Turnkey Phrases
I’m on a never-ending quest for turnkey phrases—magical combinations of words that drive themselves relentlessly towards unique expressions of ideas and memories. Once assembled, they’ll propel themselves forward like an unstoppable freight train, hellbent on smashing writer’s block, becoming my guiding light into the elusive territory of original expression. Every time I think I’ve found […]
The Art of Never Finishing
As I sit here this morning, I’m still churning through yet another batch of “back burner” essay projects. I can’t help but marvel at how, after all these years of getting my writing organized, I still have over 400 essays that feel completely unworthy of publishing. It’s not even that I’m overly picky with what […]
Why We Should Think Beyond Skyscraper Content
Back in the 2010’s, I thought I had cracked the code of content creation. I was on the verge of discovering a magical formula that could make every digital platform I managed hum like a well-tuned engine and purr out endless streams of growth. It’s kind of like those overly optimistic baseball fans – including […]
Writing is a Real Job and an Occupation—Here’s Why
The Age-Old Debate of Writing as a “Real Job” Even now in 2024, I feel like so many folks still see writing as a lovely little hobby where you scribble down your thoughts, sip tea, and wait for inspiration to strike. Meanwhile “real adults” do real jobs like constructing skyscrapers or assembling Chinese-produced IKEA furniture. […]
In Defense of Chronic Idea Hoarding
It might surprise you to learn that I’ve abandoned my writer’s notebooks. You know, those sacred, spiral-bound graveyards of half-baked epiphanies and plot twists that seemed genius at 3 AM but regrettably pedestrian in daylight. Not so long ago, I once clung to those pages like they were a lifeline. For me, they served as […]
Learning the Delicate Balance of Challenging the Reader
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career as a writer—aside from the grim reality that nobody really cares about how clever you think you are—it’s that there’s an art to making people feel just smart enough to keep reading. It’s a very delicate balance, though. As the wordsmith, I must double as a […]
Confessions of a Content Creation Connoisseur
Why do I subject myself to this madness of content creation? It’s simple, really. I’ve been in the trenches of creativity long enough to have accumulated a decent stockpile of experience, insight, and a few war stories to boot. But I don’t think of myself as a ‘guru’ or ‘influencer.’ Perhaps I’m more like the […]
If You Blog, Will They Still Show Up?
I grew up in the golden age of blogging, that glorious time when you could scribble a few thoughts on the internet, hit ‘publish,’ and suddenly find yourself the authority on just about anything you please. Yeah, I remember those days fondly. Back then, the most intense competition was between you and that one overly […]
What It Takes to Be an Essayist, According to E.B. White
Writing is a shape-shifting beast. You can be “good” at it in a dozen different forms and still feel like you’re chasing your own tail. For years, I fancied myself the next great novelist — imagining a future where my name graced the bestsellers list, sandwiched between the latest dystopian romance and whatever Stephen King […]