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5 Red Flags Every Writer Should Know When I first published this post several years ago, it originally helped dozens of writers steer clear of scammy agents. While the literary landscape keeps shifting, the core red flags haven’t changed. I’m bringing it back for 2025 — refreshed and polished — because too many hopeful authors…
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As a child, I’d hum along to familiar tunes, losing myself in the rhythms and beats. I let the music take me to places beyond reality, stimulating my already wild imagination. During these innocent times, I’d often mutter senseless, totally absurd rhymes in place of the regular lyrics. I’d create my own whimsical world of…
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As a word, ‘woke’ is a culture war casualty. It once meant ‘pay attention, your life might depend on it’ is now tossed around like a slur—or worse, a joke.’Woke’ was originally a word of deep awareness and resistance in African-American vernacular; to stay woke meant survival, vigilance, and solidarity. But in recent years, it…
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The deepest cuts of my writing often emerge in the latest hours of the night. When they do, the inspiration slowly fades as dawn approaches. If this phase of inspired prose is left to wane without expression, it’s lost forever. So, to force rest when there is none seemingly to be had is pointless, especially…
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Have you ever had a moment where you were sure the creative juices were about to start flowing, but then refused to gel into anything useful? Many of my scribblings over the years would start with a great idea, then suddenly stopped making sense. Sometimes, my train of thought will even stop mid-sentence. Sometimes, I’d…
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Looking back fondly at my early childhood, many of these memories become like framed pieces of artistic curiosity, rather than snapshots of events that occurred within the reach of my senses. Often when I take time to recollect the best times of my youth, the once-vibrant colors of those energetic days of wonder have faded…
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Grandiloquent is the adjective form of the noun grandiloquence, which means, “a lofty, extravagantly colorful, pompous, or bombastic style, manner, or quality—especially in language.” (Merriam-Webster) From that Merriam-Webster page, we learn that it’s one of many English words descended from the Latin verb loqui, meaning “to speak.” To be grandiloquent is, in short, to speak…
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I’ve come to many crossroads in my life, but none so daunting as the one I’m facing now: to sleep or not to sleep. Every time I lay my head to rest, I find myself in a state of panic, for my nights are now overloaded with bad dreams, many of which feel so real…
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Being so dedicated to the craft of writing, I’m faced with an important question: How do I deal with this perplexing system of value, which demands my participation, even as I strive to attain a utopian existence free from the tethers of capitalism? That then begs another question: How can I reconcile these conflicting ideals?…
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For many years, the darkness truly was my best friend. In the light, I was often judged unfairly. But, in the late hours obscured by darkness, I felt much freer. With many sleepless nights powered on little more than junk food, I made the most of my insomnia. I used this time to figure out…