Friday Find for Writers: Robert Lee Brewer’s April Platform Challenge

by Erika Dreifus on
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“One of the most important tools for a writer trying to find success in today’s media environment is a strong platform. That’s part of the reason I devote so much time to the topic on MNINB. However, I’ve been thinking about how to get even more hands on with helping writers build their online platforms, and I think I know the solution: A month-long platform building challenge.”

April begins this weekend! So go on over to Robert’s blog and see what he had in mind for this challenge. I’ll be following along, that’s for sure.

And if a platform challenge isn’t your thing, maybe a poetry challenge is!

Have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.

Jewish Literary Links for Shabbat

by Erika Dreifus on
Disabled
Photo Credit: Reut Miryam Cohen
  • This upcoming (April 17) free session at the New York Public Library may assist your research: “This lecture will describe the wealth of resources available at institutions throughout the New York area for doing Jewish family history research. The talk will be geared to beginners and intermediate researchers, and will focus on those families whose ancestors who came to the U.S. starting with the great migration which began in the late 1880s.”
  • Historian Sarah Maza takes a closer look at Irene Nemirovsky’s Suite Francaise: “Némirovsky’s vivid fiction-in-real-time – not to mention the author’s life story – has a great deal to offer to undergraduates studying the period, although some caveats apply.”
  • Two weeks from Sunday I’ll be speaking at NYC’s City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism. My topic: “MY GERMAN-JEWISH GRANDPARENTS AND THIRD-GENERATION PREOCCUPATIONS: History, Healing, and Happily Ever After?”
  • “The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation is calling artists to submit works inspired by the deeds of Raoul Wallenberg and their legacy. Selected works will be published in an e-book compilation created in commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg’s birthday. This call is open for artists working within the fields of creative writing, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography and mixed media. The application deadline is Monday, May 16, 2012.” No application fee; payment info not indicated.
  • Inspired by Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, Rabbi Karen Perolman shares some initial titles that she considers to be “great Jewish books.”
  • Tablet situates Etgar Keret’s latest story collection in the history of Israeli literature–and the history of Keret’s.

    • Shabbat shalom!

    Thursday’s Work-in-Progress

    by Erika Dreifus on
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    Late last weekend I returned from the Virginia Festival of the Book, about which you’ll soon read more–assuming that you’re a subscriber to our free e-newsletter, The Practicing Writer. (The April issue will go out tomorrow or Saturday.)

    Beyond writing thank-you notes and emails, and returning to my day job, and proofreading the newsletter, I’ve somehow managed to squeeze in a bit of writing (and pitching) these past few days. And here’s one especially bright spot: On Monday, I received some good news about a fun contest I entered recently (more about that soon, too).

    Overall, I’d say I’m feeling a tad bit breathless–catching up, looking ahead, crossing some items off my to-do list and adding new ones every day.

    How about you? What’s happening this week with all of your works-in-progress?

    The Wednesday Web Browser for Writers

    by Erika Dreifus on
    Disabled
  • Let’s begin with some reflections after my own heart: Kelly James-Enger’s “Love Versus Money: Can You Write for Both?”
  • Next: a variation on our own “Web Browser”: Robert Lee Brewer’s collection of “Advice for Writers.” Check out this recent installment.
  • Another provocative writing prompt from Midge Raymond. (I’m eager to take some time to work on this one!)
  • Freelance advice from Adam Sternbergh, New York Times Magazine Culture Editor.
  • Finally: Am I too terrible for thinking that this is an interesting idea?

    • Quotation of the Week: Steve Almond

    by Erika Dreifus on
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    “A generation ago, when ‘Annie Hall’ won the Oscar for Best Picture, talk therapy occupied a prominent place in our collective imagination, whether or not you partook. If you wanted to spend several hours a week baring your soul to a stranger who was professionally obligated to listen and react, you went into therapy. Today you join a writing workshop.”

    Source: Steve Almond, “Why Talk Therapy Is on the Wane and Writing Workshops Are on the Rise”

    (I may not agree with all of this piece, and I wouldn’t say that all workshoppers are would-be analysands. But there’s no question that I’ve been part of workshops where some of the folks in the room clearly wanted/needed to be in therapy. When I recall these individuals, I always hope that they have found the peace that seemed so sadly elusive for them.)