New subscribers—and veteran Writers at Work—here’s a special (very short) punctuation pick-me-up to finish your day strong.
Place that comma with ease. Use that period with oomph. Draw the reader from one clause to the next with a sassy semicolon.
Enjoy punctuation marks, one and all.
If you aren’t a paid subscriber, become one today. My goal with Writers at Work is to help every writer produce their best work and get paid (very well) to do it.
Why?
Because the public shouldn’t assume that writers should work for free. The more of us out there charging for our exceptional work, the sooner the public will be used to paying for our ideas and words.
Your annual subscription of $3/month helps me help you
master the art (and business) of being a creative writer on Substack (including serialization and sandboxing your work with an eye toward getting an agent and a book deal), and
strengthen your writing habits (e.g., stop procrastinating!),
produce writing that readers (including agents and editors) really (really) want to read and pay for.
Plus, you’ll have access to
mini-courses to help you prep your novel or memoir to serialize and
the full archive.
But really, why should you have to pay for it?
As George Saunders puts it, this is simple commerce. I’m a teacher, and I’m bringing the wisdom I’ve gained teaching creative writing over the past twenty years (The University of Iowa, Northwestern University, et al.), as a freelance writer (The New York Times and elsewhere), and as an author (HarperCollins) to you.
I’m not a tenured professor with a cushy job. Your paid subscription allows me to give you and other writers the support you need to build (or resuscitate) your writing careers for $3/month.
Your writing and writing career are worth it.
Punctuation on the Street