keep mine in my wallet. Or headphones. If you need music or white noise while you write, it should be your chosen genre and volume. Oh, and as for those protective face masks? I won’t write on that here, except to suggest that you read the trending health-news on our latest COVID risks.

• Layout and Tables: At my local coffee haunt, they have two large tables named “The Coffice (get it?).” They also have excellent COVID infection-control protocols in place. At one of those ‘coffice’ tables, there’s enough room to spread out your journal, drafts, pens and laptop. I love it there. Also, check if your potential café tables are crushed too closely together (for infection control and writing reasons). Finally, choose a table situated as far away from the counter queue as possible.

• Good WiFi Connection: This will depend on your current writing project. If you’re drafting or editing, you may want to be cut off from all digital distractions, including the internet. But sometimes, even when you’re in the writing ‘flow,’ you may need to quickly check some fact or a random detail. Bottom line: It’s better to have WiFi than to wish you had.

• General Café Ambiance and ‘Fit:’ One writer’s haven is another writer’s hell. It could be as literary or mythical as Simone de Beauvoir’s famous Café de Flore. Or, I once had a writing student who exclusively wrote in her neighborhood fast-food chain restaurant (hint: this chain has yellow arches). So if you’re starting out, prepare to do a little Goldilocks-styled café hopping until you find one that feels just right for you and your writing.

• Find Ways to Save Money: As we work other day jobs or side hustles, we need to justify all out-of-home expenditures and, when it comes to cafes, that means balancing ambiance with value. Look for a coffee shop that offers frequent-buyer or loyalty discounts or freebies. Plus, before your birthday comes around, drop some heavy hints about a gift card. More than a hot beverage, what that gift-card giver is really granting you is the ultimate gift—a place and a space for your writing.

---

How Do I Do A Great Author Reading or Event? 5 Tips for Doing Great Author Events, Readings and Presentations

How do I do a great author reading or book launch?

1. Begin with ‘thank you.’ Event managers have invested time and resources to host you, the author. Equally, the audience members have taken the time to attend. So ‘thank you’ is a really good place to start. And finish.

2. Tell a good story. Issue an audience question or poll. Recently, when I presented on my latest book at our local literary festival, I asked the audience to raise their hands by group: those whose parents/grandparents/children/great grandparents had been born in another country/and/or those who were native American. This assured the listeners that our afternoon event would be about our shared immigrant (or native) history — not just about me and my book.

3. Look up! In my teacher education college in 1980s Ireland, one professor drilled and then tested us on how well we scanned our classrooms, while also writing on the blackboard behind us. Yes, we no longer use blackboards, but always look up from your notes or index cards to engage your room. Look left, right and make eye contact with the folks in the last row. Repeat. 

4. Manage the Q & A. Sans a designated panel moderator, it’s your job to ensure that each audience member gets his or her turn, and a free-for-all question and answer (Q & A) session can end badly. Some folks are more long-winded than others. Some folks pose those non-questions that are really a personal anecdote or self-promotion. If room acoustics are a problem, repeat the question from the podium for those audience members who cannot hear.

5. Avoid big controversy: Trust me on this one. For those complex or extra provocative issues or responses, table the answer until you are one-on-one with that person. Yes, writers are political beings. But a general-audience bookstore or church basement are not the place to get into heated arguments.

Book events and literary discussion panels are just one aspect of your book promotion plan. But in addition to (or more) than your clever words on a page, your reading audience will remember you, the person. More, a la Maya Angelou, they will remember how you made them feel.

Enjoyed these tips? You may also enjoy: How to Prepare for an Author Reading or Book Launch

See my upcoming book events, including my keynote speech at the International Women’s Writing Guild at the News page.

How Much Can We Write About Our Families (as non-fiction writers)?

Should we tell all truths in personal essays or creative nonfiction?

As a creative writing teacher, students sometimes ask about how to write a personal essay without bashing or trashing the real-life characters (family, friends, employers, ex partners) therein.

I never have an easy answer to this to tell-or-not-to-tell dilemma.

However, I draw upon my experiences in healthcare communications to urge students to ask themselves some hard questions.

These are the same questions that I used to ask patients at the healthcare organizations where I was privileged to interview patients or their families

I used to work with particularly vulnerable and disenfranchised patients, so there was a clear and fragile power deferential between me and my healthcare system and those who were willing to tell their story.

Equally, a similar power imbalance may exist between you, the clever-clogs writer, and the family or friend or neighbor you want to write about.

Here’s what I used to ask healthcare patients:

“Five or 10 years from now, will you be proud of this story being out in the world? Being visible to employers? Your children’s teachers?”

When they ask, here’s what I ask nonfiction writing students:

(a) In the deepest part of your soul, how much does it matter to you to tell your own story and its temporal and emotional truths?

(b) Why are you really telling this story? Like, really?

(c) Are you willing to risk and accept the potential fallout—all the way up to family estrangement—if or when your piece or book gets published?

Of course, there’s also the issue of libel which, by the way, can also apply to fiction writing.

As a Writer, Here’s How I Handle the Nonfiction Truth Issue

In his creative nonfiction “police” essay, Lee Gutkind, the founder of Creative Nonfiction, posits that truth in nonfiction writing is “a question of doing the right thing, being fair, following the golden rule.”

So in deciding between what to tell and what to withhold, Gutkind’s “golden rule” guideline is the best I know. In some ways, it’s the writer’s counterpart of the do-no-harm Hippocratic Oath taken by medical providers.

In my own non-fiction work, I try very hard to do one of these:

(a) Distinguish between the issue of incorrect or misremembered facts (No, Daddy had a blue car in 1987) and the possibility that the uninvited family fact-checker has their own story or agenda.

(b) Only tell or voice what I’m qualified or morally sanctioned to tell or voice. In other words, I can tell you how my father looked when driving that blue car in 1987, but unless he told me, I cannot say whether he felt proud or ashamed of said blue car. I cannot co-opt his story or experience—either as a father or as a car owner.

As writers, we want to engage our readers—both those who agree and who disagree with our point of view. Most of the time, so long as they’re coming from qualified readers, writers welcome suggestions on how the narrative can be clearer and better.

But before we write that first-person narrative story or personal essay, we need to ask ourselves: “Is this my heartfelt truth, as I remember it? And: Can I tell this truth without damaging someone else?”

Interested in this writing topic? You may also enjoy: Writing Truth in Personal Essays, Creative Nonfiction and Memoirs

AND How Soon (and with whom) Should You Share Your Writing Drafts?

Why I Read Other Immigrant Writers

6 Favorite Books by Immigrant Writers

Isn’t it strange how you can spend an afternoon writing something and then, years or months later, completely forget that you wrote it?

This is certainly true of this 2011 post, “Immigrant Lives and Stories: The Ever-Present Past,” from Books in the City.

Although it’s over a decade old, the content rings as true to me now as it did back then.

Here’s an excerpt from this post about immigrant literature and writing:

“For immigrants, I believe that this is how it is. From New York to Hong Kong to London, we live our lives within the shadow of the life left behind. As we walk down a city street, that shadow jimmies and bounces and dances alongside us.

This is why I read immigrant writers.

Not exclusively. But when I read that first scene, there is an automatic reader-writer connection. The words mirror my own dual-realities, my own splintered existence. Quite simply, the literature of displacement makes me feel less displaced.”

My Top Six Immigrant Books and Novels (not in any particular order)

“The Middleman and Other Stories” (Bharati Mukherjee)

“Patsy” (Nicole Dennis-Benn)

“A Distant Shore” (Caryl Phillips)

“The Namesake” (Jhumpa Lahiri)

“The Road Home” (Rose Tremain)

“Walking into the Night” (Olaf Olafsson)

Since I penned this 2011 guest post, I’ve published a collection of personal essays, Green Card and Other Essays which is, of course, all about the splintered existence of living in an adopted country.

Interested in this topic? Read my other blog post, “Writing and Speaking on Immigration.”

How to Write Safe Truths in Our Personal Essays and Memoirs

Writing truth in personal essays and memoirs

In the bestselling memoir, “ The Glass Castle,” Jeannette Walls writes about how her mother urges her author daughter to “just tell the truth.”

However, in many families and for many of us nonfiction authors, it’s rarely that simple. Recently, I remembered Ms. Walls’ advice when I read a “New York Times” Modern Love essay, “ Please go Shelter in Another Place.”

The NYT essay is written by a woman whose husband decided to spend part of the pandemic lockdown apart from his wife. After 25 years of marriage, he moved out of the family home and into a nearby AirBnB.

No spoilers here, but this COVID-season marital story ended happily — with some human relations lessons learned along the way.

As I read this NYT Modern Love essay, I was gob smacked by the set of reader comments-most via social media-which ranged from admiring to smug (“we’re married longer than 25 years, and the pandemic has brought us closer”) to the obnoxiously pedantic (“that’s not how marriage works!”).

As a writer and a wife, many of these struck me as Exhibit A in how we love to co-opt or re-write the truth of another person’s story. Or, worse, some of us will deny that writer’s lived experience or emotional truth to replace it with our own.

This amounts to a kind of narrative piracy.

I’ve encountered my share of narrative pirates-and no, I’m not talking about those thoughtful editors and readers who have pointed out where and how the narrative should be stronger or clearer. Hurrah for those editors and readers!

Instead, I’m talking about the folks who want to deny or shellac my lived experience for a version that better fits their own belief system. Or experiences. Or worse, their own un-admitted biases.

It’s an odd human trait, this story-piracy, and one that I’m not qualified to diagnose or decipher. I do know this, though: When someone else tries to tell or un-tell or one-up our truths, it feels like human erasure.

The Nonfiction Writers’ Truth Dilemma

As essayists and memoirists and storytellers, we’ve all encountered that reader-often a family member-who remembers the details of the story or the scene differently.

“Oh, no,” a sibling might say. “It was Aunt Julia who came for Christmas that year.”

Fair enough.

In his essay, “The Creative Nonfiction Police?” Lee Gutkind, founder and editor of the journal Creative Nonfiction, urges nonfiction writers to “strive for the truth.”

So before you write about that fabled, 1978 Christmas with the aunties, go take a rummage through the family albums to fact-check your details.

Or, sans the box of family Polaroids, we essayists can cop to our own flawed memories-right there on the published page.

“Memory,” we write, “is a slippery thing, so that year, I couldn’t tell you if it was Aunt Julia or Auntie Maggie who drank all the Christmas cognac.”

By the way, if you want a standout example of how one writer blends both fact-checked corroboration and her own, out-loud attempt to patch together a semi-forgotten past, read Natasha Trethewey’s memoir, “Memorial Drive.”

By contrast, the negative comments on the NYT Modern Love essay are not an attempt to fact-check the details of this husband-and-wife story.

How could they be?

Yet, these commenting strangers—presumably emboldened by social media--appointed themselves as arbiters of this essayist’s truths and, in some cases, the bylaws for marriage.

Off the page, at work or at social gatherings, I’ve been told, “You shouldn’t let that bother you.” “That’s not what you should take from that.”

You shouldn’t. You should.

(Hmm … really? Sweetheart, talk to the heart.)

On the page, I’ve had my own share of reader comments that are not about the nonfiction piece or the issue it raises, but, instead, offers a “you should” diatribe on what my lived truth should be or how it should be presented on the page.

Interested in this writing topic? You may also enjoy this post, As Creative Nonfiction Writers or Personal Essayists, Should We Bash or Trash Other People?

How to Get the Most Out of Your Next Virtual Writing Workshop

Should I take a virtual writing workshop? How to get the most out of Zoom or other virtual writing courses.

Last year, 2020, our COVID year, many of our group celebrations and classes got canceled or moved online—including creative writers workshops and author events.

Those canceled writers events? Now, let’s put them in context. As families are COVID bereaved, as our healthcare and other frontline workers deal with unimaginable stresses and trauma, the privilege of attending a virtual creative workshop or author reading is just that—a privilege.

Still, as we all struggle with the pandemic’s ravages and anxieties, we also struggled to hang on to a few normal pleasures, including getting to generate new writing and connecting with other writers.

Doing what I love: Leading and teaching creative writing workshops

For well over 20 years, I’ve been designing and leading creative and wellness writing workshops. No, scratch that. I’ve been honored, thrilled, tickled pink, jazzed up, snazzed up, revved up and rearing to go when it’s time to lead a workshop.

I don’t know what it is. I just know that a really happy version of myself happens in that (in-person) writing classroom.

Hello, Is that Zoom calling?

Earlier this year, I was scheduled to conduct a hospital-based expressive or wellness writing workshop for a local cancer recovery group. Then, here came our COVID lockdown, and the workshop had to be moved to Zoom.

Confession: This phone-averse kid was petrified. I mean, digital logistics aside, where would that workshop energy go? How well (or not) would the human interactions transmit across an internet connection? What about those unplanned and rich conversations that happen between sessions or during the break?

Oh, and speaking of “the break,” what about the free tea and snacks?

That first Zoom workshop went well—in large part because I had an excellent and gracious host. This summer, two other Zoom workshops followed. Each session was warm and fun and, I hope, instructional.

Still, I knew I had a lot to learn.

Those who teach, learn

So I decided to play student, not teacher. I joined two wonderful Friday Freewrite sessions at the International Women’s Writers Guild. I took a week-long poetry-writing class on Commune. I gleefully joined a second poetry class with The Poet’s House in New York City. With the Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop, where I serve on the faculty, I joined a teach-the-teacher session on how to lead Zoom-based writing workshops. I also took a seminar class with Creative Nonfiction.

Not bad, eh? In retrospect, being a virtual writing student taught me as much (or more) about teaching online workshops than any instructor’s manual.

How to get the most out of an online writing workshop: 5 tips

1. Prepare for your class: Luckily, all online conference platforms have excellent tutorials on how to use their product, which I recommend taking before you take your workshop. I recommend logging in at least 15 minutes (or more) before the posted class time. This gives you time to check your video quality, clean up your space, check your sound and your headphones. Also, keep your notebook, your pens, your head phones and your water glass ready and within reach. Being prepared makes for a much better class for you and the other participants.

2. Interact and engage: In smaller workshop groups, simply raise your hand and ask a question or contribute to the on-screen discussion. Or your leader may create small-group break-out “rooms.” Or you can participate in the comments — either one-on-one or with the whole group. Here’s a tip: Be careful not to inadvertently send a one-to-one or private message to the entire group.

3. Dedicate this learning time: Amid all our pandemic-era worries about next life steps and COVID safety, I needed some dedicated and scheduled creative time. So if you register for a virtual writers workshop, treasure this writing time just for you. Let your roommates or family know that you are not to be disturbed. Silence your other electronic devices and try not to multi-task or catch up on the day job while also learning to write.

4. Be patient with those techno glitches: Like so many other aspects of our lives, it’s easy to let one faux pas eclipse the larger experience. You may have trouble signing in or getting connected with your class. Or your audio won’t work the first time. Or your workshop leader has a little delay in getting a movie to show or an audio clip to work or a screen to share. In the scheme of things, these are very, very small problems. Be kind. Be generous. Be patient. Once you get going, put these behind you to fully engage with your instructor and peers.

5. It’s the Internet. So guard your privacy: On Zoom (or another online learning platforms), some of the traditional paradigms change. Plus, if there are in-class writing sessions, you may not be comfortable sharing those with non-registered folks. Is the host recording the session? What steps will your workshop leader take to moderate for respectful and equitable discussions? Before you register or pay for an online writing class, ask about these issues—particularly that recording question. Then, make your final registration decision based on the answer(s).

For some writers and learners, virtual learning and author events are a dream come true. For others, they are, at best, a prosthetic version of the real thing. As a student and a workshop leader, I’ve learned that in-person and virtual learning models each have their benefits and their challenges. So until we can gather together for those break-time treats and tea, let’s work with what we have now and enjoy. Oh, and be kind.

---

See my online calendar for upcoming virtual writing seminars. Or contact me to inquire about a virtual writing class for your group.

Yes, You Deserve to Write

Nine years ago, after the release of my how-to writing book, “Writer with a Day Job” (Harper Collins/Writers Digest Books, 2011), I got a note from a woman who said that her personal takeaway from the book was that we deserve to write.

Like many of us, this woman was balancing a job, family life and some elder care responsibilities.

Here’s an excerpt from her very kind email:  

“Sometimes it's hard to justify writing even an hour a day when my job demands so much of me, and when the people I love need me so much.

Your approach has helped me make an important shift: recognizing that it's writing that makes me a better person; that this feeds everything else.”

I must admit: For years and years (too many years), this “deserving” issue was the biggest block to my own writing.

I believed that a girl like me—a new immigrant in America, a working wife, the child of working class parents—was an imposter. 

I believed that creative writing was for the believers. The rich. The leisured. The erudite.  Or often, as I sat in a strip mall bagel shop scribbling in my journal, I envisioned a grand American literate—an exclusive club of scribes to which I would never really belong.

Why? Because there were too many other things seeking or needing my attention and who was I to deflect from those things in order to write?

Put simply, I believed that writing was for those who didn’t lie awake at night worrying about the mortgage or the credit cards.

Later, after I published some short stories and creative nonfiction essays and my first books, I still wrote with a certain timidity. 

I regret this now.

Now I know that writing is as much about believing as it is about doing.  Above all, it’s about believing that writing is something that you deserve to do. Like my reader pointed out, writing feeds us and makes us feel better and, in so doing, it allows us to bring our best selves to all the non-writing commitments in our lives.

How Writing Helps Us Through Hard Times and Life Changes?

I love to dabble in new writing genres. So, two weeks ago, I took an online poetry-writing class. During one session, our on-screen instructor posed two related and six-million dollar questions:

Can writing help us through tough times? Or to cope with life changes, like a new job or college?

1. “Why do you write?

2. In writing, what is your greater purpose?”

A greater purpose? … Hmmm … I must admit that, most weeks, I’m so mired in deadlines and plans and word counts and, well, coping with daily life during our COVID pandemic, that I had never really, really asked myself about my “greater purpose” in writing.

So I took out my journal to write about why, since I was a 14-year-old convent school girl in Ireland, I have been writing.

Some days I write more than others. Some days I write my morning pages as a way to check in with myself and to start or get through the day. Other days, I’m trying to reach my self-set word count on a novel in progress, or I’m under deadline for the final edits on a personal essay. Or, before I got laid off from my day job, I sometimes let my creative mind wander toward that project list sitting on my office desk.

But back to our poetry instructor’s question. I must say, what I wrote (about why I write) in my journal surprised me. Also, since I soul searched and documented my own motivations for writing, I find myself approaching my work—and my own investment in it—in a slightly different way. In other words, it was really useful to stop and ask, “Why?” Or, “Why bother?”

Spoiler alert: Like most of us, I don’t write for the fame or the money or the glitzy, money-in-the-bank lifestyle (hah!).

I crafted my answers into an article, “I’ve Kept an Expressive Writing Journal for 4 Decades. Here’s Why.

I’ve since had the article reviewed and published at “World of Psychology,” the blog at PsychCentral.

Why Do You Write?

This is really worth thinking and writing about. It’s also interesting to consider how our meaning and motivations have changed over time and with life changes or challenges. Feel free to comment below.

---

Check out my seminar, “Writing for Stress Relief and Wellness.” The in-person or virtual seminar is available to nonprofit organizations, clinical support groups, caregivers and remote-working employee groups.

Contact me to learn more about this and my other narrative medicine or writing in healthcare programs.