Know what I need to do? Apparently, everything. Every time I open up 750words.com, which I use as my journal, I see that I accidentally skipped a few days. I broke my streak. And I invariably start with, “I need to write more.” And then, as I continue typing, the “I need to”s multiply like Gremlins when they get […]
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I Can Do Happy.
Yesterday’s blog post sucked. I knew it while I was writing it. I’d had nothing to write, a state which I’ve promised won’t stop me from writing. “No time to write today” is legit; “Nothing to write today” is not. Why? Because sometimes when I’m thinking, I’ve used up all the thoughts and ideas I’ll ever have, […]
KEEP READINGI deserve to be lazy. But so what.
I’ve been very deserve-y since I got back from Europe. (Sorry for that sentence. “Since I got back from Europe” is a heinous thing to say. Makes me think of my first day at my private all-girls school in 9th grade. During lunch, one of the fanciest girls in the class — her last name was one […]
KEEP READINGThe best Power Pose for work.
You’ve heard about power posing, right? Using your body language to generate confidence, calm, or sharpness in your brain? The Wonder Woman pose is the one you hear about most.⠀I’m sure it’s great before speaking on stage. Or walking into a negotiation. (Because a quivering lip does not back up “It’s my way or the […]
KEEP READINGHow to be concise in your writing. (Because “Sorry for rambling” is BS.)
“How can I be more concise in my writing?” Everyone asks that. Usually, the first key to being more concise is…making an effort to be concise. Most people don’t try. They just decide, “I’m not a concise person.” That’s like deciding you’re a late person. Decide not to be. Look — ???? ???? ☢️ When someone […]
KEEP READINGHow to type new copy into any website (and freak out your friends)
Ever wish you could: Edit the existing copy on your website…without messing up the existing copy on your website? Change the tagline on one of the Internet’s most visited websites? Just for kicks? Get a more constructive, healthy hobby? Kidding. If you’re writing web or sales copy – your own or anyone else’s – nothing could be smarter […]
KEEP READINGHow to be disgustingly productive
A productivity workshop seemed like a silly idea for me. No, not because I’m so productive. I could win shiny gold medals for wasting time, if there were official world records. But there aren’t, because it’s a hard thing to measure: Is staring at Facebook for hours waiting for another like to show up wasting time? Is […]
KEEP READINGHow to be famous
Last year, I attended a fantastic event in Florida called Heroic Public Speaking Live. Or, as I now call it, “HPS Live.” That’s insider lingo. At 8:25am on the first day, I met a woman named Brenda Barbosa. She’d lined up right behind me to register, in the “last names A-D” line. Brenda knew that […]
KEEP READINGWayback Wednesday: I Worked In A Fecal Punk Rock Bar (Or, How To Avoid Having A Business That’s Not Your Scene)
25 years ago, a fucking quarter century, I was working in a bar downtown. East Village. I didn’t even know where I was, except how to get there from the subway. On my way, I walked past the Palladium and a bunch of junkies. It was winter, so I wore my black wool coat there. […]
KEEP READINGWriting resolutions I want to start right now
Writing resolutions I want to start right now: Write every day. Write shorter copy. Write shorter sentences. Trim the fat, even if I’m in love with the fat. I meant that figuratively, but I do love fat. I’ve fork-stabbed my own husband over a piece of chicken skin. Stop using so many parentheses (though I might […]
KEEP READINGBe for the weirdos – and other lessons from a day with Seth Godin
I was so mad that Friday. At 6:40, I was hustling off to my 7pm House dance class, wearing my dowdy, full-length black down coat and all kinds of other thermal layers. I’d walked a block thinking, “Only for Cebo’s class do I go out in this cold.” Cebo is my teacher’s “dance name.” (All the […]
KEEP READING“Um, yes?” is the new “Go for it,” my father will not be stopped, and other lessons from a writing workshop in Italy
Oh hi. I’m a shitty example. Last month I was in Italy, teaching 30 people that there’s always something to write about. I even passed around a printed guide I wrote called The Art Of The Start (How To Start Writing Anything). I got everyone writing. I came back all jazzed to write about it. But I return from […]
KEEP READINGHow To Write With Detail (AKA “Mental Finger Food.”)
In 9th Grade, I handed in my Pride and Prejudice paper with broccoli stuck to it. As if this made it better, I circled the green smear with ballpoint pen and scribbled, “Mrs. Carpenter — sorry about the broccoli.” When I make presentation slides for a speech, I type plain text rather than find a nice graphic template. Instead […]
KEEP READINGIt’s tragic that we don’t all write every day.
Inside our living room credenza, I have a clear plastic tub stuffed with old sh*t. Every few months, I take it out and go through a weekend-long ritual. I shuffle through photographs from the 90s, laugh at the pencil-thin eyebrows, and scan some choice shots of me and my friends from when we still had baby fat on […]
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