A freelance life, a life in the arts, is sometimes like putting messages in bottles, on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find one of your bottles and open it and read it, and put something in a bottle that will wash its way back to you: appreciation, or a commission, or money, or love. And you have to accept that you may put out a hundred things for every bottle that winds up coming back.
— Neil Gaiman, Keynote Address 2012 (The University of the Arts)
Tag - writing
A specially-curated edition with writing-related links.
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- 10 Writing Prompts For Future Essays | Thought Catalog
“1. Unfortunately, we sometimes lose the things we love the most. Describe your daily Facebook routine”. - Max Sebald’s Writing Tips | Richard Skinner
- “Write about obscure things but don’t write obscurely.
- There is a certain merit in leaving some parts of your writing obscure”.
CAVEAT: Every writer and every instructor/teacher has her or his own methodology to writing, so don’t believe everything you read. Pick the tips that suit you best (but refrain from cherry-picking).
- Writing with DASH | American Management Association
Good for the writer who has a preference for explicit structure and routine (because everyone has a structure and routine in what they do, though some people choose to deny it).
- Noted | The Chronicle of Higher Education
An exposition on note-taking. - The Nature of Ambition | Incidental Comics
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My column in this month’s issue of Her World is out!
Ladies, Do the Cheque Dance!
Should men pay on the first date? Should women offer to pay their share? LAREMY LEE offers a suggestion to this age-old conundrum.
I started dating again after ending a long-term relationship last year. After five months out of the game, I quickly found I had to relearn many of its rules. The first – who pays on the first date?
On hindsight, I should’ve asked around first. Unfortunately, I’m prone to adopting a ‘just do, don’t think so much’ mentality, which often leaves me in situations where I have to learn from experience.
First Date #01: Dinner with M.
The conversation flowed smoothly; M and I had quite a bit in common in terms of career decisions and personal interests.
Going well, I thought. Definitely want to see her again.
When the bill arrived, I was all set to pay. But M threw a spanner in the works, saying, “Hey, I don’t have cash – let me pay by card.”
Before my brain could process what was happening, my mouth blurted out, “Er, OK?” M gave me a squinty, sideways glance and primly placed her piece of plastic in the bill folder.
Five seconds later, it hit me like a Ferrari running a red light at Rochor Road: Oh my gosh! I wasn’t supposed to let her pay!
To read the rest of the article, get a copy of the May 2013 issue of Her World from newsstands today!