Where the Wild Things Create

And other inspirations for your February

Photo spread from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, adapted

For anyone else in the February slump of this shortest month amid seemingly endless winter—let’s forage for some creative kindling, shall we? Passing on a few notes from writers that spoke to me lately, and might just speak to you. 

First up: have you seen these images of Maurice Sendak’s studio? Come for the sneak peek, but stay for the full write-up of this legacied creator who was also a human with angst and complexities just like us. 

The inspiration I took from this is that we become pro by being ourselves. By getting in touch with your creative tastes and surrounding ourselves with what we love, no matter if they might seem a bit too wild for anyone else. Bring the whimsy! And don’t mind me if I go source a thrifted tomato red sweater immediately—maybe even a Wild Thing crown.

A Brilliant Way to Edit Your Own Writing 

I loved Kate McKean’s of

Agents and Books

simple, yet incisive editing practice here of the reverse outline. In my work with writers, the outline is always where we begin. The first task is to get the bones right. At the outset and then again through the editing process, we workshop three structural considerations: 

Is the book’s big idea expressed in the boldest, clearest statement it can make?

Does every chapter uniquely contribute to and advance the book’s big idea?

Does every story, case study, argument, and example support and uniquely advance that chapter’s primary theme?

These three questions can help distill your structure into a tight, powerful flow (and apply to short-form pieces just as much as full-length books). 

And Kate’s reverse outline practice can help fact check that you’ve followed through on the book’s primary promise—chapter by chapter, paragraph by paragraph. When you map it out at the beginning and then again at the end, the clutter of sidebar takes and rabbit trails shows itself, and can show itself out. Brilliant!

How to Pitch a Personal Essay or Op-Ed

For those more interested in short-form writing,

Anna Rollins

is running an incredible series right now on how she went from zero bylines to fifty in two years time.

In this practical-rich piece, she gets down to the brass tacks of her process of brainstorming topics and angles that belonged and made sense within her personal beats and interests range. She offers especially good advice for those seeking to write essays that stem organically from a published book.

I will add an additional tip as a former magazine editor who received 200-300 email pitches a day. It might seem like common sense, but use your subject line to lead with your hook. It would surprise you how many pitches I received titled “Article Pitch” that I simply did not have time to read. As always, tell it slant, and make that slant your subject line! 

A Blessing for Lent

For those who observe it, the liturgical calendar is now moving through Lent, a preparatory season leading up to Easter. This is a somber season of reckoning with death, and if you ask me, the joy of Easter’s resurrection and new life means not much at all if we don’t first contend with the hard realities of death. This is just as true in the creative life as the spiritual life, and if you as me, the two are ever intertwined.

This blessing is for you as the days lengthen toward the light of spring, as a reminder for us that spring is coming.

Until next time,

Take heart. Write on. You got this.

P.S. //

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