Why are there 2 rules of writing? First of all, what are the two rules of writing? You must make mistakes. You must finish SOMETHING. Ok. So why are there only two? And why those two? It’s because those two rules are just enough to put the power in the hands of the writer. That’s…
Category: Writers on Writing
Language Pet-Peeves
This won’t be one of my more structured pieces. Let’s call it language pet peeves, but instead of my language pet-peeves, it’ll be YOUR pet-peeves that I, in turn, am peeved by. If you need a minute to reread that sentence, I’ll wait. Let’s dive into it, because there are some fun ones. Peeve the…
Celebrating Rejection
A Rejection Letter of My Very Own It seems there’s a theme going on right now at 2 Rules of Writing. Adam wrote about rejection letters last week. Erik Cheung also wrote about rejection letters last week. And now it’s my turn. Last week I got a rejection letter. I was expecting it, although strangely…
The Negativity of Reviewers Stops with Me
“Don’t let the words get to you”, I said to myself, reluctantly flipping open the reviewers’ comments one more time after letting them settle for months. It my first grant proposal as research staff at my university. What’s unpleasant always comes first, raising a big flag and waving it at you. You can feel the…
Rejection Letters
Part of the Process… is Rejection I want to share something about receiving rejection letters. I am coming to the conclusion of the revision process on a few stories I’ve been writing, thanks in part to the editorial eye of Lev Raphael. One of the things I’ve been doing lately is reviewing my Submittable profile…
Writer’s Notebook
Defeating Writer’s Block by Writing about it I’d been thinking a lot about what I wanted to write for today. I’d made a few attempts at things to write, but as I’ve faced many times in the last few months, and written about a few times, I’ve had trouble coming up with ideas. And trouble…
It’s Caturday and We Have Questions
There are a lot of reasons for us to think about our heros and those who inspire us right now. The felines have been lionizing Jorts lately, and want to remind all creatures to lend a hand and not be cat-butterers. Frob tells us that he admires Hobbes–his beautiful orange coat and his bravery make…
Exposition versus Emotion: A Writer Chooses
The other day I was talking to a friend about a piece she was writing. Ray tends to write in a personal style, but is starting to include more academic sources. Considering my own traumatic brush with academia, I’m ambivalent about this. One thing she said bothered me, because of what it represents. She said:…
It’s Caturday and We Have Questions
Hey, all! Big Cat and Little Cat are curious about mentorship today. They wanted to start by thanking the teachers who long ago taught them to sit on Erika’s keyboard…or face when she’s trying to write. It seems to come so naturally to them. Turns out there’s a technique to it. Who knew? Anyway, drop…
New Year’s Writing Resolutions: Avoiding Burnout
I managed to convince myself to take a week off from posting to the website, as a means of avoiding burnout. It wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. As much as I want to post every week, every day, even, to keep up consistent site traffic, I recognized that my energy is not unlimited. I…
Unlaced
i learned how to tie my shoes when i was five and i washuddled in my best friend’s bedroom, two houses down and across the street from my house,each of us knew how to do half the job.we didn’t plan it that way, it just happened when they were trying to teach us the whole…