3 Reasons Your Writing Needs Critical Distance

UPDATED FEB 2024

The COVID-19 pandemic changed most things about our lives, including how we write and create. For some, being in lockdown meant writing all the time - it was the only way we could escape. For others, writing took a back seat to other responsibilities and the collective chaos.

If you’re like me and find yourself up to your ears in writing that hasn’t been edited, from the pandemic or otherwise, it’s key to incorporate some critical distance into your writing process.

What is Critical Distance? 

The idea of critical distance is simple. Writers get critical distance when they write something and then take a specific amount of time away from that writing. 

During their time away, writers don’t look at their writing at all. They can work on other projects, or just take a break from writing altogether - it depends on the individual!

Writers use critical distance to improve their writing. 

Writers use critical distance to improve their writing. First drafts aren’t always great (they’re not always terrible either), so taking time away from it helps strengthen the piece as a whole. 

How Long Should Critical Distance Be?

Because critical distance is specific to each writer, there is not a firm set of rules. The beautiful thing about it is that each writer can start with one goal, say a day or two, and learn as they go along. 

When I teach English, I always advise my students to use a critical distance strategy. Since their writing is 10 pages or less, I generally advise a pretty short critical distance time. This is also because they are students, most of them procrastinate (I was the worst when I was in school), and most are trying to balance life with their schooling. 

Outside the classroom, things are a little different!

Outside the classroom, things are a little different! Most of us probably aren’t writing researched essays, or having to present them to a class of our peers. Some writers are working on short stories or novels. Some are working on essays or columns for publication. Some are blogging just like me! 

Whatever type of writing you’re doing, you will have to make the judgment call about how long you think it will take to really get a break from your own words. The ideal time is when you feel refreshed and don’t recall every single word, but you also don’t lose all the focus you’ve worked so hard to maintain during the writing process. 

Here are some ideas to help you decide:

Short writing (< 10 pages) - 1-2 days

The fewer pages there are of your writing, the less time it will take to read and re-read! 

No matter how long it takes you to write 10 pages, chances are it won’t take you nearly as long to read 10 pages.  

Taking a brief 1 -2 day critical distance break can give you a reprieve, but also allow you to get back to your work pretty quickly. You don’t want to spend too much time away, but a little is sure to be helpful. 

Moderate writing (20-50 pages) - 4-5 days

When you get into the 20-50 page range, you’ve spent a considerable amount of time on your work. It’s probably been at least days, if not weeks or months. It will also take you longer to re-read and process when you go back to it. 

Whether you’re a daily writer, or a weekend warrior, moderate writing needs more time to settle than something shorter. 

This isn’t at all to say that moderate length writing is easier than shorter or longer writing - on the contrary, the middle length is tricky! Many times, writing in this range will be submitted for publication or needs to meet a specific word/page requirement. This likely means you will either be adding content, or trimming to fit all of your thoughts concisely in the required space. 

Taking a longer critical distance time of 4-5 days - about a business week - will allow your brain to focus on other things around you.  Whether you’re a daily writer, or a weekend warrior, moderate writing needs more time to settle than something shorter. 

Longer writing (50+ pages) - 1-2 weeks (or more)

After you get past about 50 pages, you’re probably working on a novella or a novel. As you know, novels can be really long, and really complex! Cloud Atlas? Ulysses? Game of Thrones? 

Even if you don’t think your novel is the stuff of an HBO mega series (mine isn’t, and that’s not my goal), it will still take you many hours of blood, sweat, and tears to put together. 

Those of us who have finished writing a novel can tell you it’s something incredibly special. No matter your view on first drafts, there’s nothing in the world like finishing one. It can be hard to come back with fresh eyes knowing you probably need some changes or updates, but also knowing that you poured your heart into that first draft. 

Remember, the ultimate goal is to make our writing better. 

Longer writing needs a longer critical distance. In fact, the longer the writing, the more time it will take to be able to take a full-on stop. After all, sometimes novels can take years to write! I would recommend at least a week or two, but if you’ve been working for years on your novel, you might need longer than that. 

Remember, the ultimate goal is to make our writing better. 

Why Should You Use Critical Distance? 

So right about now, critical distance might seem like a mixed bag. 

It might be helpful, but sounds like a lot of extra time in the writing process?

It sounds awful, and sounds like it’s an excuse to stop writing for a little bit? 

It sounds alright, but still not quite sure what it would do for your writing? 

Here’s the thing: Writing needs critical distance. 

Critical distance allows for: 

Fresh Eyes

Have you ever stared at the page so long your eyes burned? Or started a sentence only to realize halfway through that you have no idea where it was going? 

This is super common! If we’re being honest, it happens to the best of us probably more than we’d like to admit. 

It’s all about perspective.

One of the best things about critical distance is that the time away gives us the ability to look at our words again with fresh eyes. We see things we were too glazed over to see before (or maybe saw but didn’t have the heart to change). We read that half sentence and remember what we wanted to say, or think of something even better! 

It’s all about perspective, and you, my fair writer, have the wonderful opportunity to look at your words and give them a face lift when you take some critical distance time away from them. 

Clarification of Your Message

How many times do you take notes only to be baffled later by what in the world you meant. Of course you knew it in the moment, perhaps during a meeting or fevered brainstorming moment, but you sure can’t figure it out now! 

Our writing is the same. When we get into a frenzy, we sometimes think we’re making sense and being clear yet creative only to find out later that we talked ourselves into a big old circle and repeated the same idea 3 times. Or we’ve gone off on an unrelated tangent that made sense in the moment. These are writer-friendly patterns, and they feel okay to write, but they’re awfully confusing to read. 

Taking a period of critical distance allows you to make your writing more expressive and articulate than it was in its first draft form. 

Taking a period of critical distance allows you to make your writing more expressive and articulate than it was in its first draft form. You have the chance to add new vocab, revamp characters who are important but got lost in the shuffle, and even do some rewriting if something is awkward or off the wall. 

Your message has a much better chance of shining through and expressing what you want to say after you’ve had some time to read it through and think like a reader. 

Time to See (and Subsequently Fix) Errors and/or Inconsistencies

I love autocorrect! … Said no one. Ever. And yet, the major digital writing tools we use all seem to have some form of error tracking. Whether it’s using the wrong word (we see you their/there/they’re), or using a comma where it shouldn’t be, these tools can help us figure out where we missed something. 

The problem starts when these programs suggest words we don’t actually want to use or try to make our phrases more concise even when we don’t want them to be. Sometimes I just want to use a longer phrase, dang it! 

Taking a period of critical distance helps us read back through for things like typos, wrong words (spelled correctly so the program didn’t notice it), and grammar. When you’ve been looking at the darn thing for months at a time, it’s much harder to notice those details because that’s not what you’re focused on. 

The other thing critical distance helps us fix are plot holes and inconsistencies. 

Does your main character have an accent at the beginning of the novel but not the end? Did you accidentally start calling one of your main characters a different name throughout the last 100 pages? (Speaking from experience here, Control F is the BEST!) Did your characters somehow just appear in another country without any sort of transportation being mentioned? 

These are all things that you might not notice in the first draft writing, but you will after you get some critical distance, and your readers will certainly see and point out if you don’t find them. 

So what do you think? 

Critical distance should be a part of every writer’s process, no matter how short the writing. It gives us a valuable chance to look at our writing with a fresh perspective, clarify our message, and find inconsistencies and errors we made during our initial drafting. 

You are the ultimate decision-maker on how long your critical distance time should be. Keep in mind, the longer the writing, the more time you will need to process and release your mindset. 

Have you used critical distance? Are you starting to see how this strategy could fit into your writing process? I’d love to hear about it - drop a comment below!

5 Critical Characteristics of Effective eLearning

With all levels of students (and teachers) required to work remotely for the past month and a half through at least the end of the year, eLearning has become such an important tool even for teachers who have never before used this kind of teaching strategy. 

But just because it’s occurring doesn’t mean it’s all effective. Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not here to criticize the extremely tough situation our teachers have been in. I have nothing but respect for all the educators who have stepped up and gotten it done for their students amidst all of this pandemic chaos! They’re doing a great job. 

Once this has all settled a little, though, education won’t be the same as it was before - and it shouldn’t be.

Once this has all settled a little, though, education won’t be the same as it was before - and it shouldn’t be. Teachers were forced to do a total pivot! There’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to use this material again like they would other lesson planning, right? 

No one wants to use a lesson that’s not effective, though, so it’s important to make sure we recognize what effective eLearning looks like.

eLearning

What Exactly is eLearning?

We hear a lot of different terminology surrounding digital learning, and sometimes it can be confusing. Before we talk about what makes up effective eLearning, let’s qualify what that actually is. 

Many times distance learning is used synonymously with online learning or eLearning, but they are actually different things. 

Distance Learning is created with the intention of being used online only, never in a face-to-face setting. Students are in different locations, often at home, and teachers assign and check all work digitally. There are entire college degrees that can be completed through distance education! Before computers, this kind of learning used to be completed through correspondence in the mail. 

Online or eLearning, however, is typically created to supplement or enhance learning in face-to-face classes. While the content is online, and students interact with it digitally, teachers can also assign it during face-to-face class time as a way to diversify learning experiences. It’s considered a blended learning strategy, which essentially means using traditional and technology together to augment learning.

eLearning

5 Critical Characteristics of Effective eLearning

The main goal of online learning right now is to get through, but it won’t always be like this. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if teachers come out of this with some great new ideas they already piloted that they can bring into the classroom with them in the fall? 

Wouldn’t it be fabulous if teachers come out of this with some great new ideas they already piloted that they can bring into the classroom with them in the fall? 

Personally, one of the best things about trying out a difficult new type of lesson when I’m teaching  is figuring out what could make it better. Sure, it might be uncomfortable the first time around, or even go poorly, but that doesn’t (necessarily) mean the initial idea was bad - it just needs some work. 

As teachers are working to create this eLearning for students, assuming they want to be able to use it again, it’s important to keep in mind these 5 critical characteristics, even if this first round is a work in progress of the lessons.

Short

In the digital age, many of us don’t have a long attention span. It’s even shorter than you would think. In a world where a goldfish might have a longer attention span than we fully functioning humans, it’s important to make sure that each and every second counts. 

Keeping eLearning brief is critical to its effectiveness because otherwise students will lose focus. If you’ve been in the classroom, you also know this to be true about more traditional approaches to teaching, too. Lecturing for an hour just doesn’t resonate with students, and even though it’s been a staple throughout the history of education, it’s unlikely that has been effective for a long time. 

Interactive

A huge part of the reason teachers develop eLearning in the first place is so that students can interact with the material and the knowledge becomes more accessible to a wider group of students. 

Effective eLearning should be varied: you want students clicking things, watching brief videos or animations, reading information, and inputting their own thoughts and responses.  The more students have to do to get involved with the learning, the better chance they will have of recalling that information later, which is ultimately the goal, right? To remember what we learn. 

Buildable 

Probably the trickiest part of effective eLearning is that it is able to build on other material, but also stand alone. A perfect example is eLearning work assigned for “snow days.” 

If snow day learning is effective, it’s a great way to ensure that teachers don’t have to spend an additional in-class day “making up” for the days off.

Students know and understand the context because of the other lessons they’ve had in class, but when it comes time to complete the online snow day lesson, it should be a unit in and of itself. It likely won’t be as long as a normal in-class lesson (because of attention span, and understanding that everyone’s home life looks different), but it can still transmit the information teachers need students to learn. 

If snow day learning is effective, it’s a great way to ensure that teachers don’t have to spend an additional in-class day “making up” for the days off like we used to have when I was younger. Not that in-class review is a bad thing at all! Teachers spend a lot of time reviewing things, and for a good reason. But it’s easier to review than start from scratch if you can give students that advantage. 

eLearning

Complex

Do you remember the scantron exams schools used to administer? The ones with little rectangles for A, B, C, D, & E? And the only other thing you were allowed to write on it was your name, class, and date? Thankfully, I think a lot of schooling has progressed past that, but those tests were not memorable learning. Well, unless you count the groans and anxiety we all got when the forms were passed out at test time. 

All of this is to say, when teachers create eLearning, it should be more complex than just a series of true/false or multiple choice questions. It’s important to test student knowledge as they learn online, but giving them questions online without interaction is pretty much the same as an in-class test, but with different distractions at home. 

eLearning can be a great way to keep students engaged and learning the material in a more hands-on way than we used to be able to do, but that’s only if it’s more complex than a “test” would be!

Intuitive/Easy to Navigate

Students come into the classroom at all different levels. No one knows this or feels this more keenly than teachers. In the classroom, teachers have the ability to mitigate the differences by explaining things in multiple ways and using activities (and group work) to help students uncover ideas for themselves. 

eLearning has a different set of challenges because teachers aren’t there to help the students who learn differently than their peers.

eLearning has a different set of challenges because teachers aren’t there to help the students who learn differently than their peers. It’s because of the diversity of learning strategies that effective eLearning must be intuitive and easy to navigate. 

As much as we write instructions, or even talk to students via video chat, there will always be at least one student who will say “I don’t get it.” The best thing teachers can do help students overcome (and save themselves from answering the same question 1,000 times) is to build the eLearning in the most straightforward and simple way possible. 

Tools

So how do you create this wonderfully effective eLearning for your students?

Ultimately, the choice is yours, and it really comes down to: 

1. How much time you have (or want) to invest

2. How comfortable you are with technology

3. The level or age of students you are teaching

There are numerous pieces of technology, but here is an introduction to a few that I’ve used, and some that colleagues of mine have used. 

Before you make your decision, I recommend going on Pinterest and looking for free templates! 

Before you make your decision, I recommend going on Pinterest and looking for free templates! There are a ton of high quality templates and class materials available if you’re willing to look for it. 

Learning Management

Google Classroom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6L-nZGIUTE

Canvas 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDEwW5aj3JI

*** Note: Your Canvas will look differently depending on what institution you’re using it through. ***

Content Creation

Google Slides

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IfjUo1JOMs

*** Note: You can set up your slides however works best for you, but I personally love this set up! ***

Articulate Rise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLoebnsJDoM

ArticulateStoryline

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NcB5YupsB0

*** Note: The Articulate Suite is an amazing set of tools. Rise has an easier learning curve than Storyline 360, but Storyline can do incredible things with interactivity if you spend the time to learn how to do it. ***

Have you had experiences creating effective eLearning? I’d love to hear about your strategies and tools! Drop a comment below or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com.

5 Ways to Create a Happy Mother’s Day (Without Breaking the Bank)

Wanting to spoil all the great mothers in your life? But kind of broke? 

We’ve all been there, and it’s no fun. But just because you’re short on cash doesn’t mean you can’t create a happy Mother’s Day for those special ladies! 

Writers and creatives have a special gift in that we can create a wonderful day for virtually no cost. You probably remember making the cheesy “coupon books” when you were a kid: you know the ones with the “free hug” and “30 minute foot rub” that you refused to honor when your mom asked for it?

Writers and creatives have a special gift in that we can create a wonderful day for virtually no cost.

While your mother may appreciate a more mature version of the coupon book (like doing her toughest or most disliked chores), this year you can do something better! 

Give the mother figures in your life a happy Mother's Day this year with one of these low cost ideas that play to your creative strengths.

Creative & Heartfelt Gifts:

1. Make a Meal at Home

Not all moms are the primary cooks in their homes, but many are! 

Think back to when you were a kid - what was a food or meal your mom made that you remember fondly? 

On nights when it was just me and my mom for girls’ night, we would make beans and cheese and chips. The whole meal consisted of refried beans, melted cheese, and tortilla chips to dip into the mixture. My mom always let me have the last bite of melted cheese on the top - the best bite in the whole meal. When I visit my mom for girl time now, as an adult, we still share this dish and it makes us both smile. 

The primary goal is to make your mom feel loved with something she will enjoy.  

If you are looking for a heartfelt gift to your mother this year, consider making a meal for her. This could be a meal you remember fondly, or a brand new recipe you know she’ll like. It doesn’t have to be complicated, especially if you don’t feel very confident in your cooking skills. The primary goal is to make your mom feel loved with something she will enjoy.  

2. Write Your Mom a Story Where She’s the Hero

Let’s be honest, not all of us were always angels to our moms, right? I can think of many times where I was a sassy know-it-all even when my mom was right and we both knew it. Sometimes we also say things we don’t mean, as you see on the TV shows where the teens shout “I hate you!”

We obviously don’t really hate our moms, but we don’t always give them the praise they deserve either. Not for the countless hours of worry and work they put into helping us succeed, or the fact that we came out to be functioning adults even when we made those questionable decisions our mom told us specifically not to do. 

We obviously don’t really hate our moms, but we don’t always give them the praise they deserve either.

So what better way to honor your mom than by making her a hero?! This piece of writing doesn’t have to be long - a few pages maybe - but it should clearly illustrate that your mom is pretty awesome. If you’re artistic, you could even do the story comic book style! You can completely make up a story, or use a scene from “real life” - writer’s choice. 

3. Spend Quality Time Together

As adults, we tend to get stuck in a routine. Especially when many of us have been working from home for months, with no end established yet! So getting out and safely exploring a new place (while social distancing, as I imagine will still be in place throughout the next couple of months) will be a lovely treat. 

For those of you who live close to your mothers (you lucky ducks!), you have the opportunity to go see your mom. Set a time and date and spend intentional, phone-less time together. Whether that’s watching a movie, taking a nice walk, exploring a new place, or even just being together while you get something useful done, really emphasize being present in the moment. 

We never truly know how much time we have with those we love most, so quality time - not quantity - is one of the most precious gifts we can give to each other.

One thing I’ve learned as an adult is that we never truly know how much time we have with those we love most, so quality time - not quantity - is one of the most precious gifts we can give to each other. Plus, if you don’t get to see your mom very often, she misses you. 

If you live farther away from your mom and you can’t travel, set up a time to video chat. Platforms like Zoom, Google Duo, and FaceTime are pretty awesome, and you’ll probably have some giggles together if one or both of you has never used the app before. When you are on the call, make it a point to stop what you are doing and be present in the conversation. Don’t check other apps, or do the dishes or whatever else you might be tempted to do (I am a huge offender!) - just be in the moment. 

You’ll find that you both appreciate the thought and willingness to make the time, because we all know we don’t just “find time” laying around.

Mother's Day Gifts

4. Make a Card from Your Pet(s)

Many moms have a tendency to collect sentimental pieces of artwork from when their children are young. I know I have seen some pretty funny art I created when I was young that my mom held onto for years because I made it for her.

It’s nice, really, that we can keep these special memories. Most of us don’t tend to hand make cards when we are adults, whether it’s because we “don’t have time” or can afford to buy one. And, something is just different about making a card when you’re a “mature” adult, right? 

Who doesn’t want to think that someone beloved is thinking about them and doing something unique to make them smile? 

But, a handmade card from a beloved pet, whether that pet is yours or your mom’s is super cute (as long as your mom likes the pet in question). Have some fun with it! If your pets are as beloved as our little dog, Charlie, your mom will be happy & maybe even feel like it’s from her grand-dog or grand-cat. Who doesn’t want to think that someone beloved is thinking about them and doing something unique to make them smile? 

When I’m creating things from Charlie to other people (he also “signs” all the birthday and holiday cards), I try to imagine what it would look like if he could actually use his paws to write or fold. I also imagine what he might say, or how he would express himself if he could talk.

The funny thing about being a creative writer is that 100% of the time I can imagine what Charlie is thinking, but I definitely can’t always think of the next piece of my novel… go figure, right? 

5. Let Her Choose What to Do the Entire Day

When was the last time you spent quality time with your mom when you weren’t requesting a favor? Or suggesting an activity? Or asking her to make you food? 

When we’re first starting out on our own, we ask a lot of our mom: for help, for advice, sometimes for money. And that’s completely normal! Goodness knows I’ve had to ask for a lot of help over the years. I’m pretty sure it’s just part of figuring out this whole surviving adulthood thing. 

Be purposeful in letting her know that you are here for the ride she chooses to go on. 

As much as your mom probably doesn’t mind helping, sometimes she wants to do what she wants to do though it often takes a back seat to helping her kids. 

A great way to make your mom feel loved is to spend time with her where she decides what to do. That might be staying in and watching a movie, but it also might be going to have tea or shopping together somewhere besides Dollar General (can you tell my town is small?). Be purposeful in letting her know that you are here for the ride she chooses to go on. 

All of these things are great (inexpensive!) ways to spoil your mama and other mother figures in your life on this special day.

All of these things are great (inexpensive!) ways to spoil your mama and other mother figures in your life on this special day. Moms deal with a lot, and even though one day doesn’t really cover how special these ladies are, we sure can make them feel loved and celebrated!

Do you do anything creative for your mom to celebrate Mother’s Day? I’d love to hear what other creatives do or have done (or want to try in the future) for the moms in their lives! Drop a comment below or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com and let me know. 

One Year Anniversary Blogging Bonanza

That’s a wrap, folks! Can you believe it’s been a whole year since we kicked off this blogging journey at Capturing Your Confidence? It hardly seems real. And yet in some aspects, it feels like it has been much longer. 

This year has truly been a blessing.

This year has truly been a blessing, and I owe most of that to you lovely readers who show up week after week and prove to me that what we do here is as important as I’ve felt since that initial thought. 

Enough of that mushy stuff for now! 

I have collected some highlights and favorites, but I’d love it if you would tell me yours! Comment here, find me on social media, or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com. I very highly value your feedback - that’s how we make things better. 

Onto the fun!

Highlights

These are some of our accomplishments this year!

• 57 Blogs

• 2 Email services

• 2 Logos

• 160 Facebook followers

• 223 Twitter followers

• 303 Instagram followers

• 105 Pinterest followers

• Countless hours of blood, sweat, hard work, & tears

Room for Improvement

As with most new things, there are always areas that could use some improvement. These are things I've struggled with this year that I've been working on improving.

Image Sizing & Blog Optimization

Figuring out Wordpress and how to be an admin for all the back end tricky things has been a battle and a half. It’s definitely an instance of when you don’t know what you don’t know! Although I am by no means a master, I have become proficient enough to begin fixing all the little things to optimize them not only for the desktop experience, but also for mobile. 

This stuff is hard. It’s tedious. And, it’s definitely way less fun than writing about confidence, writing, and teaching!

Guys, this stuff is hard. It’s tedious. And, it’s definitely way less fun than writing about confidence, writing, and teaching! But this is such an important part of what makes the blog beautiful for all of you lovely readers. So I work. And I Google. And Youtube. And ask for help. I’d consider it a work in progress, but overall a victory! It’s definitely something I will continue to work on, too. 

Promotion

As you probably read in the How to Know Your Audience blog, finding your audience is a critical exercise for writers because you can be the most prolific writer in the world, but it won’t matter a wink if no one can find your work! 

Figuring out where to find you guys has been hard! I used social media & Pinterest before, but it truly is an art to learning the ins and outs - taking the time to figure out not only where to find you, but also how to get to you! While I’ve developed a more focused plan for this year, this is an area I know will continue to demand improvement. 

Top 5 Crowd Favorite Blogs

These blogs were the ones that got the most traffic this year.

*** Data collected using Google Analytics & Pinterest Analytics. ***

5 Excuses that Hold Us Back from Our Writing

As writers, we love to create. We love the feeling of putting our words on paper, of inspiring others or drawing out emotion, and that feeling of accomplishment when something feels “complete.” But sometimes what we love doesn’t quite translate into what we do. 

Small Progress is Progress

I hear a lot of “the first draft always sucks” and “just get it onto the paper and then fix it.” 

While I value the fact that these kinds of comments encourage drafting, I find that almost anything I read about writing a first draft is very focused on how bad it will be and the other potential negatives. 

A Brief History of Women in Higher Education

For most of the United States’ history, women were viewed as homemakers and were primarily in charge of all things domestic. Most fulfilled roles within the household, and were the main caregivers of their families, especially children. 

How to Know Your Audience

How to Know Your Audience

If you’re a writer who wants to get your ideas out into the big wide world, you need to know your audience! 

When we think about writing, an audience is made up of people who are interested in a specific topic or idea, and read about it. They are people who care about what you are writing because it means something to them.

Do the Thing that Scares You

Do the Thing that Scares You

We’re all scared of something. Personally, one of my biggest fears is bees...

Besides these small fears, though, I do have some bigger fears looming that can sometimes seem insurmountable. 

What scares the daylights out of you?

My Top 5 Favorite Blogs

These are not in any particular order, as it was hard enough to narrow it down to this few.

Interview with an Author: Kelly MacLellan

Interview with an Author

Ms. Kelly was the first person I collaborated with for the blog, and my very first interview with an author interviewee! We are still friends, and I have enjoyed building a relationship with her over the past year. 

13 Things to Do When You’re Worried About Everything

Over the years, I have been more open about my struggle with anxiety, and it has mostly been met with positivity and support. Now that I’m comfortable in my own skin, it’s time to help others in the same position. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and it became much more critical to share strategies about what to do when you’re worried about everything. 

5 Reasons We All Need Gratitude (and Not Just Around the Holidays)

Gratitude is critical for all of us, and that’s something I’ve been very focused on the past couple of years in my personal life. It made sense for the holidays, but gratitude really is much bigger than that, and it changes lives. We all need it, and this is one of the core beliefs of Capturing Your Confidence. 

Do the Thing that Scares You

Do the Thing that Scares You

This blog is my favorite because it’s really at the core of my life, and what I envision for you, my readers. Truly, getting out of our comfort zone is so important for growth, and that’s what I want people to come away from my content feeling confident enough to do. 

How to Know Your Audience

How to Know Your Audience

Working through how to know your audience is always interesting in writing classes with my students, so it’s not a surprise that this is one of my favorite blogs so far! It also comes with my first interactive writing guide, which I worked my tail off on and love how it turned out!

BONUS

Unlearning the 5 Paragraph Essay

5 Paragraph Essay

It’s so hard to choose my “favorite blogs” because I love what I write about. My favorite teaching blog is Unlearning the 5 Paragraph Essay (with organic student confidence in a close second place) because people don’t realize how much we learn and unlearn in college English! 

Suggestions? 

We’d love to hear your suggestions on how to make our content and website better! Reach out via social media or email at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com - let’s hear your ideas!

Interview with an Author: Dr. Jackie Grutsch McKinney

Our April guest author is Dr. Jackie Grutsch McKinney.

Jackie Grutsch McKinney is a Professor of English and Director of the Writing Center at Ball State University. She is the author of three academic books, Peripheral Visions for Writing Centers, Strategies for Writing Center Research, and The Working Lives of New Writing Center Directors, all of which have won the International Writing Center Association's Outstanding Book Award. 

The Working Lives of New Writing Center Directors

Tell us a little about what your specialty studies.

I work within Writing Studies, a scholarly area that is concerned with both how writing works and how writers work. I’m more interested in the latter. Most of my scholarship has been concerned with writing centers, including questions about leadership, administration, aims, and pedagogy.

Tell us about your writing journey. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Maybe? I remember creating a library with my friend when I was about 8 or 9. We wrote and illustrated little books from construction paper and then organized them for our “patrons.” I thought I was a genius poet in high school, but really I was just morose. LOL.

I learned that creative writing isn’t my arena, but I love the challenge of scholarly writing.

I have always loved reading and found insight and power from the written word. I learned that creative writing isn’t my arena, but I love the challenge of scholarly writing. Writing is part of my profession now.

Where did the idea for your study, The Working Lives of New Writing Center Directors, develop from?

The Working Lives is a case study of nine new writing center directors over the course of their first or second year on the job, written with my brilliant colleagues, Becky Jackson and Nikki Caswell. A lot of advice about how to be a writing center director circulates, but we noticed that the advice wasn’t tethered to reality.

That is, there wasn’t any research about what the job of being a writing center director was really like. So, we set out to study that—and to document the labor that various directors told us about in monthly interviews.

Are there other books you’ve authored or collaborated on? If so, can you tell us a little about them?

My first book was Peripheral Visions for Writing Centers and there I made the argument that writing center professionals operate as if what I call the grand narrative of writing centers is completely and always true, when it is both true and not true.

My second book, Strategies for Writing Center Research, outlined methods for doing empirical (mostly qualitative) research in and on writing centers.

How does the process of collaboration work between multiple writers? How does it differ from working on a piece of your own?

For The Working Lives, we wrote the whole book together. One of us took lead on a chapter, but then we “passed” drafts to one another in Google docs. We added and revised to the chapters when they came to us.

It is sometimes harder than writing by yourself because it is less under your control, but it always leads to better writing.

It is sometimes harder than writing by yourself because it is less under your control, but it always leads to better writing. Collaboration is particularly helpful in a qualitative study like ours because we could check our interpretations of the data with one another.

Describe your biggest writing obstacle and how you overcame it.

Like many people, I struggle to stay on task, especially when I get to a hard part in the writing, and I’d rather, say, Google “berry bushes that grow in full shade” or go to the kitchen for yet another iced coffee. So, two things help.

One, I set a timer and use the pomodoro method. I do not let myself get off task while the timer is running. The second is related. I keep a notepad next to me and if a worry or another task comes to me while I'm writing, I just jot it down and know that I can let it go until my timer is up.

How do you balance teaching and writing?

Well, I'm also an administrator of a writing center, on the board of my professional organization, and not to mention a mom—so there’s a lot to balance. I guess my main strategy is that I’m a planner and I respect deadlines.

My main strategy is that I’m a planner and I respect deadlines.

Each week I write out my to do list and then I plot those items into my calendar based on when they need to be done. This helps me know that I have a plan for when the work is going to get done and reduces the feeling of panic that I’m forgetting something.

What is the part of the book (or process) you are most proud of?

For Working Lives, I’m most proud of study and findings. We set out to study something that there wasn’t any good data on and we were able to chart the territory of writing center director labor. We’re one of the first to document the emotional labor of writing center directors and many others have now picked up where we left off.

Do you have plans for another book or additional published writing in the future?

Yep. I’ve got an edited collection on autoethnography in Writing Studies in production with Utah State University Press, and I’m working on two new studies. One with Becky and Nikki—a five-year survey study on writing center directors and one by myself on what I’m calling “proximal writing.”

Do you, or would you ever consider, doing creative writing? If so, how do you think that differs from your academic writing?

I have thought about writing nonfiction; however, even with that it would probably resemble my scholarly writing. I love nothing more than reading big, fat novels, but I could never do the world-making that fiction writing requires.

I love nothing more than reading big, fat novels, but I could never do the world-making that fiction writing requires.

What do you want the world to know about you as an author?

I really don’t like attention, so this question is giving me hives! But seriously, within my scholarly area, I hope that my work is respected by colleagues and that it might make meaningful interventions into how we think about writing center work and writers.

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

I don’t know if this is my biggest piece of advice, but my work on understanding proximal writing (when people opt to write in the presence of other writers) has pointed to how helpful it is for some people to seek out others to write with.

Perhaps, think about making regular writing dates with others.

It isn’t helpful for all people and it isn’t always a successful arrangement, but for the folks in my study, they find writing around other writers helps with their focus, confidence, and endurance. So, perhaps, think about making regular writing dates with others.

If you would like to purchase Dr. Grutsch McKinney's latest book The Working Lives of New Writing Center Directors you can find a copy here.

If you would like to purchase Dr. Grutsch McKinney's first book, Peripheral Visions for Writing Centers, you can find a copy here.

If you would like to purchase Dr. Grutsch McKinney's second book, Strategies for Writing Center Research, you can find a copy here.

If you know an author (or of an author) you would love to read an interview with, email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com!

4 Easy Steps to Effective Collaborative Writing

We often think of writing as a solitary activity, and many times that’s true. But, there are some times when collaborating with others is very beneficial. In fact, there are many instances where writers work together to create a project. 

This blog was collaboratively written by my best friend and writer, Courtney Conley, and I. 

This blog, for instance, was collaboratively written by my best friend and writer, Courtney Conley and I. 

Some of the most common types of collaborative writing we regularly see include: 

Anthologies

Books of essays

Books of poetry

Academic books

Blogs

Online articles 

What Is Collaborative Writing

What is Collaborative Writing? 

Collaborative writing is writing involving one or more people working on a project together either at the same time or as a shared responsibility. 

Collaborative writing can happen in several ways: 

Simultaneously, as you can do with Google Docs, where multiple people are actively writing and editing at the same time. We wrote this blog with Google Docs in this way!

In Sections, where one person writes about something and the other person writes something else, and it is later blended together. 

With Edits, where one person writes the majority of the content, and the other person goes back through what’s already written and adds their own content and changes the wording. 

It’s really up to the writers to determine what works best!

It’s really up to the writers to determine what works best! Some people do great being more conversational and working at the same time, but some people need time to process and figure out how their ideas fit with the other person. 

If collaborative writing is when multiple people work together on a project, the bigger question is why? 

Goals of Collaborative Writing

What are the Goals of Collaborative Writing?

If you’ve ever been part of a writing project with other people, you might already know that collaboration is not always easy! Much like other types of teamwork, there can be problems with responsibility and ownership. 

BUT

When collaborative writing is successful, it lessens the workload for all individuals. Logically, if you have 2 people working on a 50 page writing project, that will round out to about 25 pages per person instead of the entire 50. That’s half the “polished” writing you have to produce if you’re working with a trusted collaborator.

Our body of thought can be strengthened and diversified when we work with others. 

Successful collaboration also has the benefit of having more than one brain thinking about a problem, solution, or creation. What a powerful tool! 

Even the most similar among us have different perspectives and ideas. This means our body of thought can be strengthened and diversified when we work with others. There’s also much less chance of accidentally skipping things when you have others looking at the project, too.

Unless you’re in academia, you probably don’t just wake up thinking about collaborative writing projects. Most people outside of the university generally think of writing as something you do on your own. 

So why, then, would a “regular” writer want to collaborate on something? 

Reasons for Writing Collaboration

Probably the most common reason a writer would want to collaborate is to work with an expert. It’s almost always helpful to have an experienced mentor, especially in a field like writing where there are so many different ways one could go. 

The expert can then also add extra information to the project you didn’t even think about, or know to ask! 

Collaborating can also help writers gain experience with others in the field. This is especially true if you are working with experts and mentors because they can then show you the ropes. 

The old saying “You don’t know what you don’t know” is definitely true - you can’t possibly know everything, especially when you’re first starting out!

The old saying “You don’t know what you don’t know” is definitely true - you can’t possibly know everything, especially when you’re first starting out! Having others work with you can help you hone the talents you have and grow new ones.

Teaching can also be another major point of collaboration. Many teachers, especially in the college classroom, teach collaboratively, with skills or entry level English classes. We even had co-professors in graduate classes. Much of teaching is based on collaborative learning and helping each other - writing included. 

Perks of Writing Collaboration

Perks of Writing Collaboration

There are a lot of perks that come with collaborative writing!

Writing collaboratively gives you the opportunity to hear different perspectives on your topic. This can be very helpful, and most of the time, writing can benefit from having more than one set of ideas and worldviews. After all, our audiences bring their own thoughts and ideas to whatever they read - having a variety of voices in the writing itself makes it stronger. 

More than one writer means sharing the workload!

More than one writer means sharing the workload! Collaborative writing is a great way to split up a large project and work more efficiently. Writing projects can be daunting. Having someone else there to share the work with can be a relief. Plus, there’s someone to commiserate with when you’re stuck or dealing with writer’s block.

We’re all guilty of getting stuck in our routines at one point or another. Do you procrastinate? Do you only write if someone is asking you to? Writing with one or more people can help us break out of our comfort zone and write in different contexts. Maybe you’ll even pick up a new idea or two from your writing partner(s)! 

Struggles with Collaborative Writing

Struggles with Collaborative Writing

Although there are undoubtedly perks, there will always be struggle when it comes to working with other people. 

We all have busy lives. Probably the biggest complaint or struggle with collaborative projects is having time. It can be really difficult to make time to work on a writing project with other people, especially if you don’t live in the same place or time zone. It can also be difficult to keep everyone on track once you get the project started. The more people there are, the more complicated scheduling gets.

The hard part about having different voices in a writing project is that it can be tricky to merge the voices of different writers into one cohesive voice.

The hard part about having different voices in a writing project is that it can be tricky to merge the voices of different writers into one cohesive voice. Writers often have different styles, as well. Maybe you love the Oxford comma (go team!), but your partner hates it. It won’t matter for some projects if it sounds like multiple writers worked on it, but in other contexts, it’s important to create one writing voice. 

The nature of collaborative writing often means one writer is doing more of the work than other(s). It can be hard to split up the work in a way everyone is comfortable with. If you’ve been in a collaboration before, you might have felt the sting of either doing too much or feeling like you’re not really able to do enough. Some writers naturally take the lead on projects, while others are happy to do their share of the work and nothing more. This can lead to conflict in relationships if one person feels like the workload balance is unfair. 

How to Do Collaborative Writing

How to Do Collaborative Writing

At this point you might be thinking that this all sounds great, but how the heck do you accomplish it?

Good question!

There are a few steps for effective collaboration that you should take (although if you find a more efficient way - go for it!): 

Step 1: Decide the Parameters of Your Project

A brainstorming meeting at the beginning of the writing process can be very helpful to ensure everyone is on the same page, understands, and agrees on the goals of the project. 

You should clarify things like: 

How many words do you want your writing project to be? 

Who is your audience? 

How many references do you want to include? 

Once you have had that conversation and answered any questions, you are ready to move forward!

Step 2: Distribute the Work

Knowing who is in charge of each role in the project up front will help keep everyone on track and minimize conflict. We like to create an outline first and then decide together who will write which section. 

Knowing who is in charge of each role in the project up front will help keep everyone on track and minimize conflict.

Another way to distribute the work is to write simultaneously. One person can do the typing while others share ideas. Talk with your writing collaborator(s) to figure out what works best for your project. 

Step 3: Set Deadlines

What we have seen cause the most tension in collaborative writing projects is the idea of a deadline. Once you know who is doing the work, and how it’s getting done, it’s important to decide on a deadline and stick to it! 

Depending on the scope of your project, it will probably be helpful to have regular check-in meetings where everyone gives an update on their progress. Make sure to give yourselves enough time to proofread and revise. Remember, you’re blending multiple voices, so you will need to leave time to smooth everything over to sound cohesive. 

Step 4: Do the Writing!

You’ve laid the prep work, decided your roles & deadlines, and now it’s time to get down to the hard, messy work of writing. Be mindful of your deadlines as you progress - you don’t want to be the collaborator that stalls the project with your procrastination. 

Be mindful of your deadlines as you progress. 

Collaborative Writing Tools

What Tools Can I Use to Write Collaboratively?  

We hope, by now, you’re getting at least a little excited about exploring collaborative writing projects. We love working together - we even won an award for our collaborative writing during grad school! 

Courtney Conley (left) & I received our collaborative writing award in Spring 2017!

If you are ready to embark on this kind of project, there are several handy tools you can consider adding to your toolbox:

Google Docs

Google docs is an incredible collaborative writing tool! In fact, we like it so much that we used it to write this blog. 

Google docs allows multiple writers to work and edit one document simultaneously. So, for instance, if you have two writers working on a project, both can be writing different parts of the document at the same time. The interesting part is that you can see the other person’s work appear in real time, and they can see yours. 

You can write on your smartphone, tablet, or computer, AND it automatically saves anytime there is a change on the document.

Google docs allow for multiple documents, so you can easily access your writing from anywhere, as long as you can access the internet. 

You can write on your smartphone, tablet, or computer, AND it automatically saves anytime there is a change on the document. This is a special bonus for those of us who sometimes forget to save when we’ve been working on something for an extended period of time. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0OqnItA-zA

Introduction to Google Docs

Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is also a great collaborative tool because it acts like a digital notebook. I’ve used it professionally and for my own writing. I wrote a whole blog about it here!

Essentially, OneNote allows you to do anything you would do in a regular notebook, with the added benefit of being able to use word processing like highlighting, underlining, etc. It’s pretty intuitive if you’ve used the popular Microsoft Word program, but better because you can align your thoughts more visually. 

Microsoft OneNote allows you to collaborate in real time like you can in Google docs. 

You can also send your thoughts to others for collaboration and collaborate in real time like you can in Google docs. 

OneNote is typically included in most packages of Microsoft products and on Windows 10 computers you might buy, so if you use Word, search for it and you will probably find you already have it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjnQ937cg8g

Introduction to Microsoft OneNote

Trello

Trello is a brand new tool for me, although I’ve heard people talk about it many times before I decided to try it. Can I just say, what a life changer for those of us who love lists? AND for those of us who collaborate? 

Sample of Trello Organization for Collaborative Blog Writing! It's incredibly flexible to use with a team, but since there were just 2 of us, we didn't feel the need to assign the roles.

Trello is a free application you can use online or download and use on your desktop. You can have boards with upcoming tasks, set due dates, and assign tasks to people, including yourself! 

The reason Trello is such a good tool for writing collaboration isn’t the fact that you can write whole paragraphs there. You could, but it probably wouldn’t be visually appealing to work with. Trello is awesome because all the people you’re working with can see and access the same to do lists, due dates, and assign/be assigned tasks. Everyone is on the same page with to-do tasks, literally!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xky48zyL9iA

Introduction to Trello

Have you written something collaboratively before? How did it go? What tools did you use? We’d love to hear about it! Drop a comment below or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com and let me know!

My Writing Inspiration: Now and Then

In honor of my birthday today, and almost a WHOLE YEAR of content (how has it been a year already?!) I wanted to share a special blog about my writing inspiration. Things are a lot different now than they were years ago, and I find it helpful to always be self-reflecting. Hence the now and then! 

I talk a lot about writing , and I do my very best to inspire you all to try to be the best and truest version of you. And I do truly believe in you all! But sometimes it’s helpful along our journey to have a peek behind other people’s priorities and growth. 

Sometimes it’s helpful along our journey to have a peek behind other people’s priorities and growth. 

After all, if you know my story, you know that I was scared to write for years after one rather unpleasant, but ultimately small experience. 

What I’ve compiled for you today are my top 5 sources of writing inspiration now, and then, when I was a young writer. As cathartic and reflective as this is for me, I hope it is helpful not only to see that our priorities change as we grow, but also to acknowledge that our journey and our “why” is unique to each of us. 

Writing Inspiration Starter Pack

Now 

Like many writers, I’m not always “inspired” in the way of having too many ideas. There are days where it feels like I will never finishmy novel, but that is the time where I have to remind myself of my top writing inspiration to keep me moving forward. These inspirations or reasons are my “why” as a writer in the present. 

5. I’m Good at It

One of the reasons I write is because I’m good at it. This might sound like a cop out, or a brag moment, but truly it’s not meant to be either. Words are a very natural thing for me, and I express myself much better in writing (I think) than I do when I’m speaking. 

Words are a very natural thing for me, and I express myself much better in writing

I’ve been known to do some word wizardry for people on occasion, and it’s honestly fun for me because it’s something I know that even if I’m terrible at everything else, I’m good at words. So, it provides a boost for me when I know for sure I can accomplish things with words. 

4. I Love It

Related probably to the fact that I have a talent for writing is that I love it. I love everything about writing. I like how it makes me feel, how it can make others feel, and the real impact it can have on the world. 

Words have the power to create emotion, inspire action, and express the deepest sentiments of our souls that no other medium quite has the same ability to do. It’s flexible, it’s powerful, and I love how different everyone can use writing.

3. Pass on My Passion

Because I love words and writing so much, and I am confident in my abilities, I write to share my passion with others who love writing - and those who don’t! This is one reason I like teaching college English, too. 

So, I write to pass my passion on in hopes of giving people a good experience with writing.

Many times people don’t like writing because of prior experiences, which I totally get. I’ve heard some pretty bad stories about English classes (and teachers) that are very cringe-worthy. But the fact of the matter is that we need writing, and it will always be around us. 

So, I write to pass my passion on in hopes of giving people a good experience with writing. I’ve found that the best teachers and the most interesting people I’ve met are sharing their passions with the world, so I wanted to do my best to join those coveted ranks. 

2. To Help Others

The one thing that’s been a constant for me as I’ve grown up and tried to figure out what career path I want to be on is this: I want to help people. I’ve always wanted to help others. 

So it makes a lot of sense that I would use my passion and talent for writing to do what I’ve always wanted to do with helping others. While I’m still figuring out the logistics, I have a pretty good idea of where I would like to be helping others in the long run. I am a teacher by training, after all, and I love teaching about writing! But I also want to help others with confidence, which is something I’ve struggled with most of my life. 

1. Because It’s My Calling

The number one reason I am inspired to write is because it is what I have been called to do. You know when you hear people talking about music or art as if something inside (or occasionally, above) is telling them this is what they are meant to be doing? Or that something just “feels right” but they can’t always tell you the exact why? 

Writing is what I do, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

This is how I feel about writing, and how it feels in my life. I can’t imagine doing something else, aside from working in education (in a related capacity). Writing is what I do, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Writing Inspiration Now and Then

Words and writing were important to me at every level! Here we see a collection from 1st grade all the way to high school.

Then

It’s interesting what we think when we’re young and how that changes and adapts as we grow. My reasons and inspirations for writing have changed through the years (for the better, I think) and it’s fun to think about myself as a young writer. As you read through these “then” writing inspirations, think about how your own inspiration has changed as a writer - or even as a teacher or person in general! You might find you surprise yourself.

5. I Had No Concept of Failure

You hear about those kids and teenagers who only hear positive comments for their lives and then get to college and have their first taste of criticism, right? That was me. 

Part of what inspired me to keep going was because I had an incredibly supportive family and teachers who lifted me up.

Part of what inspired me to keep going was because I had an incredibly supportive family and teachers who lifted me up. I excelled at writing in school, and I wrote like a fanatic outside of school - and people loved reading my writing. I always got compliments, and rarely (if at all) got constructive criticism of things to fix, so I literally had no concept that I would ever fail as a writer. 

Writing Inspiration Now and Then

Creating stories since childhood! With hand drawn illustrations.

Who doesn’t want to keep doing the thing people love that they consistently get compliments on? 

While I don’t have any doubts about my imperfection now, I have since received some constructive feedback on my writing. Failure is an event, not a state of being, but it took a long time to figure that out. 

4. I Was Bursting with Creativity & Ideas

When I was younger I always had multiple ideas rolling around in my head. I was a pro at making up stories and characters off the cuff. I think part of this is because I used to play this game with my mom and grandma when I was very young where they would make up one part of a story and I would do the next. 

So where were all those ideas supposed to go if they were just rolling around? Onto the paper, of course! I wrote short stories, novels, and even fanfiction (Fruits Basket fanfiction, to be exact). However I could messily get all those thoughts out with a pen and a trusty lined wide-ruled notebook was the way I worked this out. 

I wish I could say I’m bursting with creativity now, but alas, I am much more focused these days. I do have many ideas, but I have been working to weave them all into my current novel so that it can be the best work I’ve done to date.

3. I Wanted Others to Read My Words

Some kids want to be famous athletes or musicians. I didn’t want to be famous, per se, but I did want a lot of people to read my words. I didn’t want the fame in terms of paparazzi, even when I was a kid, but I always thought it would be cool to be a household name. 

I thought that out of all the ideas I had, surely one of them could inspire people like Harry Potter.

As Harry Potter was coming out, I found myself striving to be a next generation JK Rowling. I thought that out of all the ideas I had, surely one of them could inspire people like Harry Potter.

It’s funny because people do read my words now! So, young me would be excited about that. I think to a certain extent all writers want to be heard - it’s just that now I have a more direct approach to get my passion to others. I don’t want to be the next JK Rowling because I want to be the first and only me. And what I want for that me is to help others and to pass on my passion to others. 

2. My Friends Loved It

This probably goes along with never getting criticism, but my friends loved to read my stories. In fact, during the fanfiction phase, we all traded! We even wrote some of it together - a true bond of friendship is sharing your writing, I think. 

They were always interested in what I had to say, so this kept me going back for more! I think many kids, especially teenagers, feel this way, and it still kind of makes me giggle, really. Everyone wants to “fit in” with someone, whether that’s a way to become popular, or to create a bond with similar people. I found those people and boy did we write! 

For the record, I only have one friend I share my writing with these days, at least for now while my novel is a work in progress. The older I get the more I realize how much I thrived on acceptance from other people. While I do like being accepted (who doesn’t?), it’s not a main priority because I have realized that not everyone will like me and my writing - and that’s okay! 

1. I Loved It & It Was Fun

Some things never change, right? I have always loved writing, both the act and the final product. Writing gave me a sense of strength, and it was a way to express myself when it felt like no one else was listening (or got tired of listening because I talked A LOT). 

Writing doesn’t judge you, sass you, or just generally hurt you like people can, so it was a release of angst and emotion, as well as a creative outlet for the swarm of ideas that was constantly hanging around my mind. There was nothing quite like a new pen and a fresh notebook to get the gears turning.

This is still in my list of top writing inspirations, and I think it’s pretty clear that it resonates throughout the other “why” factors, too. Some people love sports or shoes. I love writing (and shoes? We’re allowed to love more than one thing). 

All this to say that my inspiration has changed as I have changed.

All this to say that my inspiration has changed as I have changed. I don’t have the same friends who love my writing - I have new ones. I don’t have the same expectation of being a household name as long as I can help those who really need it. My priorities now are about teaching and growing confidence, which I don’t know that  I ever considered when I was younger. 

I can’t wait to see how I grow as more years pass! One thing is certain, though. I will be here, writing, teaching, and building the confidence of everyone I meet because that’s what I’m called to do. 

What are your writing inspirations? Have they changed from when you were younger? I’d love to hear about them! Drop a comment below or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com - let’s chat!

50 Inspirational Quotes for Teachers

In light of school being moved to e-learning for the remainder of the year at all levels, I wanted to put together a list of inspirational quotes for teachers. 

Our teachers, those who teach kids, teens, and adults, are struggling. It’s such a hard pivot to turn face-to-face classes into online classes. Not only is it a lot of up front work and preparation, but for many it’s something they’ve never done before. Nevermind other worries like whether students have access to the resources they need to succeed in their home environments. Things like computers, the internet, or even enough to eat. 

We worry about our students, and right now a lot of teachers feel like they can’t be there for their students - not in the way they usually are.

Even at the college level, we sometimes don’t realize the impact we can have on our students, not just in their learning, but in their personal and professional growth. I’ve had students, and many of you probably have too, who learn far more in my classes than what I can teach them. 

This is what teachers are missing, and what students are missing, too. Teachers are some of the best and brightest resources we have, and we need to remember that as they are doing their best in this time, they should be treasured. 

Sometimes the best thing we can do for others is share inspiring words and lift them up in the small ways we have available.

So this week, for all educators, but especially my fellow college English teachers, I have gathered 50 of my favorite inspirational quotes for teachers. 

They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.

Carl W. Buehner

Teaching is the greatest act of optimism.

Colleen Wilcox

The dream begins, most of the time,with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.

Dan Rather

What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.

Joseph Addison

Teaching is the profession that teaches all other professions.

Unknown

A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.

Patricia Neal

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

Mark Van Doren

A good teacher is like a candle: it consumes itself to light the way for others.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk 

Children need to be taught how to think, not what to think.

Margaret Mead

Nine tenths of education is encouragement.

Anatole France

Teachers have three loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together.

Scott Hayden

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths pure theatre.

Gail Godwin

To teach is to learn twice over.

Joseph Joubert

Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges.

Joyce Meyer

Everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system.

Sidney Hook

If you have to put someone on a pedestal, put teachers. They are society's heroes.

Guy Kawasaki

Teachers believe they have a gift for giving; it drives them with the same irrepressible drive that drives others to create a work of art or a market or a building.

A. Bartlett Giamatti

I am not a teacher, but an awakener.

Robert Frost

One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world.

Malala Yousafzai

I never teach my pupils, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.

Albert Einstein

What we learn with pleasure we never forget.

Alfred Mercier

The important thing is not so much that every child should be taught, as that every child should be given the wish to learn.

John Lubbock

What you teach today may someday light the world.

L.W. Fox

The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.

B.B. King

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

Aristotle

I entered the classroom with the conviction that it was crucial for me and every other student to be an active participant, not a passive consumer...education as the practice of freedom.... education that connects the will to know with the will to become. Learning is a place where paradise can be created.

bell hooks

In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn.

Phil Collins

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

Anne Frank

The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know.

Simone Weil

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

Malcolm X

We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

Ronald Reagan

The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

Dr. Seuss

The teacher’s task is to initiate the learning process and then get out of the way.

John Warren

Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.

Josef Albers

Education is not to reform students or amuse them or to make them expert technicians. It is to unsettle their minds, widen their horizons, inflame their intellects, teach them to think straight, if possible.

Robert Hutchins

Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task.

Haim Ginott

Teaching is truth mediated by personality.

Phyllis Brooks

When the untapped potential of a student meets the liberating art of a teacher, a miracle unfolds.

Mary Hatwood Futrell

There is no failure.  Only feedback.

Robert Allen

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.

John Steinbeck

Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth.

Helen Caldicott

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of a good teacher.

Temple Grandin

In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else.

Lee Iacocca

Of all the hard jobs around, one of the hardest is being a good teacher.

Maggie Gallagher

If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.

Chinese Proverb

If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.

Ignacio Estrada

Learning is not a spectator sport.

D. Blocher

At the desk where I sit, I have learned one great truth. The answer for all our national problems — the answer for all the problems of the world — comes to a single word. That word is education.

Lyndon B. Johnson

I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think.

Socrates

These are some of my favorite quotes about teachers and education - did I miss any great ones? Drop a comment below or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com and let me know!

How to Know Your Audience

With so many people at home due to the pandemic, it’s a great time to write. I’ve seen a definite uptick in articles about how to start a blog and how to make money online. 

But if you’re a writer who wants to get your ideas out into the big wide world, you need to know your audience! 

Audience

What is an Audience? 

Before we talk about how to know your audience, let’s talk about what an audience actually is. 

An audience is, “a number of people or a particular group of people who watch, read, or listen to the same thing” (Oxford Learner’s Dictionary). 

When we think about writing, an audience is made up of people who are interested in a specific topic or idea, and read about it.

When we think about writing, an audience is made up of people who are interested in a specific topic or idea, and read about it. They are people who care about what you are writing because it means something to them. They are also sometimes the people who can make changes based on your ideas.

For instance, if you want to write about laws in your community, some members of your audience might be lawyers or police men and women. 

Why is it important to know who your audience is?

It might seem like you want to write to everyone - after all, your ideas are important! Right? 

The problem with writing to everyone is that it can make your writing bland.

The problem with writing to everyone is that it can make your writing bland. Similar to wanting everyone to like you (which just isn’t possible), if you try to reach every person with your writing, it’s going to be more vague, and therefore less useful. You will actually end up getting less of an audience, and we don’t want that! 

Audience

Knowing your audience gives you some major advantages: 

Informs Your Writing Having a specific audience allows you to narrow down your many ideas to those that are most relevant. It really helps you figure out what to write about because your audience is made up of people who are interested in similar things. 

Hopefully, when all is said and done, your writing is the similar thing they will be reading! Keeping this thought in the back of your mind helps you to be persuasive and concrete with your words.

Gives you a Focused Purpose When you have a specific audience, you can really hone in on what they want and need. Why should they come to you for information, entertainment, advice, etc.?  Why will they want to keep coming back for more?

You don’t have to worry about whether your words are relevant because you’ve already chosen people who have a vested interest in your topics.

You don’t have to worry about whether your words are relevant because you’ve already chosen people who have a vested interest in your topics. That allows you to get down to the nitty gritty helpful details they are looking for rather than having to explain the basics over and over again.

Allows You to Meet Your Audience Where They’re At This is probably the most important part of knowing your audience: meeting them where they are with information. Have you ever read a book where there were so many big words you didn’t understand at all, even when you knew something about the topic? Or, perhaps, a book that was talking about something advanced with short choppy sentences that really belonged in an elementary school textbook? Probably - maybe even both! 

You don’t want to do either of those things to your readers. You want to anticipate where the general knowledge level will be and talk to them as such. In many ways it’s like a normal conversation. You don’t want to assume they don’t know anything, but you also don’t want to assume they’re experts - some are, but most aren’t!

It’s a delicate balance to figure out what will be helpful and refreshing to your readers in a way that’s not “dumbed down” or overbearing. You can only achieve this balance when you know your audience. 

Steps for knowing your audience

How do you figure out who your audience is? 

We’ve talked an awful lot about what an audience is, and why it’s important to have one in mind when you write, but how the heck do you figure out who YOUR audience is?!

Grab a notebook or a blank document and write or type your answers for each step, that way you will have notes for quick reference as you move through your writing journey. 

Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way! 

1. What do you want to say? 

The very first thing you need to do when figuring out who your audience should be is to think critically about what you want to say. 

Are you interested in promoting activism?

Do you want to connect to others with similar experiences? 

Are you interested in inspiring people?   

Think hard about your goals and decide what message you want to put into the world. This is not to say that you have to have an exact map of every piece of writing or blog you plan to do; on the contrary, by nature, writing must remain flexible. BUT, you should have an idea of what it is that your writing will express at the concept level. These are your global, big picture ideas.

2. Why are you saying your message?

Once you figure out what you want to say, you need to think about why you’re saying it.

Consider:

Why do you want to start writing?

Why do you want to start writing? No matter what your topic is, there is a reason you wanted to write, right? Most people don’t just pick up a difficult and largely isolated hobby like writing if they don’t have a “why.” So what’s your why? 

Once you figure out your personal writing "why," figure out what goal you are trying to achieve with your message.

Do you want to educate? 

Do you want your audience to take action on something? 

Do you want your audience to buy something? 

Do you just want to be heard by like-minded people? 

Remember, something sparked a little fire and excitement in you to get this whole writing thing started. Let’s take that idea and put it on paper and make it a concrete part of your journey. 

3. Who needs to hear your message?

You’ve figured out what you want to say, and why. That’s great! Now you need to figure out who exactly needs to hear your message. (This is why the “why” part is important). 

Who are the people who will be interested in your message?

Who are the stakeholders for your topics?

What kinds of characteristics does your topic appeal to in your audience?

Think back to our example about laws in your community. If you’re trying to effect change: 

Who will be interested? The citizens who are most affected by the law in question, right? Students studying law. Law enforcement officials who uphold the law. The attorneys and members of local government who made or are also trying to change the law.  

Probably not surprisingly, many of these interested parties are also stakeholders. These are people who are directly affected by the law, and who also have the ability to make changes: law enforcement, attorneys, and local government officials are all really important stakeholders because they have the power to make a difference on the issues.

Finally, what kinds of characteristics does your topic appeal to in the interested parties and stakeholders? Are you using logic with facts and evidence? Are you appealing to their compassionate human side? Are you making them think critically about the situation using interesting language and pertinent information?  

The people in your audience are interested, and more than likely, some of them are stakeholders who can make a difference and who are actively affected by your topics. 

4. How is your audience already talking about & searching for ideas similar to yours? 

First of all, stop and take a moment to look at the hard work you’ve done so far. Figuring out your audience is hard work! It’s not something that's natural for many people, so the fact that you have come so far is awesome. Nice work!

Moving right along. You’ve figured out what you want to say, why you’re saying it, and who needs to hear your message. The next step is to figure out how your audience, the one you identified in step three, is already talking about and looking for ideas that are related to what you want to say.

What are they saying on social media?

What are they typing into Pinterest?

What are they Googling? 

Where are they going to find ideas like yours?

Take some time and look around on social media. What Facebook groups are available to join? Are there hashtags or Twitter threads about your topic? What pins can you find when you look on Pinterest? 

Also do some research on keywords: those words and phrases your audience is typing in to search for your topics.

To get ideas for keywords, pretend you are a member of your audience and brainstorm how you would find information about your topic.

To get ideas for keywords, pretend you are a member of your audience and brainstorm how you would find information about your topic. What words would you use to search? How would you find information like what you’re writing? If you would be part of your ideal audience, make some notes about what you do search for when you look for these topics.

Some good free resources are Google Ads Keyword Planner & Keyword Tool. 

Remember, you’re joining an ongoing conversation, so you need to know what’s out there because your audience has already been thinking and talking about it. 

5. How will you get your message to your audience?

You’re almost there! You’re knowledgeable about your message and you know quite a bit about your audience. 

The next step in really knowing your audience is to figure out how you are going to get your message to your audience. This step is similar to finding where your audience is already talking because you want to go where they go!

Where is the most conversation happening about your topics?

Where do you enjoy communicating with others? 

How can you best get your message out to your audience? 

Once you know where the conversation is and where your audience is hanging out, you can decide where to put your message so they have prime time access to it. That could be: social media, a blog, Pinterest, Medium, YouTube, or wherever else you might find during your research. 

6. How will you talk to your audience? 

You’ve made it! You’re on the final step of knowing your audience. How do you feel? Pumped? Prepared? Excited? Maybe a little bit of everything. 

The final thing you need to do to know your audience is to figure out how to talk to them.

The final thing you need to do to know your audience is to figure out how to talk to them. These are the ways you reach out and how you express yourself. Your words, your expressions, and the way you want them to respond to your message.

Do you want to be casual and friendly in your writing? Maybe use colloquialisms to connect on a personal level?

Do you want to be direct and factual? Perhaps use facts and statistics to impress your audience on your knowledge level & establish credibility?

Do you want to be approachable and hands-on? Ready to jump in and help with anything your audience will ask?

The key to deciding how to talk to your audience is understanding how they will interact with your message. Think about the ways you want your audience to think and feel when they read your writing. Then, tailor your writing to fit these anticipated feelings. 

Congratulations! You know your audience and you are ready to get your important message out there into the world. 

If you aren’t quite ready yet, that’s okay, too! I have this pretty nifty Know Your Audience Guide that will walk you through the steps and give you room to think out loud on paper. Fill out the short form below to get your copy now!

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If, at any point, you need a sounding board or just a friendly face to talk to while you’re working through the guide, don’t hesitate to reach out via social media, the blog contact form, or email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com.

I sincerely enjoy helping people do audience analysis, and it’s an important part of writing if you want to write really effective words and put them out there for the world to see.

Interview with an Author: Dr. Emily Ruth Rutter

Our March guest author here at Capturing Your Confidence is Dr. Emily Ruth Rutter.

Emily Ruth Rutter is an Assistant Professor of English and a Ball Brothers Honors College Faculty Fellow at Ball State University. She is the author of Invisible Ball of Dreams: Literary Representations of Baseball behind the Color Line (University Press of Mississippi, 2018) and The Blues Muse: Race, Gender, and Musical Celebrity in American Poetry (University of Alabama Press, 2018), as well as a co-editor of Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era (Routledge, 2019).

Her numerous essays have been published in African American Review, Aethlon, and MELUS, among other journals. Her book chapter on African American women poets appears in A Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century American Women’s Poetry, and a book chapter on Amiri Baraka and sports is forthcoming in Some Other Blues: New Perspectives on Amiri Baraka (Ohio State UP, 2021).

Published author

We connected with Dr. Rutter about her writing & teaching experiences, and what advice she would give to aspiring authors.

Tell us about your writing journey. Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Yes, I think I have always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t gain the confidence necessary to become one until graduate school.

Where did the idea for your edited collection, Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era, develop from?

The late poet-scholar Tiffany Austin (may she rest in peace) and I had been discussing the raft of elegies mourning victims of police killings and other state-sanctioned murders. We had also been noticing that many of these poems invoking Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland and so many others were not making the expected elegiac turn toward consolation but instead were using the poetic page as a tool of resistance to anti-black violence and ideologies. 

I published two books before..., but I can honestly say that this collection has been the most meaningful, both in that it has given us the opportunity to honor Tiffany and that it signifies my aspirations to work in community and solidarity in the struggle for black liberation.

Tiffany and I then began to conceive of Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Eraas a book that would interlace contemporary Black Lives Matter elegies with critical essays about elegiac writing. We issued a call for papers, received a lot of incredible critical abstracts and poems, and then signed a book contract with Routledge. Tiffany died very unexpectedly shortly thereafter, and two of the book’s poet-scholars, Sequoia Maner and darlene anita scott, signed on as co-editors. 

I published two books, The Blues Muse: Race, Gender, and Musical Celebrity in American Poetryand Invisible Ball of Dreams: Literary Representations of Baseball behind the Color Line, before Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era, but I can honestly say that this collection has been the most meaningful, both in that it has given us the opportunity to honor Tiffany and that it signifies my aspirations to work in community and solidarity in the struggle for black liberation. If your readers are interested, they can purchase the book here and visit our website here.

How does the process of collaboration work between multiple editors? How does it differ from working on a piece of your own?

Working with multiple editors requires a dialogic model that I really appreciate. As much as I love writing, it can be a rather solitary activity. I find that the more my writing and ideas more generally are developed in communities the stronger and more meaningful they become.

What was your process for putting the collection together?

As I noted, Tiffany and I issued the initial call for papers and poems, and then Sequoia, darlene, and I worked with all of the poets and essayists to polish and arrange the pieces into what we hope will be a volume that resonates with people and reading groups both in and outside of the academe.

Describe your biggest writing obstacle and how you overcame it.

My writing obstacle is always sitting down and doing it. I try to set the bar really low when I sit down to write and then pleasantly surprise myself if I surpass my expectations.

How do you balance teaching and writing? Where, if any, do you see intersections between your work and your writing?

My teaching and writing work very reciprocally. I write about texts and ideas that I then share with my students, and their feedback likewise works itself back into the writing. Even the task of preparing to teach a text often engenders fresh insights. 

My teaching and writing work very reciprocally.

Moreover, since I teach writing, it’s helpful to be co-laboring with students, commiserating about the challenges but also sharing in the rewards of writing as a way of thinking and expanding our worldviews.

What is the part of the book (or process) you are most proud of?

I am proud that Revisiting the Elegy in the Black Lives Matter Era showcases a wide range of voices and that, unlike my previous academic books, this volume is approachable for non-academics. Also, Sequoia, darlene, and I have agreed to donate any book proceeds to the Movement for Black Lives.

Do you have plans for another book or additional published writing in the future?

I am in the process of completing my fourth book, Black Celebrity: Creative Recuperations of Postbellum, Pre-Harlem Renaissance Athletes and Artists, which examines the recent literary interest in the black athletes, theatrical performers, and musicians that gained fame during the crucial decades between the end of the Civil War and the launching of the Harlem Renaissance (1865-1919). 

In particular, I argue that contemporary novelists Caryl Phillips and Jeffery Renard Allen and poets Kevin Young, Frank X Walker, Adrian Matejka, and Tyehimba Jess: 1) use innovative formal strategies to recover multifaceted subjectivities in the face of racialized objectification and erasure; 2) engage with archival materials while evincing their biases and lacunae; 3) highlight their own modes of artistic excavation in order to remind readers of the human hands that shape all historical narratives; 4) draw parallels between the experiences of the first wave of black stars and their contemporary counterparts. 

I am in the process of completing my fourth book, Black Celebrity: Creative Recuperations of Postbellum, Pre-Harlem Renaissance Athletes and Artists

Creative recuperations, I conclude, both revise understandings of black celebrity history and make legible the through-lines between the postbellum, pre-Harlem Renaissance era and our own time.

 I also have a few articles and book chapters forthcoming and have plans for a future book project about representations of white allies in contemporary television and film, tentatively titled White Allies: Representations and Ruminations.

Do you write creatively, or would you ever consider doing creative writing? If so, how do you think that differs from your academic writing?

I dabble in poetry and creative nonfiction now and again. At this point, I’m still primarily focused on my academic writing projects.

What do you want the world to know about you as an author?

In The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin notes, “To accept one’s past—one’s history—is not the same thing as drowning in it. It is learning how to use it.” As a writer who is especially interested in the relationship between America’s sociopolitical and cultural past and present, I heed these words of wisdom. 

I attempt to face America’s often brutal past unflinchingly and then to consider how artists grapple with both the specter and the lessons of history. Moreover, I strive to recognize the limits of my knowledge and to be forthcoming about them. 

I attempt to face America’s often brutal past unflinchingly and then to consider how artists grapple with both the specter and the lessons of history.

Along these same lines, I see my writing as a series of possibilities for forging new bonds and elucidating fresh ways of knowing. Perhaps those aims are not always realized, but I’m deeply invested in the process and potential that writing offers us.  

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to aspiring writers?

Every writer has to chart her/his/their own course, but I’ll pass along the practices that keep me focused and motivated.

First, cultivate a community of fellow writers with whom you can share your work and solicit feedback.

Second, attempt to marry your goals and values as a person with the aims of your writing. In short, integrate writing into the social and political fabric of your life.

Want to interact with the editors of this text? Check out their awesome event! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this event is rescheduled for Fall 2020. Stay tuned for updates as I get them!

Black Lives reading event

If you would like to purchase Dr. Rutter's book to use in your classroom, or just to read, you can find a copy here.

If you know an author, or of an author, you would love to read an interview with, email me at rachel@capturingyourconfidence.com!