Posts by Hillary
And for those of you who happen not to live in Cleveland :-) …
Don’t forget my upcoming online classes! ALL writers are invited to take the next two classes, including fiction, nonfiction, academic, nonprofit, business, and “other” writers. Online classes are cheap, convenient, fun, and there’s lots of free parking. 🙂 Plus, you’ll get loads of support and individual attention. – Hillary Online (Everyone welcome!), May 11 –…
Read MoreTalking TWICE in Cleveland Tomorrow! (Saturday, 4/25 – 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.)
Late notice, but I’ll be doing a double workshop on (1) how to do joyful vegan activism, and (2) writing productivity TOMORROW, Saturday, April 25, from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. Details here. You can come to one or both workshops – both will be lively and fun! You are also invited to come before the…
Read More“Wise and kind and supportive.”
Kari Sperring – I’ve just been reading Hillary Rettig on writing (recommended to me by Stephanie Burgess and I am very grateful to her for that, for it is excellent). One of the things she writes about is how invested writers become in our work and its reception. It can sometimes become all tangled up…
Read MoreWell Paid New York Times Writers Have Interesting Theoretical Discussion on Whether Poverty is Good for (Other) Writers
“Do Money Woes Spur Creativity or Stifle It?” This was the dingbat question editors of the New York Times Bookends column considered worth debating this week. I’ll share my full comment on the piece in a moment, but first: can you even imagine asking this about practitioners in any non-arts field? I can’t! Gives you…
Read MoreWhy a Course on Weight Loss for Writers?
I will soon be starting my next SavvyAuthors’ exclusive Weight Loss for Writers class. To my knowledge, you won’t find another class like it anywhere. But why a class on weight loss just for writers? Well, for one thing, writing is a sedentary occupation, so it’s easy for writers to gain weight. For another, overweight (yes,…
Read MoreSisyphus should not be your role model! (Or, what to do if you’re distracted by the Internet.)
Wasting too much time online? The solution is actually easy: disconnect. At various times, and in various situations, I’ve done all of the below—and sometimes two or more at a time: In households where others needed WiFi access, I’ve chosen not to give myself the WiFi password. That meant that while everyone else could access…
Read MoreYou Can Literally Do the World’s Toughest Rock Climb and People Will Still Find Something to Criticize
So after seven years of planning and preparation, and nearly three weeks of grueling effort and inspiring teamwork, two guys succeed at literally the toughest rock climb in history and some people can still find something to criticize. When I first spotted the critical comments alongside the New York Times articles on Kevin Jorgeson and…
Read MoreHow to Have a Beautiful Soul
Some books that profoundly influenced me in 2014, and that I urge you to check out, are: Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature. A massive but highly readable book whose encouraging thesis is that humans are getting less violent over time. Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals. About Lincoln and his cabinet. Spellbinding…
Read More7 Secrets of the Prolific Gets 150th 5-Star Amazon Review
Read it here – and thanks everyone! (If you haven’t yet reviewed it please do so–that’s the single best way to support my work.)
Read MoreHow to Deal With Your Family Over the Holidays
For many people, holidays are incredibly stressful. Even leaving aside issues related to family history and dynamics, when people who happen to be related but don’t have much in common get together there can be multiple points of contention, including food, politics, and religion. Here are some tips for coping. 1) Educate Yourself (or Refresh…
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