ARCHIVE FOR Inspiration

Last week a 9^th grader climbed up on the elevated stage at my daughter’s school to sing an Adele song in front of hundreds of fellow students.  His shoulders and hands trembled with nerves. As he began to sing, his voice cracked. Kids in the audience felt his anxiety and cast glances at each other.

by Ethan Gilsdorf

[Another entry in the new monthly column, The Freelance Life, by Ethan Gilsdorf, about the trials, tribulations, triumphs --- and tips to share --- along the path to becoming a freelance writer.]

I am, at my core, an introvert. Socializing is not in my DNA. I never been particularly good at talking to strangers. This whole cocktail party persona is something I've had to work on.

By Amy Yelin

Ten years ago, I entered the Lesley MFA program as a 34-year-old, newly married communications professional. During that first residency, I wrote, “My soul is doing cartwheels!” in my journal, opposite a page on which I was exploring my ticking biological clock and whether or not I wanted kids.

I asked one of my writing mentors, a married but childless woman, for her advice on the topic. She answered me in the same confident tone with which she always critiqued my manuscripts, instructing me to: “Only have one.” Case closed.

[Another entry in the new monthly column, The Freelance Life, by Ethan Gilsdorf, about the trials, tribulations, triumphs --- and tips to share --- along the path to becoming a freelance writer.]

by Ethan Gilsdorf

I had a plumb assignment lined up. An editor at a pretty sweet publication liked my idea for a story. The editor assigned it