🚨 Applications for our first Community Cohort are flying in! The deadline to apply is April 15. For more information, check out the announcement post. 🚨

Can you remember the first video game you played?

I remember playing Duck Hunt with my cousin on Christmas morning years ago. The flash of the screen, the crack of the speakers, that dog laughing at me — it was a memorable experience.

Since then, video games have evolved into a massive enterprise. Like every other business, the game industry requires writers to develop and tell increasingly complex stories. …

Today is National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day. Did you know that was a thing that existed? Neither did I. Yet, here we are!

According to National Today, the peanut butter and jelly sandwich was created by Julia Davis Chandler in 1901. Her recipe was printed just 18 years after peanut butter was unveiled to the world at the 1883 Chicago World’s Fair. In other words, it only took 18 years to realize these two condiments were made for each other.

The movie Grease ends with the song “We Go Together.” Sure, the song wasn’t talking about peanut butter and…

Last month, I asked “How can we help?”

So many of you responded! Over and over I read and responded to emails requesting accountability, encouragement, and a team of supporters.

Jessica and I were already in the process of the next major chapter of The Writing Cooperative and your emails affirmed we were on the correct path. Today, I am thrilled to share with you the first of many big announcements over the next few months:

The Writing Cooperative Community Cohort

Are you craving accountability and feedback on your work?

Do you want to write but don’t know where to start?

Do you want a…

Today marks the end of Q1, my first quarter as a full-time freelance writer. Throughout the last three months, I’ve learned and grown a lot.

There is neverending advice to follow in Zuckerberg’s (or Musk’s or Jobs’ or insert_any_successfull_creator_here’s) footsteps. However, I’ve discovered that no person is successful solely due to their own ideas and work ethic. Every successful person is a mixture of their own background, environment, community, support structure, capital, and decisions.

With so many variables involved, it’s impossible to expect the same results as anyone else. We all move at our own pace and take on our…

I was looking at content writing jobs on LinkedIn the other day. One offered $15 for a 400-word article. They justified this by stating it should only take 15-minutes to write 100 words. In other words, they were offering $15 for what they assumed should take an hour of work.

That same day I was writing a 400-word article for a client’s newsletter. So I timed myself. While the article’s actual writing took roughly two hours, there was another hour or so of research for statistics and an interview with the client for quotes.

In total, that 400-word newsletter article…

My pandemic pastime is rewatching entire franchises of content. In 2020, my wife and I rewatched the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe from start to finish. 2021 is devoted to the entire Star Wars empire — not just the films, but all the canonized tv shows as well.

So far, we’ve watched the three prequels (meh), the amazing Clone Wars show, the even more amazing Rebels show Solo, and Rogue One. Next up is the original trilogy. I also snuck in a complete playing of the Star Wars: Fallen Order video game that takes place around the same time as Rebels…

Pew Research reports two-thirds of American’s think social media harms the country. There are many similar studies, all pointing to social media destroying our lives.

Social media is not inherently good or bad; it’s a tool. Like a simple hammer, Twitter or Instagram bend to the will of the user. Sure, the networks are filled with fake users and bots. But, like every tool, we have the power to wield social media based on our desires.

Here are three easy steps to make social media great again. Or, at the very least, not suck. …

Write Now

River explains “I can’t think in shoes.” You know, same. When I was in high school and people asked what career path I wanted to follow, I’d answer, “whatever lets me work on a laptop wherever I want.” Part of the appeal was not wearing shoes. Since the pandemic moved me to working from home, and I subsequently started my own freelance writing business, shoes are rarely worn these days. And, like River, I do some of my best thinking barefoot.

River Braun’s new book, call me him, is a transgender coming of age story. Proceeds from the book benefit…