Writing in the Water
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
2w ago
By Samantha Ladwig A blank page never scared me until I bought a bookstore months before the pandemic—an endeavor that pushed me into retail hell, the stress of which sucked all the air out of my creativity. I didn’t want to admit my reality because I didn’t know who I would be without writing and that scared me. But after a year of trying to force ideas out onto paper, I put the pen down; my job needed me to be all in, and I had a responsibility to show up. Those in between, writing-less years were difficult. Even though I committed myself to the bookstore, I couldn’t stop worrying about my ..read more
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Wait—Did That Really Happen?
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
1M ago
By Amy Roost “Nothing has really happened until it has been described.” ~Virginia Woolf Surely everyone knows the feeling of having experienced something so disconcerting or shocking they ask themselves, Did that really happen? But that’s not what Woolf was referring to. She was emphasizing the describing not the happening. She was referring to trauma, her own. Specifically, the sexual assault she endured. I too suffered sexual abuse by my older brother, and for decades I’d described it to no one. The events, isolated in my memory for so long, faded like the dates on a tombstone. I began to ..read more
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How’s This Hollywood Writers and Actors Strike Going for You?
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
7M ago
By Karen Rizzo I saw an acquaintance at a coffee shop the other day—a funny screenwriter I worked with briefly—and his partner, also a writer. Of course, I wondered how he was doing during this Hollywood writers/actors strike. After all, we were kind of in the same boat. My husband, James, who usually makes his living as an actor, was working only the picket lines. As a freelance writer, I was in In-Between Gigs Purgatory. As I approached my acquaintance’s table we made eye contact and I put my hand up to wave. He frowned and seemed to swallow hard. Huh, I thought, maybe a piece of his croiss ..read more
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Can Book Critics and Writers Be Friends?
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
10M ago
By Jenn McKee Early this year, when my family agreed on a new-to-us spring break destination, my first thought was, “Oh! I know a local writer who’s super-familiar with that part of the world. I’ll ask for recs.” I’d gotten to know this author in recent years, having interviewed her a handful of times about the women’s novels she published each year. I’d pitched (and landed) a newspaper feature when a celebrated movie star optioned one of her books for film; and I’d written additional book previews and author profiles focused on her. So when I found that my only remaining Facebook link to her ..read more
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What to Expect When People Learn You Write Humor…
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
10M ago
By Shannon Reed They will expect that you will be funny. As in, they expect you to be funny, to them, right now. Context will not matter, by the way. You are supposed to be hilarious, even if you are, say, about to be sedated for a colonoscopy. To be fair, that is a pretty funny situation. But maybe not to you. Still, you should have a joke ready. People will be disappointed if you don’t. “Make sure I’m still hooked up to the heart monitor when you give me the bill” is a decent – not great, but okay – joke here. Okay is good enough, though. Context is important. Let’s be honest, you don’t wa ..read more
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The Perils of Publishing: A Hidden Gift
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
1y ago
Rejections and Setbacks Hurt, But Given Time, They Make Great Stories By Pamela Jane Before I began writing full-time, I pictured the glamorous life of a published children’s author waiting for me just around the corner. My author fantasy seemed to be set in the 1940s: I work quietly at home, I don’t have to market or promote my books, and I’ve had the same editor for twenty years.  She publishes everything I write, and my books stay in print forever.  If I need a little extra money, I simply pick up the telephone and call her. She drops everything and rushes over to my office where ..read more
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Don’t Make Me Read Anything Longer Than 280 Characters
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
1y ago
By Erin Hill An open “Grades” tab on the computer balanced precariously on my lap. An open student reflection one tab over. Word Feud game with a friend on the iPad to my left. Indiana basketball on the TV in my sightline. Group chat on the phone to my right about our team’s poor shooting and lack of effort on defense. And I wonder what my problem is. I blame my atrophied focus and my mental fatigue on lots of reasonable things—my relentless schedule, my students’ needs, perimenopause, pizza for the third meal in a row. But a gnawing knowing: I’m contributing to the problem. My five-tasks-at ..read more
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AWP: All Writers Pining (to be there)
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Allison K Williams
1y ago
Another year, another AWP By Allison K Williams Another AWP, another year of watching AWP happen on social media. Writer friends and writer acquaintances are coordinating meet-ups and announcing their readings. Editors I admire are posting about their panels, and how their panels went. Everything is liminal. Or intersectional. Or intersectionally liminal. In a few days, countless editors, writers and journal staffers will depart the giant conference in Seattle, heading back to their home institutions with swag bags, connections and newly autographed books. But even if we’re not meandering the ..read more
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Why Write When There are Thousands of People Out There Not Reading Your Work?
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
1y ago
By Ben Berman We were at the home of some friends when I found myself in a conversation with their six-year-old son. My dad told me that you’re a writer, he said. I am, I said. Then let me ask you something, he said. How come I’ve never read anything you wrote? That’s a good question, I said. Think about it, he said. Right now there are thousands of people out there who aren’t reading any of your books. He shook his head and walked away, leaving me all alone in the kitchen. I grabbed a slice of lukewarm pizza and started laughing to myself. I’d recently published a small book of short prose a ..read more
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How to Stop Feeling Anxious When Telling a Deeply Personal Story: You Can’t
Brevity Blog » Humor
by Guest Blogger
1y ago
By Andrea Askowitz The morning of a teaching gig at the University of Pennsylvania, my alma mater, I woke up panicked, so I went for a run. The day was brisk, the way this Miami girl remembered the Philadelphia fall weather more than 30 years ago. The Trustees Council of Penn Women invited me to teach storytelling at their annual conference alongside Meredith Stiehm, my college best friend and tennis partner. Meredith created the TV show Cold Case and wrote for ER and Homeland. The other presenters: one of the developers of the COVID-19 vaccine, a candidate for mayor of Philadelphia, and a fo ..read more
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