value

A man sitting at a table alone in a coffee shop backlit with a laptop open in front of him.
| |

The Abstract Mathematics Behind Freelance Writing

About two and a half months into new motherhood, looking to get back into the swing of things, I applied to several blogging gigs. The editor at one publication, with whom I had been in contact in the past, emailed back almost immediately, saying she thought the rates might be a bit low for me. She did want…

Black and white photo of a window with the quote "Haven't been everywhere but it's on my list" written on it

The Ploughshares Round-Down: We’re Over-Reliant on the Bucket List

Having long hated the term “bucket list,” and having nevertheless thought about making one for myself (#MomentsOfWeakness), I was a complete sucker for Rebecca Mead’s recent New Yorker essay in which she questions its merits. In “Kicking the Bucket List,”  Mead asks whether such a list actually helps us carpe diem-ize our otherwise thoughtless lives, arguing that it can instead turn sought-after moments into…

Photo of a man at a typewriter with a crumpled piece of paper as a head and more crumpled papers scattered around him

The Ploughshares Round-Down: Embracing Hard Truths About Writing

Okay writers. My last Round-Down was about the impact of self esteem on our creativity. Several readers asked for a followup about how to cultivate said esteem, and for a half-second I was so on it. But I can’t deny that the news around the world has been horrifying the last few weeks, and that trying to…