When it comes to creating online content, the word “rhythm” sometimes seems to connote consistency. “You should publish content regularly,” says the great and mighty they, “so that you’ll rank, readers will visit, et cetera, et cetera.” I don’t necessarily have a problem with the statement — publishing content on a consistent basis helps with SEO and creates audience expectations — but I think of “rhythm” in a different way.
Archives for October 2016
Write Right Grants Ye Xian’s Wish
Before Cinderella lost the glass shoe, Ye Xian lost a golden slipper. The Chinese fairytale is considered the precursor to the modern telling. It features a number of similar elements, including a horrible stepmother, an ugly stepsister, and a royal suitor.
Hey, Perfectionist, Remember You’re Human
I sometimes think I’ve kicked perfectionism to the curb. It proves me wrong time and time again. An assumption is made; a miscommunication occurs; a cataclysm ensues—at least, it seems that way.
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Make Good Tables
What the Church should be telling [the carpenter] is this: that the very first demand his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. — Dorothy Sayers, “Why Work”
How to Be a Better Writer: Give Yourself Rewards
If you want to be a better writer, i.e., a writer who writes for a lifetime and not merely a month, you should give yourself rewards. They don’t have to be big-ticket items. After all, you’re not likely to make much money as a writer unless you’re dead.
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Good Writing Takes Sweat
(and maybe some blood and tears)
It’s surprising how many parallels exist between high-grade athletics and top-level creative work. There are strategies that will help optimize, improve, cultivate…but the main ingredients are always the same.
The effort — focused positively and generously — is what matters. The time. The energy. The willingness to try — over and over again.
The readiness to exert, to sweat.
— Death to the Stock Photo, “Sweat”