Posts by Hillary
Wanted: Reviewers for Japanese edition of 7 Secrets of the Prolific
We’re just about done with the Japanese translation of my new minibook Perfectionism: Defeating the Enemy Within, and are looking for manuscript readers/reviewers. The book is about 30K words long. We’re looking for diverse readers: students, businesspeople, educators, artists, activists, etc. If you’re interested, please email. No compensation, but you’ll get a free copy of…
Read MoreThe Eroticization of Equality and Social Justice
Note from Hillary: this is a reprint of an article I published elsewhere a few years back that I wanted to archive on this blog. The topic remains timely; thanks for reading! To begin with, check out the romantic presidential couple at the bottom of the right-hand group of pictures (near the date)…
Read MorePassive-Aggressive Poe
Apropos of nothing in particular…
Read MoreHow to Cope With Clueless Questions, Crass Comments, and Crazy Conjectures
Oh, the things people say to writers! “What do you do?” “What do you write?” “Is there any money in that?” “Where have you been published?” “How’s the book coming along?” (Alt: “When will you be done with that thing?”) “Why don’t you just sit down over a weekend and just finish it?” “You should…
Read MoreSummer 2013 Workshops: Hartford, Hyannis, Boston, and Online!
Check out the Events Page and register soon!
Read MoreAcademic Mug Shot
Many Authors Also Can’t Figure Out How They Wound Up With Weird Covers on Their Books
Michael Chabon on True Novelists versus “Rebel Angels”
From Wikipedia: In a 2012 interview with Guy Raz of Weekend All Things Considered Chabon said that he writes from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. each day, Sunday through Thursday. He tries to write 1,000 words a day. Commenting on the rigidity of his routine, Chabon said, “There have been plenty of self-destructive rebel-angel novelists over the years, but…
Read MoreThe Importance of Perception to Productivity Work
People carrying a backpack or other weight typically estimate hills to be much longer and steeper than they really are, to a greater degree than unencumbered people. It also turns out, however, that if someone puts a backpack on your avatar you will experience virtual “hills” as being longer and steeper than they really are.…
Read MoreFor Kids: Fern’s Writers Block (from Arthur)
Note Fern’s situational perfectionism, caused by: *being told her story will be the “main event” at the next day’s Fiction Forum *being told a famous author will be there *being labeled as “creative.” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck says that when you praise kids for attributes–by calling them, for instance, “smart” or “creative”–they freeze up, in…
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