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“Il faut cultiver notre jardin,” —Voltaire
For those of us who don’t do fancy French, this means:
“We must cultivate our garden,” says Pangloss at the end of Voltaire’s Candide.
No sentiment could be truer for women who write. Stop focusing on the whole wide world. Instead, maintain a space that is your own and encourages the fruits of your labors to blossom.
But the process of growing our garden requires the right tools. Reading this blog and learning how to revise your own stories could help you cultivate your garden, obtain peace of mind, and establish your writing legacy. Happy reading and writing!
Looking for a specific writing topic? Search the entire blog below.
Editorials: Writing for Change
When I think of editorials, I mostly think of my grandfather sitting at the kitchen table writing one because something upset him. But every citizen has the opportunity to help sway public opinion. Are you nervous about having your words heard? Think about the bigger need in speaking out for others.
The #1 Scariest Writing Myth
I participated in the November National Novel Writing Month waaaaaaay back in 2005. It’s still going strong. I got a certificate that stated I completed my “novel”—a 50,000 word document that didn’t need any structure. In fact, my last few lines went something like this: “go, go, go, keep writing, keep going, finish the word count.” That manuscript landed in a desk drawer and never saw the light of day again.
Do You Need an Editor?
Figuring out the editing process leaves most of us writers scratching our heads. But you need to understand it before you work with an editor. In high school, we were taught to write dry research papers. College writing programs get super philosophical about literature and tell you to read, read, read. But there’s not a roadmap for revising your creative writing… until now.
Grammar Police, You’re Under Arrest!
It drives me bonkers to see grumbly grammarians nitpicking everyone’s typos and simple mistakes. Absolutely, there are agreed upon rules for the written word. These rules can help us better read what a writer is trying to communicate. But that’s just it. Writing is a form of communication. Not a place to bully writers.