Unlikely Places
What Emily Dickinson’s fictitious life teaches about fame
I didn’t know much about Emily Dickinson until recently. I’m sure we studied her poems in high school, but poetry was never my strong suit. As such, knowledge of the American poet escaped the folds of my brain.
I recently watched the AppleTV+ series, Dickinson, based(ish) on her life. The show, staring Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson, is full of intentional anachronisms and 1850s young-adult angst. While Dickinson is historical fiction, it provides a compelling introduction to the poet.
Emily Dickinson wrote over 1,800 poems on scraps of paper hidden until after her death. While a few of her poems…
I thought Peacock would be a hub of streaming Olympic content. Unfortunately, Peacock proved NBC doesn’t understand streaming.
I love the Olympic Games, yet I loathe NBC’s coverage of the games. Since cutting cable nearly a decade ago, my Olympic viewing is limited to NBC’s prime-time rebroadcasts. NBC launched the Peacock streaming service earlier this year. I purchased a subscription thinking it would be a hub of Olympic content. Unfortunately, I’m now convinced NBC doesn’t understand streaming.
NBC aired the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony live this morning. Peacock did not. There’s an entire Olympics tab in the Peacock app, yet the Opening Ceremony was absent until about an hour after the broadcast began. The app wasn’t even airing…
Write Now
In today’s Write Now interview, Cynthia Hamilton explains how writing is a messy practice. Maybe you can relate?
I love a clean desk. Coming into my office with everything put away and the desk recently polished is such a wonderful feeling. Unfortunately, my desk rarely looks that way. Instead, it’s a mess with in-progress projects and notes everywhere. Cynthia Hamilton and I relate on this issue. Though, I have no idea how she functions on a TV tray. Enjoy her interview.
Who are you?
Hello, Writing Cooperative! My name is Cynthia Hamilton. I live in Santa Barbara, California.
Until a mystery illness forced me to look for something I could do if I became bedridden, I had the firm belief I…
📝 This Week’s Goal: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask Questions.
Over the last few years, I’ve worked with several small businesses and nonprofit organizations. All are in their infancy and figuring things out. This can be a scary time for any business, but it can be especially terrifying for freelance writers. Where are clients coming from? How do I protect myself? What do I charge for any of this?
When I moved into full-time freelance writing, I went through a number of these questions myself. Launching a company where you are the only employee means every piece of production is on you. If you don’t write, you don’t get paid…
In addition to the athletes, many people dedicated their lives to creating Tokyo 2020. Their work deserves an audience. But at what cost?
In 2016, my wife and I visited Tokyo. The Rio Olympic Games wrapped up a few months prior, and Tokyo was awash in Tokyo 2020 signage. Many of the venues were already under construction, and the city was excited to host the games.
I’ve always loved the Olympics. While I don’t understand gymnastics, I’m an armchair connoisseur of track and field events once the torch ignites. Plus, give me ALL the obscure sports. Handball? I’m in. Curling? Not a summer sport, but it is my favorite.
Four years later, Tokyo 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic. Here we are…
Are you looking to move content from Medium to WordPress? You’ve come to the right place. Let me walk you through the process.
There are many reasons you might want to move your content from Medium to WordPress. Maybe, like me, you want to build out your website and include everything you’ve written on Medium. Perhaps you want a copy of everything you’ve written in case Medium one day shuts down. Regardless of the reason, moving content from Medium to WordPress takes time and patience. Once complete, you’ll have a complete copy of your Medium archive on your own WordPress-powered website.
Background
A few months after moving into full-time freelance writing, I redeveloped my website. I wanted better search engine optimization and lead generation…
Write Now
In today’s interview with Lee Swift from The Circle, he explains how writing enables others to see themselves and dare to dream
Lee Swift is a career author and professional “catfish,” writing under multiple pen names. In the second season of Netflix’s reality competition show, The Circle, Lee appears as a fictitious character of his own creation, River. I loved Lee’s approach to The Circle, using his skills as a writer to propel his character through the competition. Some of Lee’s work, under the name Kris Cook, is available on his website. Additionally, you can now follow Lee on various social media channels, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube (coming soon). Enjoy Lee’s interview.
Who are you?
I’m Lee Swift. I’m a full-time writer and…
📝 This Week’s Goal: Embrace your inner geekiness and enjoy your writing.
Did you know there’s a holiday for everything? Today happens to be Embrace Your Geekiness Day, which I happen to love. We all have a bit of geek in us, whether we’re willing to admit it or not.
I love the show Freaks and Geeks. It only lasted for a partial season in 2000 but is a true work of art. The show stars a host of people who would become stars, like Seth Rogan, Linda Cardellini, Jason Segel, Busy Philipps, and James Franco. Oh, and did I mention it was created by Paul Feig and produced by Judd Apatow…
I paid $29.99 to not deal with other people. It was wonderful.
The Avengers: Endgame was the last movie I saw in a theater. That seems like a lifetime ago at this point. While I’ve seen every Marvel release opening weekend on the big screen (except for because, well, Ant-Man), the Disney+ Black Widow Premier Access brought the movie theater to my couch.
Same-day digital streaming is not new. HBO MAX streams every Warner release for 30-days. Using the service, I watched several films I otherwise would have skipped. Mortal Kombat? Tom & Jerry? WW84? …
Reflect on three questions to focus your memories, retain details, and take your creative projects from good to extraordinary.
For fifteen years, I spent most of my summers taking high school students on service trips. We traveled around the eastern United States and Central America, working on projects that benefited local communities. At the end of each trip, I’d spend time asking the kids to reflect on their experiences.
Each trip, I’d ask the kids to consider three questions. I’m sure, after fifteen years, some of the kids got used to (or sick) of the questions. Though, I think these three questions are the keys to capturing memories. The questions are:
- What is the best story from this experience?
- …
