Going viral online changed my life. So, what now?
Right now, I have a lot of titles — poet, performer, ghostwriter, editor, and (to my mother’s dismay) grad school dropout. Figuring out my life in these past two years after leaving school (aka the only thing I knew how to succeed in my entire life) has been both exhilarating and extremely stressful. Still, even though I don’t always know what the heck I’m doing, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Here’s what happened.
The above photo is from 2017. I was on the final stage at a slam poetry competition called Texas Grand Slam (TGS), performing my poem about anxiety…
Maybe. If you have the time and money.
The short answer is this: whether writing competitions are worth it to you depends on the competition, your writing goals, and how well you handle rejection. A writing contest can be a fun way to flex your muscles, get feedback on your work, and potentially win something.
On the other hand, writing contests uphold the literary world’s existing power structures and faux scarcity model. After all, who decides what’s “good?” Who decides how many entrants can “win?” And who appointed those people to make those decisions? …
Because this is what I think about
As someone who used to work in a coffee shop, I can tell you that the adage is true — you can tell a lot about a person by their coffee order. Since many readers (like myself) subconsciously assign personalities to different books, I can’t help but take a guess as to what these books would order for their morning pick-me-up.
Keep in mind that I’m working off the personality of the book as a whole, not just the main character. Let me know if you agree!
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Dirty chai latte.
Wiki summary: “The book is written in the voice of…
202Done
A lesson I learned in my first year of business
When you start a freelance business of any sort, you find out a lot of useful information through trial and error. 2020 was my first year as a full-time freelancer, and one of my hard-learned lessons was that there are certain documents I need to have ready to keep my business running smoothly.
As a one-person business, you can’t afford to waste time starting from scratch with each client. While you should absolutely personalize your services, you also want a business method that you can replicate easily. This way, you can work efficiently and remain consistent across clients and projects.
…
Hold off on that Instagram account just a little longer.
Social media isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s time-consuming, challenging to navigate, and sometimes just downright annoying. Personally, if I didn’t rely on Facebook and Instagram to promote my work, I would delete the apps.
Even if you do enjoy using social media, promoting on various platforms is a different ball game. You have to stay on top of algorithm changes, trends, posting schedules, and interacting with others to succeed. …
Here are some affirmations instead.
When someone interviews an established writer, they almost always ask, “Do you have any writing tips?” We want to follow our role models' footsteps, and we often think that means discovering some magic key. There is a lot of writing advice out there. While some of the tips are helpful, the advice from different writers is often contradictory.
For instance, one writer may suggest that you make your stories personal. Then, another writer will say, “You’re not that special. Focus on the reader!” …
There are no notebooks on this list.
As the writer-gift cliché goes, many stores market notebooks as the best gift for a writer (similar to the way the Barnes & Noble where I took this photo markets them as the only gifts for readers). Unless they specifically ask for a notebook, believe me, your writer has plenty. So, what do you get someone with such a minimalist hobby?
As a writer, my notebook and pen collections increase every holiday season. It’s not a bad thing, but I know many writers who are particular about those items and would rather pick them themselves. …
Here are three questions people always ask me.
As a touring spoken word artist (before Covid, of course), I spent a lot of time traveling to different venues to perform poetry, to host open mics, and to compete in poetry slams. Truthfully, I love to perform, but it’s not always easy. In addition to being on stage in front of however many people, going to events comes with socializing, marketing myself, and answering questions — three things that my anxious mind does not like to do.
I’m open about having anxiety because I’m tired of trying to choke it down to pretend like I don’t. Also, I’m tired…
Jae Nichelle
Poet, writer, lover of sweet potatoes. Here are my questions for the world. More at jaenichelle.com and jaeghosts.com
