Quotes

By Laura Barakeris Surrounded by others all day and crushed by the noise of the Internet, I often struggle to slow my thoughts and pace enough to write. Because most of my day is turned out—getting information, communicating, checking my to-do list, meetings—it is hard to turn back inwards and write about what I have… Continue reading On Writing and Artistic Solitude — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

By Rae Pagliarulo A little while ago, in a fit of whimsy, I sold an article about my two biggest obsessions―Gilmore Girls and tarot cards―to a major website known for lifestyle and pop culture content. It felt great―I got to share this nerdy piece that brought me pure happiness, and I did it on a […]… Continue reading The Painful Narrative that No Longer Serves Me — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

Ever wondered how to get into McSweeney’s, the New Yorker’s Shouts and Murmurs, the Belladonna, Slackjaw, or another prestigious humor site? It’s not easy, but it’s not hard—write something very funny, make sure it fits the venue’s tone, send it in. Step one tends to trip us up. How can you write funny, on demand? […]… Continue reading Write Funny, Win Money — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

One of my favorite Leonard Bernstein songs (lyrics from Betty Comden and Adolph Green) is a cheerful, upbeat ditty about the wreckage of broken dreams in New York. In verse after verse, a bright young thing comes to the big city from the cornfields, experiences a measure of success, then works a drudge job while […]… Continue reading What a Waste — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

By Heather O’Shea When I moved to Florida, one of my goals was to avoid getting a “real” job. I wanted to cobble together a life and an income that moved the act of writing from the fringes of my life to the center. Then I spent about seven months with more than enough time.… Continue reading Writing Inside in the Daytime — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

By LaRue Cook I’m a cisgender, heterosexual white man who was raised in the South, a tick below middle class and near the second notch of the Bible Belt. Don’t worry. There is no but. I just think more people like me ought to own their privilege up front, outright. That’s kinda what my debut […]… Continue reading How Can Writers Confront Privilege? Read (and Write and Teach) About It — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

By Mimi Jones Hedwig Whenever I feel the impulse to lose myself in the absorbing process of making something, I choose one of two activities: knitting or writing. Both give me comparable — and abundant — rewards. Yet I have to resist knitting, or I’d do it all the time. And I have to push […]… Continue reading On Pens and Needles — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

Megan Pillow Davis bares her teeth in the newest issue of Brevity, out just yesterday: There are men all around me. There are all men and me. So I stare straight ahead. I drink my coffee. I let him touch me, because it could be worse, it could be worse, it could always be worse […]… Continue reading Whenever Men Think I’m Smiling — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

By Phyllis Brotherton My adult son and I, at this chapter in our lives, have a “texting only” relationship. A few months ago, I completed the Afterword to my book using a series of our recent texts, both quoted and cryptic, with plenty of white space and ellipses. The underlying message of the Afterword: Things […]… Continue reading Textual Healing, Notes from the Mom Whose Pages Keep Changing — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog

by Kathy Stevenson I come from a family of dreamers, wishers, horoscope readers, and gamblers. Which turns out to be the optimal background for a writer. When Dad went to the track on Saturdays (if he had the day off from one of his three jobs) my five younger sisters and I never knew if […]… Continue reading On Playing Cards and Literary Rejection: Betting on the Come — BREVITY’s Nonfiction Blog