The 7 Secrets of the Prolific
How to Cope With Clueless Questions, Crass Comments, and Crazy Conjectures
Note: I’m re-upping this one from 2013, as it seems a useful follow-up to the Robert Caro post. Also see this piece on Advice for Academic Couples (excerpted from my book The 7 Secrets of the Prolific.) – Best, Hillary Oh, the things people say to writers! “What do you do?” “What do you write?”…
Read MoreBiographer Robert Caro on How It’s All About Perspective
Most books (and many theses and other projects) take years to produce, and that’s a simple fact. And yet, the “When will you be done?” question can bedevil new writers in particular. (Even worse when it’s phrased disrespectfully, as in: “What? Are you still working on that thing?”) That’s why this anecdote from Caro’s autobiography…
Read MoreParenting Is Not a Zero Sum Game!
From Evelyn Tsitas, an exceptionally useful blog post about what it took for her to write her thesis: Admit it, if you are a mother, there is always that nagging voice somewhere – yours or some critic – that says ‘intense focus and study at the expense of much of everything else in your life…
Read MoreFall Coaching, Classes, and the State of the Books!
Hi Everyone, Please see last week’s newsletter in which I described my new newsletter approach. Thanks to the many good people who wrote in with comments and/or in support of my new plan. I always welcome, and thrive on, your input. Below are my coaching, teaching, and writing plans for the fall. Some good opportunities…
Read MoreFan Mail From Novosibirsk
I was thrilled to get some fan mail from Novosibirsk today: Hello, miss Rettig! My name is Alexander, I’m writer from Russia. Couple weeks ago I found your book – and it was like a revelation for me. I always want to be a writer. I was started to write seriously three or four times…
Read MoreProductivity Tips from Alex the Parrot
I just finished reading Irene Pepperberg’s wonderful book Alex & Me, about her work and relationship with Alex, the African Grey parrot who became internationally renowned for his cognitive and communications skills, including being able to hold simple conversations, spell simple words, and do simple math. Turns out he could procrastinate, too. One problem Pepperberg…
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 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 MoreMeet Compassionate Objectivity, The Antidote to Guilt
“I should succeed at this job despite the fact that we’re severely under-resourced and my boss is chronically disorganized. If I don’t, I’m a loser.” “If I don’t sacrifice everything to my kids, I’m a terrible parent.” “If I don’t get my hour of exercise in every single day, I’m just a lazy slob.” “If my book doesn’t…
Read MoreWhy Amazon is This Writer’s Best Friend
Right now, there’s a contract dispute going on between Amazon and the publisher Hachette Book Group, with the result that Amazon is delaying shipment of some Hachette books and removing “pre-order” buttons from listings of others. Read some news stories and you might think all authors are pro-Hachette and anti-Amazon. But that is not at…
Read More