Am I being cheap to resent paying $3 to submit to a market that only accepts 1% of the submissions received? What do you think of markets that charge to submit? This question was recently posted in a Facebook group for fiction writers and editors. The responses were both swift and…
The Hidden Price of Amateur Editing
“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, wait until you hire an amateur.” Most of us have heard this saying before, but until we experience it for ourselves, we don’t truly understand what it means. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had my own experiences with giving in to the…
A Plot Is Not Enough
I’m re-reading Vivian Gornick’s The Situation and the Story for my writing group. I’ve only made it to page 26 so far, but already I’m reminded of why this book is so highly regarded in creative nonfiction circles. It’s because Gornick is able to explain what essayists do in a way that…