As with recipes, I subscribe to the “try the advice and then change it as needed” approach. With books, I depart from Kondo’s philosophy on two main points.
Decluttering Books: How to Figure Out What “Sparks Joy”
Marie Kondo has been in writing-community newsfeeds recently because of her statement that most people she’s worked with tend to end up with 30 books or fewer. (Or, for writers and others who work with books, like 100 books.) Now, if you’re currently saying, “Yeah, there’s no way I would get rid of that many…
5 Ways to Gain the Confidence of a Professional Writer
One thing the online writing community has taught me is that a lot of writers suffer from self-doubt and don’t necessarily feel supported as writers. And while I relate to these feelings to some extent, I’m fortunate in that my formal writing education and my paid writing and editing positions have boosted my confidence. In…
Learning From How Dare the Sun Rise
How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child, by Sandra Uwiringiyimana and Abigail Pesta, is a memoir about Sandra Uwiringiyimana’s experience with war, genocide, refugees, immigration, discrimination, mental health issues, and healing, among other things. I won’t spoil the book for you (go read it!), but I do want to talk about how…
4 Writing Prompts That Help With Personal Branding
If you’re a writer, then you need a solid personal brand to help you market your work. And if you Google information about personal branding, you’ll find a lot of guidelines about finding your audience, clarifying your values, and highlighting your purpose. All those things are great and important, and we’ll come back to them…
4 Times You Shouldn’t Do Your Best
Sometimes sticking with something isn’t the most effective use of your energy. Here are four times when you don’t want to do your best.
The Quest of Eve: A Books-to-Life Essay
At the end of 2018, I sped-read through the Book of Mormon while paying attention only to the mentions of Jesus Christ. The following is a lyrical and spiritual essay I wrote at the beginning of this experience.
Nike, Gillette, and the Rise of Outrage Marketing
Gillette copied Nike by using a newer strategy: outrage marketing.
4 Signs of Writerly Mansplaining
A good general rule for men who don’t want to mansplain is to not explain unless a woman asks you for an explanation. But in truth, the issue is more nuanced than that.
McKenna Ainsley Johnson 