First of all I have nothing against the F word. Used properly (so to speak) it can lend a certain energy to what you’re writing, whether fiction or non-fiction. But the other day I was checking an edited essay of mine that’s going to appear in an anthology coming out in a few months and…
Personal Essays
Getting Started, Personal Essays
How To Write An Essay
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 0 Comments
Personal Essays
Personal Essays
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 0 Comments
On Thursday I start teaching the personal essay course at UCLA Extension's annual Writers Studio. Boot camp for essayists, 10:00 am to 6:00 everyday for four days. I'm excited about the subject, the students who are coming, and the take-no-prisoners attitude of the whole Studio experience. Here's the thing about writing personal essays: they never…
Personal Essays
Writing the Personal Essay
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 1 Comment
Writing the personal essay is my favorite genre of creative writing. At this moment I've got a children's picture book idea I'm struggling with; many drafts of it written but I can't find the key to make it into a compelling story (this can go on for years as it did once with another picture…
Personal Essays, Terrific Books, The Writing Life, Writing a Blog
Author Central: The Return of You-Know-Who
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 7 Comments
Amazon has this cool new thing for published writers called Author Central where you can click on Book Scan Highlights and discover not only how many copies of your books sold through Amazon the previous week but where they sold. (A shout out to you Salt Lake City for buying all those copies of CHERISHED over…
Personal Essays
A Reason to Write Personal Essays.
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 13 Comments
One thing about writing a personal essay is that you don't have to devote your life to it. Right now I'm writing a book with a September 1st deadline and quite frankly this is the focus of my existance. Writing a book, especially when you have a deadline, is relentless. It's like a difficult marriage…
Personal Essays
Write an Essay: This I Believe
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 10 Comments
I copied this off the This I Believe newsletter (link is below.) Except for the word length, their guidelines could apply to most all essays. This I Believe Essay-Writing Guidelines We invite you to contribute to this project by writing and submitting your own statement of personal belief. We understand how challenging this is—it…
Personal Essays
Link to Marketing Essays
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 1 Comment
Thanks to those of you who let me know the link from the previous post wasn't working. And special thanks to Mac guru Rob Daly who figured it out and sent me the right one. http://practicing-writing.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-find-free-guides-to-paying.html
Personal Essays
Free Marketing List for Essay Writers
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 5 Comments
This email from Jenny Rough today. Check it out. Lots of good places to send your personal essays. "This writer is offering free access to her e-books (personal essay market guide and book review market guide) until Aug. 1 ".: http://practicing-writing.blogspot.com/2010/06/friday-find-free-guides-to-paying.html This is Mama Cat who follows me down Burma Road every morning. She thinks…
Personal Essays
CHERISHED
by Barbara Abercrombie • • 9 Comments
Last summer I wrote a post on this blog about the death of my horse (it’s under The Writing Life:”My Horse, Robin”) and many of you responded with comments that really helped me. Including one from Bob Goldman DMV who said my post should be in an anthology of pieces about loving and losing…