Sharing new work is always agonizing. There's just no way around it. But here are some ideas so you survive the process:

 

1. Articulate your goal

Are you looking for deep revisions? Help with a particular issue? A pat on the back? Granular, sentence level work? Do you need someone gentle or can you handle someone who goes straight for the problem areas? It's important to articulate your goals clearly--your professional goals and your emotional needs

I am relatively new to this trench warfare called writing. I think I know what an inciting incident is, but unlike most seasoned authors I have been perplexed by passive voice. Reading about writing is essential for starting out (thanks, GrubStreet blog) but sometimes, I’ve discovered, the best way to learn a good lesson is to fail all on my own. This is how I discovered the importance of finding the right space to write in.

Jane Friedman is in so much trouble. In a recent post, she introduced me to Canva, a design tool. Thanks, Jane. There goes my productivity.

When it comes to work, I am single task and detail oriented to the extreme. When I worked for NPR way back when, I loved splicing actual tape together for broadcasts using an exacto knife

Actor, writer, performer, and very tall man John Cleese has a new book out So, Anyway..., which hit bookstores last week.

The memoir revisits Cleese’s childhood, school years, and early comic influences that led him down a fortuitous path to radio, TV, and movie success. His accomplishments include being co-founder of the genius comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus, co-star and co-writer of Fawlty Towers, and writer, co-star, and co-director of the cult film A Fish Called Wanda, among other feathers in his dead parrot, er, cap.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Cleese during one of …

Editor's Note: Put Gilsdorf's advice into practice in his upcoming class, "Writing Great Scenes for Your Personal Essays"!

 

Another entry in the 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.