Following a post from my favorite literary fledgling last week, I found myself inspired to write about a rarely lauded struggle which I believe all literary folk in general–including the “successful” ones–ultimately face: I call it The Eternal Shame of Relatively Obscure ROI. (ROR) < Pronounce this like a dinosaur, for optimal fun. (ESoROR works […]
Ever heard that saying? No? Yes, you have. (Liar.) “There’s no such thing as BAD PRESS,” they said. “Oh, yes there is!” you scoffed. “Like, remember the time when Miley Cyrus donned a Trojan bikini and gyrated on that Beetlejuice guy at the VMA’s or whatever, and it totally destroyed her career?” Except, wait…no it […]
As I ranted about in a recent post, the world is full of complainers. Satirists. Commentators. Dissecters of trends. Dissenters. Critics. But sadly, fewer and fewer supporters. Champions. Crusaders. People who actually “put their money where their mouth is.” When it comes to politics, people complain about corrupt politicians, unfair laws, the state of the […]
Everyone thinks they have a story in them. Sometimes lots of stories. But writing a book isn’t something everyone does. Lots of books, even less so. To make a career out of writing, you can’t just operate on a whim. You need to tether your creativity, kill your darlings, and listen to the wisdom of […]
Oh, what a tangled web we weave…. Lying. The heart of any great writer’s skill. Or “persuasion,” if you want to paint a slightly sexier face on it. (But let’s be honest, that flawless contouring trick you learned on YouTube isn’t fooling anyone, Karen.) We learn when we’re young that lying is wrong, even as the ones […]
If you google the phrase “what to wear to a job interview,” you’ll get pages and pages of helpful links. If you click on the images tab, you’ll see that some helpful folks over on Pinterest have even put together entire boards (usually for women, since let’s be honest: guys don’t have quite as many […]
When I was in high school, I was one of the few lucky students to take part in an experimental “school within a school” program. Not unlike different major programs in college, my school district decided it might be a good idea to give 11-12th graders career-centric, college curriculum inspired experience in the field of […]
Dear Writer Friends, You may have noticed of late that my blog is slightly balding. This is not due to apathy, but is an unfortunate side-effect of my multi-career hubris and its accompanying workload. Also, I’m kind of missing the awesomeness and joy that was brought on by my last series, “When Writers Go Wrong.” Therefore, I […]
In my last article, titled “Be the Batman,” I talked about how important it is to bring swagger—and a little bit of superhero branding—to your prospective employee / career “persona.” Now, I’m going to tell you something you really, really don’t want to hear. Are you ready? There’s no way Clark Kent would have gotten […]
What is a “Career Persona,” and why do you need one? Why can’t you just be yourself, your whole self, and nothing but yourself? Because, to quote Sweet Brown from the popular YouTube video, “ain’t nobody got time for that!” As I’ve mentioned in previous posts (such as my most recent tribute to resume attractiveness, […]
Functionality. Most people think this is the golden rule of resumes. But guess what, ladies and gentlemen? This may or may not come as a shock—judging by the current state of our government, waka waka—but we don’t actually live in a world where functionality is king. No, we live in a world of skinny mocha lattes. And plastic […]
My name is Veronica, and I’m a lot of things. I’m a journalist with more than five years of professional experience writing and editing for publication (everything from in-depth investigative articles to academic theses to television scripts and screenplays)… I’m a marketing consultant who has been paid buckets of money to cruise the world selling everything from diamonds to luxury watches to kettle corn, with brevity and panache…. I’m a […]
Pretty much everyone is familiar with the saying “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But guess what? According to a little involuntary neurological condition called Synesthesia, that saying is basically untrue. (If you’re curious about the details of this condition, see this article for more details.) Feel free to ignore that, […]
VP Anderson 