Kern Carter's Blog, page 162
November 23, 2019
November 21, 2019
November 20, 2019
November 19, 2019
Tell me the first time you felt like a writer
After all those rejection stories, it’s time to feel good again. I want to hear about the first time you felt like a writer.
Even though I wrote my first book in third grade, the first time I consciously felt like a writer didn’t happen till I wrote the first few pages of what would eventually become Thoughts of a Fractured Soul. I showed it to my older brother and he said, “it feels like a novel.” That’s all I needed. It’s been ON since then.
But enough about me. I want to hear your stories. Tell me the first moment you felt validated. That validation could come from some kind of awakening inside yourself, it can be from an external source like another publication or another person, or maybe it hasn’t happened yet. I’m down to hear your story if you’re still waiting for that climatic experience (hint: if you’re writing, you’re a writer). I think the conversation around what it means to be a “real” writer is interesting, so if you feel like taking it there, go for it. We’ll welcome those stories, too.
How to share your stories with CRYIf you’re already a writer for CRY, then simply submit your story. If you’d like to submit but aren’t yet a writer for CRY, comment on this post and I’ll add you to the team. Please share your story as a draft. It makes things much easier to manage.
Really excited about this theme! Can’t wait to see what you all have to share.
CRY
Tell me the first time you felt like a writer was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
November 15, 2019
Am I sabotaging my dreams by being open to other opportunities?
I know where I want to go, but should that stop me from trying other things?
November 14, 2019
Does the new California law really support writers?
A new law in California that’s supposed to protect writers is headed for an interesting twist. Assembly Bill 5 will take effect in January of 2020. It states that if a writer contributes more than 35 submissions, that writer must be hired as an employee.
Obviously this law was well-intentioned. You can see on its surface that it’s meant to first, protect the jobs of full-time writers who are being replaced by freelancers in subversion of these companies having to payout benefits. It also protects freelancers from not getting proper compensation and benefits for their output. But intentions have a way of getting muddied in its application.
Since writing is a job that can take place from anywhere, namely the 49 other states and anywhere else in the world for that matter, businesses can simply not hire California based writers. Apparently, this is something that’s already happening and it’s making it tough for writers from Cali to get any gigs.
You can read more about what’s happening out west in the LA Times.
CRY
MORE FROM CRYHave you read my first novella Thoughts of a Fractured Soul? It’s about a teenager whose life changes when he becomes a father at 17. It’s an emotional depiction of the battle he faces between his ambitions, his expectations, and the real-life responsibility of being a parent.
Does the new California law really support writers? was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
November 13, 2019
The first fairytales were feminist
This is interesting. Growing up, I always thought that fairy tales derived from oral traditions. Apparently I was wrong. Fairytales were actually born out of a repressive 17th-century French regime.
Young girls were being forced into arranged marriages which they weren’t allowed to leave. And if there were any hints of digression on the wife’s part, they could be sent to a convent for up to two years.
That, plus many other oppressive laws under Louis XIV and his band of clerics incited Marie Catherine D’Aulroy to write the first fairytale in 1690. The protagonist was a heroine and many of the fairytales that followed were parodied or sattired towards the unjust systems of the time.
Pretty damn cool. You can read much more about this in the Guardian.
CRY
MORE FROM CRYThoughts of a Fractured Soul is my first novella. It tells the story of a teenage father forced to make life-changing decisions for both himself and his family.
The first fairytales were feminist was originally published in C.R.Y on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
November 12, 2019
Life: Facing The Blank Pages
It is the simplicity of coffee, a warm soft blanket & a journal that often rewards my soul with peaceful expansion more than anything else.
When Rejection Says No, Ingenuity Claps Back
My Grandmother’s death killed a book deal, ruined my Upwork rating and saved my career.
