If you missed this Editor-on-Call, here’s your update. Don’t miss the next one.

Welcome to all my recent subscribers. I’m so glad you’re here.

Many of you have found me through my book Writing That Gets Noticed, my podcast Freelance Writing Direct, my TEDx Talk, or my classes and webinars through NYU and Writer’s Digest. One of the things I love most is giving you direct access to editors so you can understand not just what works, but how decisions are actually made in real time. My greatest joy is to demystify the publishing process.

In my latest Editor-on-Call, I spoke with Susan Dabbar, founder and editor-in-chief of PROVOKED.

This conversation took place as part of a virtual Editor-on-Call event I hosted at NYU’s School of Professional Studies—see my new Fall class Pitch to Publish. The insights Susan shared were too good not to bring directly to you here.

Susan Dabbar is the founder and editor-in-chief of PROVOKED — a publication she launched at 65, bootstrapped from scratch, and built to over 30,000 subscribers in fifteen months. Her mission is sharp and personal.

What follows are the key moments from our conversation, and my Estelle’s Edge on them.

I also offer an opportunity for a pitch review for PROVOKED or elsewhere to paid subscribers.

On what PROVOKED is and who it’s for

Susan started PROVOKED because she looked around at the media landscape and didn’t see herself or her peers reflected anywhere. The seven sisters — McCall’s, Women’s Day, Self — are gone or going. What remains doesn’t speak to women who are vibrant, opinionated, and nowhere near done.

So she built it herself. She wanted a publication that was sharp, personal, and unafraid. When she put out her first call for writers, her opening line was: “Imagine if the Bustle, Slate, and The Atlantic had a threesome. That’s the writer I’m looking for.”

And for the overall tone? “Anne Lamott goes to brunch with Fran Leibowitz and they bring a flask. Two gals talking about where they’ve been and where they still want to go — and they’re not holding back.”

On Voice

Susan is crystal clear: without voice, you disappear.

She’s looking for writing that provokes: that pokes at culture, at the patriarchy, at assumptions. But she was quick to clarify that voice doesn’t mean loud. One of her early writers, she said, “whispers. But she’s voicey still.”

Estelle’s Edge: Voice is not style. Style is something you can imitate (Stephen King used to try on different writing styles when he was first starting out as a writer). Voice is what’s left when you stop trying to sound like a writer. If your draft could have been written by anyone else, it needs more of you in it. More specific details. More of a genuine reaction.

On what makes a strong opening

Susan came to editing through fifteen years in college admissions, reading thousands of Common App essays for competitive schools. That experience shaped how fast she makes decisions about writing. She gives a piece three sentences. If she’s not in it by then, she’s gone. She doesn’t want setup, context, or explanation. She wants to be dropped directly into the action, the ache, the question, already in motion.

Estelle’s Edge: Think of your first line as a door the reader walks through, not a hallway that leads to one. If you find yourself writing “I sat down in the chair” or “I sipped my coffee as I looked out the window,” or “It was an ordinary Tuesday,” that’s your sign to keep scrolling until you find the real beginning.

On what she’s actually looking for in a pitch

Susan returns to two questions for every piece:

“Why does it matter to women? And most importantly, why does it matter right now?”

She wants essays braided with cultural context. She doesn’t just want personal stories, she wants personal stories that connect to something larger. “The essay always starts with a woman’s specific truth. But at the end, I want every woman nodding and saying, oh yeah. I gotta text this to my daughter, or my bestie, because I really feel this.”

Estelle’s Edge: This is what separates a diary entry from a published essay. Ask yourself: “So What? What is the reader supposed to walk away thinking, feeling, or questioning? The “So What” doesn’t have to be a grand statement, but it has to exist, and it has to be felt.

On structure and arc

Susan wants movement across time: a then, a now, and a sense of what shifted between them. She’s not asking for tidy resolution. In fact she prefers essays that don’t wrap up cleanly. But the reader needs to feel that something has changed: some understanding, some awareness, some hard-won perspective. An essay about something that happened twenty years ago has to arrive somewhere in the present: what you know now, what you’d pass on, how you’ve moved through it.

Estelle’s Edge: The essay should show some evolution. I call it leaving a gift for the reader in my writing book. If your piece is all then and no now, it’s an anecdote. If it’s all now and no then, it’s an opinion piece. The essay needs both, and the movement between them. That distance is where the essay lives.

On endings

Susan is emphatic: don’t resolve it. Don’t over-explain. Don’t summarize. She wants endings that leave the reader still thinking, still turning the piece over, still sitting with something unresolved. When I mentioned my concept of writing past the end of the essay, she immediately connected with it…that lasting power of a piece that stays with you long after you’ve closed the page.

Estelle’s Edge: Read your last paragraph and ask: Am I landing the ending, or am I explaining or summarizing? I call it the schoolyard “In Conclusion” type of ending.

On structure: braiding

This was one of Susan’s most passionate points. She doesn’t want essays that move in blocks: personal story, then service, then reflection, then back again. That kind of segmented structure kills momentum. What she wants is for those elements to be woven together so tightly the reader can’t see the seams. Her piece Landman’s Woman: A Real Oil Man’s Wife Responds was her example: a hot TV show braided with her personal experience as an oil wife, delivering what she calls service, not the listicle kind, but the kind that makes a reader stop and recognize something true.

Estelle’s Edge: If you want to hear a masterclass in braiding, listen to my recent podcast episode with Kerry Docherty, author of Selfish, on Freelance Writing Direct: Reclaiming “Selfish”: On Craft, Creativity, and Braiding Truth into Memoir.

On titles

Titles matter more than most writers think. Susan reads them as a signal of confidence and clarity: a strong title tells her the writer knows exactly what the piece is about and isn't circling the idea. A weak or vague title means she has to go searching for the angle herself, and that's already a problem. Titles can change in editing, but the working title you submit tells her how you think.

Estelle’s Edge: If you’re struggling to title it, that can be a sign the angle isn’t sharp enough yet. Try writing ten possible titles before you submit, and try using active verbs. The process will clarify what the piece is actually about.

On what she wants more of

Humor is at the top of her list: “who doesn’t want something smart and funny?” She also wants travel pieces, but only with a real hook. “Traveling solo to Portugal — I’ve been pitched that eight times. When you Google it, there are 500 articles. That’s not a hook anymore.”

She also wants more cultural hot takes. The kind where a writer hits her inbox on a Sunday morning and says, “I got this.”

On platform

Susan doesn’t look at follower counts or social media presence when evaluating a piece. She pulls writers from unexpected places based purely on voice. Some of PROVOKED’s best performing pieces have come from writers with no platform at all. The story is the credential.

On what writers should be writing about

Susan had a pointed answer to writers who are still searching for their subject: “The thing you’re afraid of is probably the best thing you could be writing about.”

Writers tend to avoid the material that feels most exposed or uncertain. But that’s often where the depth is. That’s where the writing gets honest.

Estelle’s Edge: When you notice yourself circling a topic, softening it, or deciding it’s “too personal,” pay attention. That discomfort is often pointing directly at the story only you can tell. You don’t have to share everything, but you do have to be willing to go toward what scares you, even a little. That’s where the writing gets real. I’ve written about this before on this site: On Craft, Revision, And the Paragraph You Almost Cut.

How can someone break in?

Susan described two main paths.

The first is joining her masthead as a regular contributor. She's always looking, and she pulls writers from unexpected places, including directly from Substack, based purely on voice. The second, and more accessible entry point, is Dear Reader — personal essays of 800–1,000 words that read like one chapter of a memoir. She receives ten to twenty-five submissions a week and typically publishes two or three. A piece that makes the cut goes into the Thursday newsletter to 30,000+ subscribers that same week. As she put it, an essay published today reaches more people tomorrow morning than a memoir might reach in its entire first year.

Susan has also put together a detailed pitching guide — one of the most direct and useful documents I've seen from any editor. Download it here.

To get a feel for the publication before you pitch, read some of their standout pieces: The Truth About Fancy Salt, Cerulean Is Back: Miranda Priestly Was Almost Right.

When you’re ready to submit: Submit Your Pitch to PROVOKED.

The logistics

Word count: 800–1,200 words, with most pieces landing around 900–1,000.

Pay: Regular contributors are paid by the word, starting at 75 cents and up. Dear Reader pieces pay $300–$450. Strong Dear Reader writers can move onto the masthead.

Rights: Rights are work for hire. This means that PROVOKED retains rights to the published piece. Susan is generous though. You can use the material in other forms (including a memoir) as long as you’re not republishing the same piece elsewhere.

Newsletter: Every published piece goes into the Thursday newsletter to 30,000+ subscribers. Your work gets read.

For paid subscribers: Here is the actual pitch I sent to Susan — and what you can take from it for your own submissions. The best part: it was accepted and published. You can read the final piece here: When Your Colleague Isn't A Friend. She's A Frenemy.

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Happy New Year.

I am just back from a family trip to Perth, Australia, where my brother-in-law lives, with a stop in Dubai along the way. Travel has a way of sharpening perspective, and as I returned to my desk and my own work, I found myself thinking again about revision, risk, and the moments writers are most tempted to erase.

There is a moment in the revision process that almost every writer recognizes.

You are rereading a draft you know has promise. The structure is sound. The scenes are doing real work. And then you reach a paragraph that makes you hesitate. It feels slightly off, slightly unruly.

You hover over it.

You tell yourself you are tightening. You try to think like an editor.

And very often, you cut it.

I have done this myself, more than once, especially when I was starting out in publishing over thirty years ago.

But what I have realized over my long career, working from both sides of the desk, is that this point in your essay, article, or book is often one of the most important moments in the life of a piece.

Before I was a writing teacher, before I wrote Writing That Gets Noticed, before I became the founder, executive producer, and host of the Freelance Writing Direct podcast, and before I did my TEDx Talk, I was a magazine editor in chief. I assigned stories. I edited them. I fought for them in meetings. I watched drafts evolve, sometimes beautifully, sometimes into something smaller than they had been.

What I learned early, and what I continue to see now in my students and clients, is this:

Writers rarely cut what is weak first.
They cut what feels risky.

That risk often has nothing to do with quality. It has everything to do with judgment.

The Misunderstanding at the Heart of “Tightening”

Writers are taught to value restraint. To be disciplined. To get to the point. All of that matters. Words always matter. But somewhere along the way, restraint became confused with obedience.

I cannot tell you how many drafts I read as an editor where the writing was competent, even polished, but felt strangely absent of emotion. The voice had been whittled down. The thinking had been smoothed out. End result: the piece behaved.

I don’t love those kinds of pieces. They rarely landed with me, and rarely got noticed.

What stayed with me were essays where the writer trusted the reader enough to let complexity remain visible on the page. Where the paragraph that lingered was doing essential emotional work, even if it disrupted the expected rhythm.

In Writing That Gets Noticed, I talk about this as the danger of explaining too soon. Writers often rush to interpret their own material before the reader has had a chance to experience it. The impulse is understandable. We want to be clear. We want to be fair. We want to signal self awareness.

But explanation, when it arrives too early, drains energy from the page.

Meaning lands more powerfully when it is earned rather than announced.

What Editors Are Actually Listening For

Editors are not reading with a stopwatch. They are reading for command of the story.

Command sounds like a writer who knows why a scene begins where it does. Who understands the emotional logic of the piece even when the structure bends.

I often tell my students this:
If you feel the urge to justify a paragraph, pause. The justification is often the signal that something alive is happening there. That there may be untapped passion that can be excavated for the story.

When I hear editors talk candidly, on panels or privately, they rarely say they want writers to be safer. They say they want writing that feels exciting. Writing that knows where it is going. Writing that does not flatten itself in anticipation of judgment.

This comes up again and again on Freelance Writing Direct. Memoirists describe the scene they almost removed because it felt too exposed, only to realize later it was the emotional fulcrum of the work. Editors admit they stop reading when a piece starts justifying itself instead of trusting the scene. Agents talk about voice as the one thing they cannot retrofit after the fact.

Voice requires permission. And many writers do not give it to themselves.

The Paragraph You Almost Cut

Don’t ask

Can I cut this?
Ask, What would be lost if I did? Does it move the story forward? Does it suggest how it might?

If a paragraph troubles you because it feels indulgent, slow, or deeply personal, pause before deleting it. Ask what it reveals that no other paragraph does. Ask how it complicates the story rather than resolving it too neatly.

Sometimes that paragraph needs shaping.

Sometimes it needs repositioning.

Sometimes it needs pruning.

And sometimes it needs defending.

As an editor in chief, I often found myself protecting precisely the moments writers wanted to eliminate. Those moments were usually where the writer stopped performing and started thinking on the page.

Which brings me to something I have been reflecting on recently in my own work, especially as I work on my own memoir.

Listening Back, and Looking Forward

In my recent podcast conversation with Abigail Thomas, #171, Musings on Writing Through Uncertainty) we talked about memory, voice, and what it means to write toward truth rather than tidiness. Abigail writes with a quiet command of the material that does not explain itself. Her work trusts the reader. It allows silence. It lets the sentence do the thinking.

That conversation stayed with me.

So did my recent solo recap episode, #172, where I reflected on the past year of writing, teaching, grief, momentum, and staying with the work even when it was not ready to be shared publicly. Listening back, I was struck by how often the throughline was not productivity, but patience and attention.

That same attention is what revision demands.

An Invitation, and a Practical Exercise

I want to leave you with something concrete you can use in revision.

If you are revising right now, try this.

Identify the paragraph you are most tempted to cut. Copy it into a separate document. Answer these questions honestly:

• What does this paragraph reveal about the narrator that nothing else does?

• What emotional or intellectual tension does it hold open?

• If I keep it, what responsibility does it place on the surrounding structure?

Then revise around that paragraph instead of against it.

It’s about intention.

What’s Next, If You Want to Go Deeper

If this piece resonates, I’m teaching an upcoming live webinar in collaboration with Writer’s Digest, focused on shaping memoir and personal essays through revision decisions that strengthen resonance without overexplaining. It’s designed for writers who already have material and want to refine it with greater clarity and intention.

Amplifying the Echo Effect in Memoir and Essays
February 26, 1:00–2:30 pm ET

In this interactive session, we’ll look closely at how patterns, restraint, and emotional callbacks can deepen a piece and help meaning accrue on the page. I’ll share concrete examples, revision strategies, and exercises you can apply immediately to work you already have in progress.

Learn more and register here.

If you’d like future posts to dig further into editorial decision-making, revision ethics, and voice-driven craft, let me know.

An article in Provoked Magazine

I recently wrote an essay for Provoked titled “When Your Colleague Isn’t a Friend. She’s a Frenemy.” It looks at the subtle ways professional relationships can undermine us, how quickly we internalize that behavior as personal failure, and what becomes clearer once we name what is actually happening.

The piece grew out of a hurtful experience that stayed with me. Writing it helped me see the situation more clearly and reclaim parts of myself I had quietly given away.

One line that captures the heart of the essay:

“In the face of her snark, I became a lesser version of myself and didn’t deliver a more characteristic-of-me clap back. And felt like crap about it.”

If you have ever dealt with someone who smiled while diminishing you, or felt yourself shrink in a space where you were trying to do good work, this essay may resonate.

Read the full piece here. Comments and shares are always welcome.

Craft Essay in Open Secrets Magazine

Open Secrets recently featured my craft essay “How to Make Concessions When Writing Confessions.”

In it, I explore how personal essayists can balance honesty with discernment. What to reveal. What to withhold. And how thoughtful concessions can deepen, rather than dilute, the emotional power of a piece.

This essay is especially useful for writers revising personal work and deciding what truly serves the story.

Read the full essay here.

Listening Highlight: Modern Love

I also want to highlight a recent Modern Love episode featuring writer Leslie Blanchard, whose essay “Negotiating the End of Us” was developed in my class, with my help.

Her episode is a beautiful example of what happens when a writer trusts the work, stays with revision, and allows complexity to remain on the page. If you are interested in how personal essays evolve from draft to publication, this is worth a listen.

Latest on the Podcast

The most recent episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Episode #173, features Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, author of the new noir essay collection: Pool Fishing, and longtime host of the podcast Writers on Writing. We talk about writing flawed female characters in noir, resisting the urge to smooth complexity into palatability, and why tension and consequence are often what give a piece its charge. Listen/watch here.

Working with Me

I teach and mentor writers at different stages of their work. If you’re looking for sustained guidance, close editorial attention, and a thoughtful revision process, these are the primary ways to work with me.
At New York University, I teach courses focused on memoir, personal essays, and revision, helping students shape lived experience into publishable work. My next course starts in the Spring. Click here for more information and to register.
I also lead private small-group memoir workshops, where writers work closely with me over six weeks on structure, judgment, and revision. January and March sessions are sold out. The next session begins May 2026. To join the waiting list, email freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com.
In addition, I teach craft webinars and courses through Writer’s Digest.

Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide.

About Estelle

Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, TEDx speaker, and author of Writing That Gets Noticed. She is the founder, executive producer, and host of Freelance Writing Direct and an adjunct professor at NYU. Her work has appeared in more than 150 publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor in chief of five national magazines.

Thank You and an Offer

Before anything else, I want to thank my paid subscribers. Your support sustains this newsletter, my teaching, and the ongoing production of Freelance Writing Direct. Producing a podcast takes real resources, from editing and hosting to paying my team, and your subscriptions allow me to continue doing this work with care and intention. I’m genuinely grateful.

As a way of saying thank you, I’m offering a focused editorial opportunity connected directly to this essay, along with curated bonus podcast material that extends the revision questions raised here.

Paid subscribers will also be invited to a live AMA, where we can talk more directly about revision decisions, structure, and the questions raised here.

If you are a paid subscriber, thank you. More below.

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If you enjoy this post, a comment or ❤️ lets me know you’re reading.

Many of you have found me through my book Writing That Gets Noticed (named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Wri…

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Last week was my birthday, which always makes me nostalgic as I reflect on where I’ve been and where I’m going. That’s also what a good story in a memoir does best. It …

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Hi friends,

I recently got back from a multigenerational family reunion in Fiji where my in-laws retired to after living in Australia. The days were filled with laughte…

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Hello and welcome everyone!

I’m honored to have you here. Many of you have found me through my writing guide, Writing That Gets Noticed (New World Library), or from my…

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I’m so excited to share that my TEDx Talk, How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond, is officially live! Watch it here

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Welcome to all my recent subscribers. I’m honored to have you here. Many of you have found me through my award-winning writing book, Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published, or through my podcast Freelance Writing Direct which was named 2025 Podcast of the Year (Education) by The American Writing Awards. I’m so grateful for your support and continued encouragement. It means the world to me.

If you've ever dreamed of seeing your byline in the pages of Cosmopolitan or Seventeen, then you will want to check out this post, especially if you missed my free editor-on-call event a little while ago.

In the latest segment of my Editor-On-Call series—run in partnership with NYU where I teach—I sat down with Willa Bennett, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, for a conversation packed with publishing gold.

Want to join the next one? Keep an eye on this newsletter for future event invites—or become a paid subscriber for early access and priority RSVP. And make sure to subscribe for Freelance Writing Direct. My latest episode #135 was a discussion about getting an agent and a book published with fabulous literary agent Joelle DelBourgo: Query Letters, Persuasive Proposals and Publishing Secrets (I also include links to other episodes with agents.)

During our chat, Willa shared invaluable insights into how to pitch, what kind of stories stand out, and the editorial missions behind these iconic publications. She didn’t hold back—sharing what kinds of stories make her hit 'reply' (and which ones go straight to archive).

💬 “I love a personal essay.” – Willa said it multiple times during our conversation, and she meant it. Whether it’s about a breakup, a transformation, or identity, she’s looking for stories that feel urgent, deeply personal, and specific.

When it comes to pitching Cosmopolitan, Willa emphasized the importance of specificity and voice. She's drawn to stories grounded in personal experience, with a clear reason they need to be told now. A strong headline and a concise pitch (just a paragraph or two) go a long way. And yes, she reads cold emails.

Personal essays are a favorite at Cosmo, especially when they illuminate something universally relatable. The best ones aren't just about events (“I had a breakup”) but about insight (“Why this breakup changed my relationship with love—and myself”). Bonus points for essays that include light research or expert context to deepen the story’s impact.

Cosmo's key editorial areas include sex and relationships, pop culture, beauty and fashion (approached with authenticity and nuance), identity, and wellness. Willa made it clear that Cosmo is for everyone—not just women—and that great storytelling resonates across generations. Her goal is to champion stories that help readers live more fully in themselves.

Op-eds are welcome, too—but they must be timely and tightly argued. Think: Why does this opinion matter today? Whether it's a response to a political moment, a pop culture trend, or a cultural shift, the op-ed needs to feel urgent and grounded. Willa noted that well-argued opinion pieces stand out in a crowded media landscape, and social media is basically one big op-ed arena.

There’s a lot of exciting development at both magazines. Cosmo has just launched Cosmo Sports and is actively looking for stories from college athletes and sports-adjacent voices—think: “a day in the life” of a D1 athlete or a personal narrative about navigating gender in competitive sports. Meanwhile, Seventeen remains a dynamic social-first brand, focused on identity, rising voices, and Gen Z cultural milestones. Willa says she welcomes fresh writers, especially for 17—she’d love to be someone’s first byline.

She’s also open to essays from a parent’s POV for Seventeen and stories inspired by what Gen Z is watching, listening to, and obsessing over. Internet culture pieces, TikTok trends, and commentary on pop moments all have a home there.

Estelle’s Edge: Pitching is a muscle. So to get better at it, work it out, often. This is the habit I recommend to every student and coaching client who wants to break into top-tier outlets—and it works.

✨ “Pitching is a muscle.” – That’s my mantra, and I share it with every student I teach and every writer I coach. The writers who pitch regularly and refine their ideas stand out.

To strengthen it, make pitching part of your writing routine. Choose a day each week—say, every Monday—and send 3 to 5 thoughtful ideas to different editors. The consistency will sharpen your instincts and get you noticed.

And remember: you don’t need to have the entire essay written. Willa shared that a strong, specific idea can spark an assignment—and her team will work with you to shape it. She often receives pitches with a few story ideas, and together they’ll decide which one is the strongest fit.

To pitch Willa, email her first name.last name (at) hearst (dot) (com)

🔥 Here are the exact words that Willa used that will make a pitch sing and what she thinks is most important. Plus a bonus analysis opportunity for paid subscribers on finding your throughline. You can also sign up for my webinar tomorrow 4/24 with Writer’s Digest Layering Throughlines and Timelines into Essays and Books to Pack a Punch.

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For the many of the early years of my professional life, I made a living writing what editors affectionately (and sometimes not-so-affectionately) called “heds”—headl…

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Hello, fellow essayists and happy last day of February.

The Challenges We Create in Our Essays—And How to Overcome Them

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the challenges we create in our essays—the structural and conceptual roadblocks that make drafting feel like wading through wet cement with heavy rubber-soled boots. Not the productive kind of difficulties that generate tension and engage readers, but the self-imposed obstacles that make our work feel like it's caving in on itself.

I’m reflecting on this now because I’m preparing a TEDx Talk, which I’ll be presenting next month at Boston College. Here’s a video where I announce the talk and its subject. If you’re in Boston or the surrounding area, let me know—I’d love to connect.

As writers, we naturally build challenges into our work; that’s part of the craft. But what derails us isn’t the problem-solving inherent in essay writing—it’s the problems we impose on ourselves. These are the patterns that stall our progress, sap our confidence, and make us second-guess every sentence.

Time and again, I work with my writing students (and myself) to overcome these common missteps in early drafts:

Overcomplicating the Structure

Weaving in too many threads or trying to balance multiple, conflicting ideas can make an essay feel convoluted and unmanageable.

Fix: Identify the main argument or question your essay explores. If an idea doesn’t serve this purpose, cut it or save it for another piece. Outline your essay to ensure each section contributes to the whole.

Example: Instead of weaving together three different childhood memories in an essay about grief, focus on one pivotal moment—like finding your father’s old baseball glove in the attic and realizing how much you miss playing catch with him.

Intellectualizing the Stakes

Focusing too much on abstract musings rather than grounding the essay in tangible stakes can make it feel distant or detached.

Fix: Anchor abstract ideas with concrete details. Instead of broadly discussing loss, narrate a moment when you realized something was truly gone. Use personal anecdotes and sensory details to bring the stakes to life.

Example: Instead of philosophizing about memory and nostalgia, show a moment—like finding a seashell on the beach that reminds you of the last time you saw your father before he passed away.

Drowning in Logistics

Over-explaining how you arrived at an insight rather than simply presenting it in a compelling way.

Fix: Trust the reader. If backstory is necessary, keep it brief. Read your essay aloud and remove any sections that feel like unnecessary detours.

Example: Rather than detailing every step of how you discovered an old letter in a box of family keepsakes, describe the moment you unfolded it and recognized your grandmother’s handwriting—how your hands shook, how the ink had faded, how it smelled of old paper.

Constantly Shifting Focus

Trying to cover too much ground, jumping from one theme to another without giving any a chance to fully develop.

Fix: Choose one core theme and stick to it. If you find yourself introducing new, unrelated topics, ask whether they serve the central message. If not, set them aside for a separate essay.

Example: Instead of an essay that attempts to cover your relationship with your mother, grandmother, and sister, focus on one defining moment with your mother—like the day she taught you to ride a bike and how that lesson stayed with you long after she was gone.

These challenges, though part of my own writing struggles, are familiar to many writers. When they take over, they lead to three frustrating outcomes:

• The essay stops feeling meaningful.

• The writing process feels stuck in limbo rather than flowing forward.

• The piece becomes difficult to place—whether in a publication, a contest, or an anthology—because its impact is diluted.

I’ve been spinning in circles on one essay for over a month now—okay, maybe two—but I finally found my way forward by stripping away an extraneous thread that was adding complexity without contributing to the core argument.

I was able to complete an essay that is connected to my memoir in progress and that went up on the Next Avenue/PBS site, which is a fantastic site. It is called I Was the ‘Dating Diva.’ Now I’m Married 20 Years. I share the dating advice that I taught and that worked for me. Here’s a photo from my days giving advice, decades before I went blonde. And make sure you check out my podcast episode #118 with Next Avenue’s managing editor. Several of my students have been published there.

Upcoming Events: Writing Throughlines, Publishing Insights & More

Structure and coherence matter deeply in essays. The right threads and throughlines elevate a piece, guiding the reader through layered ideas and emotions. That’s why I’m hosting a webinar on April 24th for Writer’s Digest called Layering Throughlines and Timelines into Your Essays and Books to Pack a Punch. If you’re looking for ways to refine your narrative’s shape, sign up here. It will be generative, informative, and interactive—I’d love to see you there.

I’m also hosting another editor-on-call online, free event in collaboration with NYU, where I teach writing classes. This one is April 10th from 12:30 pm-1:30 pm with Willa Bennett the editor-in-chief of iconic publications, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazines. As an FYI, I once had the honor of perusing through Cosmopolitan founder, Helen Gurley Brown’s famous “Book,” so this will be an extra special and nostalgic conversation for me.

Snag your spot now before space runs out, by clicking on the QR code. Or signing up here. Hope you read about my last editor-on-call with an editor from The Cut.

Podcast: How to Submit & Get Published

And before I get to the hard truths about essay writing (hopefully, you’ve already read my post on My Predictions for Publishing in 2025)) check out episode #128 of my podcast where I talk to Rachel Kramer Bussel, editor of Open Secrets Magazine about how to submit and what she is looking for, and her excellent advice on crafting essays. Plus, details on the Open Secrets Magazine Live (event). Find that here.

Five Hard Truths About Essay Writing

1. Your essay needs a central argument or question that evolves.

Without forward movement—no shift in understanding, no tension building toward a revelation—the piece risks feeling static.

Fix: Ensure your essay moves forward by introducing a shift or realization. If your ending looks the same as your beginning, consider how your perspective or understanding has evolved.

Example: Start with a narrator who believes they are indifferent to their hometown, then gradually reveal moments that show a deeper connection—such as revisiting an old diner and realizing how much its closing affects them.

2. Your essay needs a structure that supports clarity, not confusion.

Even fragmented, nonlinear essays need a guiding framework to help the reader follow the thread.

Fix: Use signposts to guide the reader (e.g., "At first, I thought..." "But then I realized..."). Experiment with different structures—chronological, thematic, or circular—to see what best serves your essay.

Example: A braided essay about motherhood might alternate between personal experiences and historical accounts of motherhood, with clear transitions tying them together.

1. *There’s more, plus an opportunity to have the beginning of your essay analyzed by me to make it stronger.

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2024 was a year in magazine, online and book publishing that saw a sea change on every level, as I discuss here on my podcast episode #119, Estelle’s Edge on Ste…

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I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I had the most chill Thanksgiving ever, just staying home with my husband and teenage daughter and our Havanese, Rose. We usually get together with friends, but our friends were traveling this year, and we decided to keep following our star, and so instead of turkey with all the fixings, my husband made ribs on the grill, with butternut squash on the side, and bakery goodies for dessert — and it was perfect.

Let’s switch gears and talk about writing myths. I get so tired of hearing from my students that they “have” to do something. No, they don’t. Just, do you. So, for your reading pleasure I am going to break down the myths and say what works, what doesn’t, and why.

Let’s start with the obvious one — the myth I hear the most often.

MYTH: Writing one page a day equals 352 pages, or a book a year.

Let’s stop right there.

Debunking the Myth: Do you have kids? Yes, then give yourself a little grace. You have enough pressure on you to well, caretake. Here is another question: Do you caretake for anyone but yourself? That means a partner, a parent, a friend in need? Ok. Give yourself more grace. You get it. Why should you put insane amounts of expectations on yourself.

I think you should write when you feel passionate about writing something. I have heard the term Volcano writer used by Ann Hood (on my podcast actually, LISTEN TO IT/WATCH HERE), and I agree. I write when it bubbles up. Now that doesn’t mean that in between I am not thinking about my writing. I am. I believe you need to look at your work, think about it, even let it percolate when you are on vacation and then address it. If it’s a question of getting your butt in the chair, that is different and I address ways to attack writer’s block in my book, WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED. Here’s one of my favorite ones:

Change the Form: Can’t seem to get started? Write your essay in a poem or letter. Or, try a different font. I change my font from Times New Roman to Garamond or Comic Sans when I’m stuck.

Why it Works: Changing your mode or format of writing breaks up organized, systematic, analytical thinking through a concept called neuroplasticity that encourages your brain to make new connections.

MYTH: As a writer you need to be doing constant self-promotion

Debunking the Myth: I disagree with that completely. In fact, I used a vacation photo above, to show that when I unplug, I unplug completely, and you, should, too. It’s really good for your brain as I wrote in this piece for Quartz, I’m Taking a Social Media Break for My Sanity… And So Should You . This is especially important during the fraught holiday times (I admit this time of year drives me nuts, and I have to give myself a break from the constant “noise” of shopping and going out). Taking just a few minutes to relax and recharge is so important. Besides, the social media algorithm is not what it used to be, so you can sprinkle yourself around. The one recommendation I can make is to grab your handle when a new site comes up, so at least you have it and not someone else. Here’s mine on BlueSky, which is the new place everyone is migrating to.

MYTH: You need to share everything about your life and be completely transparent.

Debunking the Myth: No. You do not need to blow up your life for a byline! Decide what you can reveal that gives your story its gravitas, and anything that is too provocative but that doesn’t move the story forward can go. Case in point: a student of mine wrote about a guy who catfished her for HuffPost Personal. She didn’t give every single salacious detail, just the ones that were pertinent to the story.

Sentences sprinkled throughout told her story, such as.

“I might have been just a little cocky.”

“What I needed more than a boyfriend was a steady job. I was powering through on a manufactured cloud of positive thinking instead of facing the pain of both a failed marriage and my sudden job loss.”

“I’m still left questioning what led me to be so easily snookered. I ignored the inkling that things weren’t adding up. I chalk it up to being out of practice when it came to dating and to a wet, heavy coat of fog hanging over my entire life during those days.”

While the situation was that she was taken for a ride by a scammer, the underlying story (and the emotional impact) was about making an embarrassing mistake and figuring it out along the way. So that’s what each sentence drove the reader towards understanding, with the end result that instead of feeling lascivious toward her, it activated the reader’s empathy.

MYTH: Writers are either talented or they are not. They can’t be taught to write.

Debunking the Myth: Wow. This is so not true. You can learn how to build your craft, as long as you are learning from a) a good book b) an informative webinar c) A skilled teacher and learning how to apply what you are learning. The key is in the applications which is why I do short writing exercises with my students who take small group Zoom classes with me and end up being published (I’m sold out for January and March, but if you email me at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com I’ll put you on a list for upcoming ones).

Yes, a writer can be skilled, and not have as much experience, but learning craft and tips, tricks and strategies is why I have the podcast Freelance Writing Direct (with over 115 episodes), and why I teach and share and distill my knowledge on both sides of the publishing wall in my book WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED.

And by the way, even though I’m an editor and writing teacher I’m constantly spending money trying to improve my craft, by either signing up for webinars, or taking courses or going on weekend or other retreats, even if they are virtual. I even stop in on other teacher’s sessions when I’m speaking (or keynoting) at conferences.

MYTH: You need to create “beautiful” writing

Debunking the Myth: You just need to write. You don’t need to write fancy, or have a huge vocabulary, or use erudite language. As I put it in this post, Forget about Beautiful Writing, flowery language alone, without any depth or conflict to the story just won’t cut it..

Don’t get me wrong: language is still important. But, you still need to choose interesting words; ones that break through the noise. We have all heard the word “happy”. But, in your writing try using a different word, such as perhaps, elated. The first word is so usual that our eyes glaze over and we move ahead. The second word might catch our attention and compel us to read more.

MYTH: You are not a writer until you have had your work published

Debunking the Myth: I can’t tell you how many of my students ask me this question. I teach people at all levels, but beginners find themselves flummoxed when it comes to how to identify themselves. I want to tell you this: if you write your stories, or other people’s stories you are a writer. Whether you have gotten paid or even acknowledged, if you write, you are a writer, though maybe not a professional one.

So believe in yourself, and the world will, too. Just keep learning and finding places to apply your knowledge and build your craft.

I hope that I can continue to inspire you and be your literary fairy godmother, like I am for my students. So go forth and write!

Also, please share and like this post. You can like the post by clicking on the heart. That’s the way I know that you are enjoying what I’m sharing. ❤️

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Welcome to all my new subscribers. I’m so happy to have you here. I love sharing info about publishing, writing, craft, experiences and adding in a workshop component for those who decide to upgrade their subscriptions.

But first, I want to give Samantha Rice, a former student of mine, a big KUDOS for having her micro memoir published. She opted for the paid subscription and got to work with me on her brilliant piece called Fish Beats Rock that was published in Five Minute Lit.

Here in her own words:

“ My micro memoir Fish Beats Rock, also my first published writing, is in an issue of Five Minutes journal. I was inspired to write the piece after taking Estelle Erasmus’s class on writing micro memoir.

As a paid subscriber to Estelle Erasmus’s Substack, I had the opportunity to work with her on my micro memoir. I worked with Estelle to polish my piece - she offered thought-provoking questions that helped me to enhance the work. Questions that I hadn’t asked myself. Thank you, Estelle, for the assistance and the support and encouragement!!

Several years ago, I was a student of Estelle’s at Writer’s Digest University and her feedback and insight were encouraging and supportive! She wants to see her students succeed!

Congrats Sam!

So let’s talk titles. I recently did a CRAFTTALK on titles, and I would love to share some insight with you to help you enhance and improve your titles. As the editor-in-chief of several magazines, I wrote the coverlines for the issues that were sold on the newsstands; I also wrote the titles and deks for the pieces I published and the writers I worked with. Because of my experience and great track record, I consider myself a title queen and writing titles that editors (and readers) like is one of my super powers.

Let’s start with a few title tenets: I also cover Titles in Writing That Gets Noticed. And wrote about them for Brevity. A title should draw readers in. It should inform. Intrigue. Entertain. Show the stakes. Often changing just a few key words, or switching the focus or tone, makes the difference between an ok title and one that gets attention.

1. Answer A Compelling Question

Is your essay asking a question? If so, address it in your title, too. It can be either direct or indirect, but implied. 

Examples:

Why Do People Take the Public, Social-Media Spectacle of Celebrity Death So Personally?

Elijah the Prophet will Toast You on Zoom: Ways to Get Through a Socially Distanced Passover.”

How to Bullyproof Your Child.

Estelle’s Edge: Try writing up a chat with yourself about what you think your piece’s purpose is, or even a situation that needs to be dealt with or conquered. You can also do a mindmap on paper (connecting different words with each other to form a concept). For example, If it’s a new marriage, words that work might be certificate, vows, pledge, partnership, ceremony, love, toast, confirmation, passion.

2. Share What Confounds You

What are you dealing with that others can relate to that also evokes emotion?

Examples:

I Was Uncontrollably Angry After Giving Birth. 

What to Do About Your Tween’s Toxic Friend?

My Husband Doesn’t Post about Me on Facebook and that Makes Me Sad.

Estelle’s Edge: There is a book called the Emotion Thesaurus that can be helpful. You can also take out a word or verb from your essay and look it up online to find a synonym that will work better.

3. Insert a Momentous Moment

What is happening that raises the stakes in your piece? Cover that in your title.

Examples:

My 9-Year-Old’s Unexpected Seizure Taught Me the Power of Letting Go.

I Had Quintuple Bypass Surgery. A Trait I Never Guessed Might Affect My Heart May Be to Blame.

A Fake Uber Driver Tried to Pick Up Me & My Daughter.

Singing My Dad Back to Me

I Had My Daughter in Midlife and She Became My Writing Muse.

Estelle’s Edge: The higher the stakes, the stronger the emotional implication of a given situation, so use strong, active verbs to convey that.

4. Find the Focal Point Word

What are the phrases, quotes, cultural touchstones, or specific details that shine? What words are repeated almost like a through line throughout the piece?

Examples:

The Red Cane.

Don’t Blow Up Your Life For a Byline.

Friends, Fleetwood Mac, and the Viral Comfort of Nostalgia.

5. Set Up A Problem/Solution 

Write the first part of the title as the situation or problem or vice versa, and then write “and that’s why I realized or found or this happened, or I did this to solve X. 

Examples:

I Was Told My Parents Were Dead. 38 Years Later, I Got An Email That Changed Everything.

When to Reply on Social Media — and When Not To.

I Lost My Brother to a Cult When I Needed Him Most. A Tragic Twist of Fate Brought Us Back Together.

6. Active “Verb Your Work

Go through your piece and highlight any verbs. Then see if you can search to find other verbs that are active and a bit more unusual. For example: some choices could be churned, sauntered, splintered, spiraled, collapse, turbulent, peppered, to paint a picture for the reader.

Examples: 

Unmuting a Brother-Sister Relationship, One Chord at a Time. 

What To Do When Your Tween is Trash-Talking You.

Mom Hacks to Cut Through Other People’s Crap.

That’s just a few of my tactics for creating tantalizing titles. My final Estelle’s Edge is when you have a great title, make sure you add it to the subject line of the email to the editor.

Latest Podcast Episode

My latest podcast is with debut novelist Carinn Jade. It’s called #110 The Astrology House and Other Novel Touchstones.

I love coming up with podcast episode titles. When I start thinking of them, I usually look for a word that the author, writer, or media expert uses during our chat (in this case, Carinn used the word touchstone several times), and I wanted to also do a play on novel (which is it), and novel, meaning different, which I think works well here, too.

Poems and Shout-Outs

I read my poem #163 in the Where I’m From Series, helmed by the gracious and generous Alyson Shelton . Give it a look and a listen.

Beth Ann Fennelly gave me a shout-out (and my good friend Abby Thomas) in her Substack the BethAnnigan.

Let’s Talk Titles

Moving on, let’s talk titles (this is the subject of my next “workshopping opportunity” for yearly paid subscribers). I sort of see it as a way to give you a small taste of working with me in opportunities throughout the year to the tune of less money than you would pay for most webinars I teach, or what you would pay to attend a conference to hear me lead a workshop or speak.

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The other day I put a post on my Facebook page about my high school yearbook quote, and asked what other people had put for their quotes.

Mine was:

That was from the eponymously named song by Barry Manilow. What’s yours? Let me know in the comments.

I have to say, my yearbook quote has been the tenet by which I have lived my life and how I also inspire my students and the readers of Writing That Gets Noticed. Now, also an audiobook (the story about how that came to be is here).

“All we can do is try.”

And that is also true, when you are pitching an editor. But with editors as well as in life, information equals power. So, it makes sense to gather as much information as you can. In my free ongoing Editor-on-Call series for NYU, I speak candidly with editors of publications to get the special sauce on what they are looking for in a one hour webinar.

My recent guest was Jen Ortiz, the Deputy Editor of the Cut, and she also spoke to my class at NYU for the High School Academy journalism course I teach. Here is a synopsis of some of the most salient points from our conversation about how to break through and make The Cut.

Then, after the paywall, there is an opportunity to have a pitch or first part of an essay edited by me, and some bonus clips from my most informative guests from Freelance Writing Direct, including my recent episode with Jeannine Ouellette of Writing In The Dark, who in episode #103 Launching into New Dimensions with Embodied Writing, spoke about writing about difficult subjects, embodied writing, the adult vs. the child narrator, building doorways into your writing and more.

Back to The Cut.

The publication’s mission

The audience skews women and fems, but does not skew towards a specific age group. Some of those stories are particular to Internet culture (aka what people are talking about on TikTok), and TikTok now is more mainstream, so it includes a lot of different age groups. The key is for the content to provide conversation starters for as many people as they can

The categories for coverage

The verticals are Style, Power, Culture and Self. The goal for each is to lead and start new obsessive conversations on the tip of something happening in the culture and the tone is conversational (think water cooler).

Jen’s Role as Deputy Editor

She works across all the pub’s verticals, working with all the senior editors who lead the sections. She also assigns and edits and looks at pitches regularly, and works on strategy, whether traffic, SEO or special projects and events, and interacts closely with the executive editor and editor-in-chief.

Estelle’s Edge: It’s worth it to go to the site, go in the search box, Google, search to see what has been covered and how it's been covered, so that when you pitch you're not duplicating something that is very similar.

What stories work best?

Anything that is happening now in the culture that you can equate to a feature, long reported essay, or personal essay may work well. She also said they do trend pieces that explain why a trend is interesting and why are people doing it, watching it, making it happen. How does it add to or start a conversation? Friendship is always interesting to the reader and so is navigating family relationships, and romantic relationships, as is body modification and plastic surgery. The writer needs to keep in mind the stories that work best are really the stories where the writer has something to say. It is not necessary to have a news peg, but a point of view is essential.

And for personal essays, Jen suggested it cover two parts: what happened to you, and what was the lesson learned, or the transformation that took place because of it. That’s what will hold a reader’s attention.

For a reported story, Jen suggests doing preliminary reporting, to show the kinds of reporting chops the writer is bringing to the story. Access to experts or people to talk to is important, particularly if the piece is reported.

Estelle’s Edge: I call it the credibility factor. You are selling the editor on you, especially if you haven't worked with them before. So showing you know several viable experts for your story, and have spoken with them, ups your credibility in the editor’s eyes.

How to pitch The Cut

Jen says to provide them with everything that they need, or that you need to sell the story. So if you've done preliminary reporting, show that, especially if you're pitching something that is naming or or nodding at a trend in some way, to confirm that your your hunch is not just a hunch but that there might be a subculture forming there. She also says to pitch perhaps two ideas, tops.

You should be pitching in the voice that you want to write in for The Cut.

Estelle’s Edge: One of the things that I say in WRITING THAT GET NOTICED (now also an audiobook) is if the editor doesn’t know you or your voice to write to the reader in your pitch. You can give a little bit of the pitch, and then you can maybe engage, even give the 1st part or the 1st paragraph, just so they could see your voice and get excited by it.

Must Read

Here is Living With My Husband’s Dead Wife, a piece I really enjoyed reading on The Cut by Amy Paturel and here is a compelling and vulnerable new one by Tara Ellison My Mother’s Envy Toward Me Has Survived Her Dementia.

Pieces that Jen said were super successful are My Mom Has No Friends, Monjouro and Me, and the followup: So Was Body Positivity ‘All a Big Lie’? , A World Without Men (The Women of South Korea’s 4B Movement), and Body Horror (on TikTok Plastic Surgeon Dr. Roxy).

You may need a subscription to view these.

Pitch email and a pitching document

Pitch email is cutsubmissions@nymag.com and this is the link to the pitch document with rates and all other important information.

Let me know if you have success.

On the Horizon

Don’t miss this webinar I’m doing for CRAFTS TALKS.

In this session, Estelle Erasmus, a former magazine editor-in-chief of five national consumer publications, who wrote newsstand cover lines for a living, will teach you the mechanics of constructing titles that embody the spirit and tone of your piece. Using examples from herself and her students, she will workshop titles, from initial idea to polished attention-getter, and explain how they work and why. She will also offer a proven 10-step method to maximize active verbs, display unusual words, alliteration, evoke emotion, and excavate from your essays and articles exactly what will make your title sing — and give editors that “read me!” zing. 

Sign up here. And for even more information and advice check out my latest piece in Brevity A Good Title Is Vital: Getting the Hang of Writing Headlines

I hope you got your ticket to the ASJA conference. It has over 100 fabulous speakers, and I will be the closing session of the ASJA virtual conference on September 26th with a fireside chat with my good friend and renowned memoirist Abigail Thomas. Read 8 Things You Didn’t Know about Abigail Thomas and Estelle Erasmus where we talk tarot, smells, seeing sea turtles hatch, drinking Rosé at 7 am, going through the slush pile at Viking Publishing and more and sign up for the conference. There is still time.

I’m on Leaving Your Mark, Aliza Licht’s fabulous podcast talking about getting your writing noticed, finding your voice, pitching editors and more. Listen here and find takeaways on her LinkedIn page.

SPECIAL BONUS CLIP (A Preview of What you Can get as a Paid Subscriber)

My paid subscribers get special bonus clips from my podcast. For example, this is one from my episode with Jane Friedman which is new on the podcast. Paid subscribers get these clips regularly from my episodes.

And there’s more…

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For Everyone

Also, even if you are not a paid subscriber, I will have a free Zoom AMA on September 5 from 4:30-5:30 pm with Aly Walansky, who was a guest on episode #99 of Freelance Writing Direct. Aly is a lifestyle journalist with 10K subscribers, and writes for dozens of sites regularly. Her substack is https://alywalansky.substack.com

If you want a Zoom link, please email me at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com to get your Zoom link, and feel free to also email me your question that you want me to address.

Oh, and I just celebrated my 100th episode of the Freelance Writing Direct podcast with the wonderful Beth Ann Fennelly (Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs). We spoke about Micro Memoir, the pleasure of writing, and so much more.

I’m teaching a class at NYU that covers Writing About Your Life Through Memoir, Essays and Articles. Info can be found here.

My 101st episode is with Elissa Bassist, who wrote Hysterical and is the editor of the Funny Women column at the Rumpus.

Tweet of the Week from ASJA @ASJAhq

The ASJA 2024 Conference, to be held online on Sept. 24-26, will feature more than 100 top-notch speakers. The full list of speakers with mini-bios is available via the link here. #ASJACon2024 For more on the conference, check out my episode #98 with additional insights from ASJA President, Emily Paulsen, here.

So excited to be a part of the ASJA Virtual Conference in a fireside chat with the great Abigail Thomas.

That’s about it. Can’t wait to hear from you or see you at the AMA! I love sharing what I know to help you improve your publishing game.

• become a paid subscriber here.

• share this newsletter with friends.

• spread the word about the podcast on social media.

• rate and review the podcast wherever you listen.

• buy my book Writing That Gets Noticed!

• rate and review my books on goodreads, amazon, etc.

Thank you!

www.estelleserasmus.com

Here now, are the instructions for my paid subscribers:

Welcome to the new thread:

Here are the rules:

This community is for paid subscribers, and the point of the thread is a place where you can ask questions about pitching, publishing, publicizing your writing and getting a book published. You can share your worries, challenges and confusions. It is a tumultuous time in the industry, as I shared in this episode #75 of the podcast, called Charting the Trends in Publishing.

So here is how it is going to work (and I’ve taken advice and co-opted procedures from others who also successfully operate in this space).

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When it comes to writer’s block, many writers seem to have it. But even when writing small, you can still be tortured by it. So what is the secret? It all comes down to lists.

That’s right. Unlocking your memories can be as simple as making a list, so you can form a whole out of many halves. Here, I’m going to share several writing tricks to allow you to access your deepest memories and emotions, with a few Estelle’s Edge sprinkled in (aka pro tips,) and I’m also going to show you my final Tiny Love Story, and for paying subscribers the backstory; the earlier iteration of my piece, before I made changes, bonus clips from my podcast, Freelance Writing Direct, and a writing opportunity.

Accessing (and Writing) Your Memories in 4 Steps

As in one of my favorite musicals, The Sound of Music, says in a song, Let’s start at the very beginning.

Get a legal pad, or just a white pad (thanks to Joanna Rakoff from episode #87 of Freelance writing Direct Writing Memoir That Reads Like a Novel and Captivates on Every Page for that advice. I’m now surrounded by legal pads).

STEP 1: Put the first word down that comes to mind when accessing your memories. That will be your launching point.

Estelle’s Edge: It can be a place (Paris), a season (Spring), a year (1985), a first (kiss), an experience (attending an auction), or an action verb (propose, as in when someone proposed to you).

STEP 2: Start writing for 5 minutes (use a timer, or your watch), but instead of writing a full piece, just list scenes from your memory.

Estelle’s Edge: This is a time to let your intuition guide you. It’s all there in the storage container of your mind. Don’t censor yourself. Even if you write something that startles you.

STEP 3: Then pick just one of your scenes and try to write it out for five minutes.

Estelle’s Edge: Focus on a moment when something changed. There has been some transformation in you, the situation, or your thinking because of what happened. That’s what you can shine your spotlight on. Don’t forget to include sensual language, which is the language of the senses: touch, smell, hearing, taste.

STEP 4: Before you even try to break it down into micro memoir, do a quick check to make sure the words are “juicy” that you’ll eventually use, by taking ordinary, everyday words and finding substitutions for them. For example, the word miraculous can be the word otherworldly. The word odd can become the word uncanny. Aren’t those substitutions more poetic? With micro memoir, every word counts, so make them count.

Estelle’s Edge: Instead of using a thesaurus, sometimes I like to scroll through TikTok (check out mine), and see what words jump out at me. I note them on my phone if I don’t have a pad handy.

As I say in my writing craft book with stories from my life as a magazine editor-in-chief, Writing That Gets Noticed

STEP 5: Now, take your enhanced scene and truncate it into a micro memoir with a narrative arc — a beginning, middle and end.

Estelle’s Edge: If you don’t like what you came up with, try it by writing another scene. Or scour through your unpublished personal essays (I know I have a ton), and try to truncate any one of them into a micro memoir.

New Class Alert

I will be running my first ever fiction Zoom class this winter for current or former students. My nonfiction Zoom class for Fall is sold out. I keep them small for optimum interaction. Email me at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for information and to have me hold a spot for you. You must have already studied with me through a Writer’s Digest class, or NYU class. See my classes here.

Special Offer

If you become a paid subscriber (monthly or yearly) to my Substack, and email me at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com (put Micro Memoir Offer in the subject line), I will send you a substantive list of places to submit micro memoir. If you become a paid yearly subscriber, I will even edit your first micro memoir piece that is 100 words or less.

I will be running my first ever fiction Zoom class this winter for current or former students. My nonfiction Zoom classes for Fall are sold out. I keep them small for optimum interaction. Email me at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for information and to have me hold a spot for you. You must have already studied with me through a Writer’s Digest class, or NYU class. See my classes here.

As added incentive, here is my Tiny Love Story from the New York Times’ Styles Section that ran on April 21, 2021

Maybe More Than Slightly

“Why can’t you find someone?” my parents asked when I was 26.” He’s not here yet,” I said. “He’s in Africa.” (I’ve always been slightly psychic; my parents have always been slightly skeptical.) As the “Dating Diva” at Manhattan’s Learning Annex, I felt confident in my ability to help myself and others “find a mate or just a date.” In my 40s, I still felt confident but relied less on my “dating tricks.” One rainy night, I bumped into a tall man who rolled his R’s. Today, my South African husband says he loves me and our daughter in Afrikaans. — Estelle Erasmus

If you are struggling with editing, you can check out this article I wrote for Writer’s Digest, where I’m now Contributing Editor on polishing your prose. I also have a whole chapter on editing in my book.

Latest Podcast Episode

Don’t forget to check out my recent podcast episode #96 with novelist Jessica Strawser, editor-at-large for Writer’s Digest about her novel, The Last Caretaker. Here it is on YouTube, and please follow me there. As my guest on Freelance Writing Direct, Jessica talked about how she came up with the concept for the novel based on her life experiences, how she used nature as a setting, her decision process for writing the POV of one character, ending chapters with emotional beats, raising the stakes by bringing out tension in relationships and so much more. I loved our conversation.

Here is just a snippet of writing advice from Jessica.

And Ann Hood recently came on to the podcast for the second time in episode #95 The Catalysts and Craft for Charting and Plotting Novels talking about her fascinating novel The Stolen Child. We talked about the elements of research in historical novels, how Ann tracks timelines, finding patterns throughout a book, and her favorite part of the publishing process (it might surprise you).]

Here is something that Ann told me on the podcast:

I will be doing an upcoming live coaching session on the podcast. If you have a question you’d like me to address in an upcoming session or newsletter, you can message me here or find me on my Instagram or on TikTok

If you read and loved my book as much as I loved writing it, please leave a review on Amazon. It helps spread the word, and builds that all-important algorithm.

Share Estelle Erasmus/Writing That Gets Noticed

Analyzing The Early Version of My Tiny Love Story

When writing, it’s important to question every sentence by asking yourself “so what?” That will make the difference.

So, in the spirit of education, here is an early iteration of the piece that got published, and how and why it changed.

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So I have an audiobook for WRITING THAT GETS NOTICED coming out next month, and I’m really excited about it. Did I voice the entire audiobook? Hell, no. Did I audition to do it? Yes, I did. You know how you never know when your bad luck is your good luck? That is something I say a lot. Well, in this case, it was definitely my good luck that I didn’t have to be in the studio for some 11 or more hours taping my writing craft/advice book. But, you will still hear my voice — in the introduction.

I’ll tell you what happened, but first I am offering my paid subscribers a chance to have a micro memoir piece be edited by me next month. Sign up for a yearly subscription and get that opportunity, plus bonus clips, just for paid subscribers to episodes of the podcast.

Now, back to audiobooks. Here is how it all unfolded.

Step 1: I made sure that audiobook rights were a part of my publishing deal. I think they were always going to be a part of them, but with the advent of AI I really wanted to focus on maximizing those rights. More on my Estelle’s Edge on A1 in this bonus episode #90 of Freelance Writing Direct where I attended the 2024 U.S. Book Show sponsored by Publishers Weekly and the Association of American Literary Agents. Luckily, New World Library had audiobook rights included in my contract. I did ask if I could audition to read the book, and my agent included that in the contract. More on that in a moment.

Step 2: About five or six months after the book was published in June 2023, the publisher reached out to my agent and said that nobody was interested, and if I wanted, they would revert the rights back to me. My agent told me this, and I responded, sure, why not? My plan was to look into Audible or some other venue, and I was grateful that my publisher was kind enough to mention it to me. I don’t think all publishers do that; instead, some might hang on to the rights even if it doesn’t make sense, since nobody is biting.

Step 3: A year after publication, and after my book was named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers magazine, had been excerpted in Jane Friedman’s newsletter, and won a Zibby Award for “Best Book for the Writer”, and I had become a Contributing Editor for Writer’s Digest magazine, my publisher reached back out to my agent. A production company was interested in taping an audiobook; would I be willing to revert the rights back to the publisher? Who is this media company I asked, and found out it was DreamScape Media, a fabulous audiobook producer. Absolutely I responded, but as mentioned in the contract, I definitely wanted to audition to read the book.

Step 4: A little backstory here. I studied voice and acting, and even once had a five-line-and-under role on Guiding Light for a day for a story I wrote about it (which I talk about in my book), so I thought I could easily read the book. My publisher asked me to do a short audition tape of part of a chapter from the book —I think it was four pages in total. Well, reader, it took me 20 takes to get a take I was happy with; which resulted in many hours of work. Then, my publisher asked me to redo it one more time, which took another 20 takes. Finally, we were both happy and they submitted it to Dreamscape Media.

Step 5: Then, I waited. Soon, I heard back. They were going to hire talent (aka a professional reader) to read my book, but, they liked my voice and my audition and wanted me to read the introduction to my book, and would set up a taping at a local studio. They anticipated the entire process would take a little over an hour.

Step 6: I was thrilled. I didn’t have to spend all the time in the studio, and my voice still gets to be heard. But, I had a few caveats. I said to my publisher and agent that I wanted to make sure the voice voicing my book, my baby, would be someone that people could believe is a mother, and just as important, isn’t an erudite sounding academic. Because if you’ve listened to or watched my podcast, you know that is the opposite of who I am, even though I teach at New York University. My publisher sent me the tape of the person they selected, and I was over the moon. I love Jenn Lee’s voice, and I think she nailed the delivery, enunciation and warmth I wanted to convey in my book. She isn’t erudite sounding and is believable as a mom and a friend.

Step 7: DreamScape Media booked me time with a local studio. I arrived with a printout of the introduction and with it on my iPad (the production company recommended I do that, so there was no paper rustling). I took an Uber to the studio, so I wouldn’t be stressed about driving, and made sure I was hydrated. That wasn’t an issue, as the owner of the studio made sure that I was supplied with lots of water bottles, too.

Step 8: I read the introduction, and then read it again. I stopped when I wanted to redo a line or two, until I had the delivery down the way I wanted. After about an hour, I asked the owner of the studio if he thought I had covered everything and if he thought anything needed to be redone. He said he thought I did a great job and that I covered everything and even caught myself and asked to retake anything that dropped or wasn’t the right enunciation or delivery. I appreciated that feedback from a pro.

Step 9: Dreamscape Media said they would be in contact before a certain date if I needed to retake anything in the studio. I was headed out on vacation around that time, so I was glad that nothing needed to be retaped.

Step 10: It will be out in the world soon, and I couldn’t be more excited. It was a great experience.

Here is where you can order the audiobook on Audible.

Spotlight on Writers That Get Noticed: Cheryl Maguire

A couple of months ago, I decided that from time to time I would shine my lens on a writer who gets noticed, and of course, someone who has learned from me and my book. The previous Writer that Gets Noticed was Anna Rollins here.

For this “column” I am focusing my lens on Cheryl Maguire, a prolific writer, writing teacher and former student.

Cheryl listened to my editor-on-call webinar that I created for NYU, where I teach writing courses for teens and adults, with Allison Klein, the editor for the Inspired Life section who I wrote about here. After listening she pitched and published a piece about her relationship with her teen daughter with Allison.

Here is my post on the editor-on-call with Allison Klein.

Here is what Cheryl wrote about that experience as a testimonial.

Here are the questions that Cheryl answered.

Estelle: Can you tell me your background?

Cheryl: I have a master's degree in counseling psychology. I was a counselor for teens in a residential program and then a guidance counselor in a public school. When my twins were born it was less expensive for me to stay home with them than pay for childcare. When they were napping I used to love to write. At first, I just wrote humorous essays for fun about my parenting experiences. I shared the essays with my mom who said the essays reminded her of Erma Bombeck's writing. I said, "Who's that?" I then checked out all of her books from the library and understood why my mom made the comparison. I then signed up for a writing class and the instructor said she thought I could sell my essays to local parenting magazines just like Erma Bombeck did. It turns out she was right--my humor essays are my highest-earning type of writing (I also sell reported articles) for over 200 local parenting magazines across the US. 

Estelle: What has been your publishing experience?

Cheryl: I always loved writing but never thought that I was good enough to earn money. I also thought that you could either write a book or be an investigative journalist for a newspaper (neither interested me)---I didn't realize that there are so many different options. So I didn't start selling my writing until 2016. At first, I sold humor essays to local parenting magazines. Then I taught myself how to write reported articles by paying attention to how others wrote and reading books from the library. I also took three of Estelle's classes. Two through Writers Digest and one through NYU. I now have been published in national publications like NYT, WaPo, NatGeo and many others.

Estelle: Is there a mindset that you adopted that works for you?

Cheryl: Absolutely! The first mindset that was important is to have the confidence that you can be published. I gained that from taking classes and receiving feedback from Estelle about how to improve my writing and pitches. Then I think the most important mindset is to be tenacious. You have to keep trying and realize that having a pitch not accepted is part of the process. I still get rejected ALL the time! I also think you have to be willing to learn and accept feedback. I'm also reading books and magazines.

Estelle: How have you gotten your writing noticed?

Cheryl: I never realized how important a pitch is until I took Estelle's pitching class. It is an art form that matters a lot when trying to place your idea with a publication. I think my pitches get noticed by being well-written and by having an original quote from a source. 

Estelle: How has working with me/my courses/book helped you to get your writing noticed?

Cheryl: You have been a wonderful mentor and teacher! You have offered invaluable feedback about how to improve my writing and pitches and also provided me with the confidence to believe that I could be published in places like The New York Times.

Estelle: What are your future goals?

Cheryl: I would love to continue to publish in national publications. Maybe one day write a humor essay book like Erma Bombeck.

Estelle: What is something you want to brag about for yourself?

Cheryl: I'm still in awe about the number of publications that my byline has been in! Especially The New York Times and National Geographic! 

Estelle: What is something you want to shout out to a friend? (can be another author, just not another writing teacher).

Cheryl: I'm really excited for my friend Lisa Kusel who has a new book coming out The Widow on Dwyer Court

Estelle: What would you tell 16 year old Cheryl?

Cheryl: That you can be a writer!

Estelle: What is the best life advice you ever received?

Cheryl: A challenge is an opportunity for growth.

Estelle: Where can people find you?

Cheryl: Twitter Linkedin. Website

Thank you, Cheryl

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Welcome to all my new subscribers. So happy to have you here. Make sure to read to the end to show my upcoming free events and other offers, including for paid subscribers.

So, here’s what’s been going on. I’ve been working on a memoir. It feels like I’ve been working on it for a decade, because it’s been mostly in my head, with various bits and pieces strewn across my computer. What has stopped me? Quite frankly, the structure. I wasn’t sure how to structure it. It’s like a giant puzzle or Rubik’s Cube. But, I’ve finally, finally figured it out, and now I plan to get cracking on it this Spring and Summer, plus also write a proposal. Somebody please hold me accountable to this plan:)

What will it be about? A combination of my days working in publishing in the 90s and early aughts, my search for love (remember, I was the Dating Diva), and that indefinable underlying story behind the situation. That’s the other part I was having issues with.

I have to say speaking to all the memoirists I have spoken to for Freelance Writing Direct, such as Episode #81 with Maggie Smith, Episode #83 with Abigail Thomas, Episode #52 with Claire Dederer, Episode #39 with Kelly McMasters. Episode #38 with Cheryl Strayed, Episode #35 with Ann Hood, really put me on the right path, and I don’t think I would have found that path without speaking with these fabulous writers.

Also, my latest episode of Freelance Writing Direct Episode #87 with Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year (which was made into a movie starring Sigourney Weaver), covers Writing Memoir That Reads Like a Novel and Captivates on Every Page, which is another way I intend to approach it.

Speaking of memoir, I taught a micro memoir workshop for Writer’s Digest, and it was a fabulous experience with 133 attendees. Sign up for my newsletter to get notice of other events. And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel, chock-full of advice from the episodes.

Many of my students have had success with essays, articles and micro memoir. Check out the news from with my latest student in The New York Times. Also, this is something I say often, and it bears repeating.

That’s always my goal as a writing teacher.

So, when it comes to memoir, here is some of the advice I’ve gleaned over the years. What works for memoir also works for writing compelling personal essays.

So, Back to Memoir

It seems everyone is writing their memoirs today. Whether you sell yours to a publisher or self-publish it, you might wonder what the difference is between writing your memoir or just your story? It’s in the focus. 

A memoir narrows down the focus to a particular span of time in a person’s life. An autobiography covers the whole life, often in chronological order. Writing life events in order would make a memoir boring. You might cover stories that happened earlier than the time frame you are focused on, but that is just to add context, it isn’t the crux of the story.

William Zinsser, author of On Writing Well, said,

“Memoir isn’t the summary of a life; it’s a window into a life, very much like a photograph in its selective composition. It may look like a casual and even random calling up of bygone events. It’s not; it’s a deliberate construction.”  

If you are ready to put your story down, you might want to know how to begin. 

A great way to start is to ask yourself what in your life has had the biggest transformative effect on you? 

Write that down. 

Then ask yourself why?

You might end up with a paragraph saying something like 

When I was twelve years old, my parents had to move us away from my childhood home, because my dad lost his job, and we were unable to make our mortgage payments. While both my parents went to work, the elderly neighbor down the street had me stay with her, and became my most trusted confidant. She was a Holocaust survivor and through her stories of survival, taught me about the value of family, empathy, and the importance of kindness in an often ugly world. Those lessons changed the way I approached my life, friendships and made me decide to become an educator.

Next, start figuring out the catalyzing events, the challenging moments you rose to, or fell down on. Keep writing those scenes, until you have an arc to your memoir. 

If you feel that your memory is failing you when writing down key events, try listing the items and events and dialogue and smells that you remember to anchor the story. 

For example, you can write: Trip to Paris in 2009: Walking down the Champs-Élysées, the smell of baguettes, kissing Jake by the Eiffel Tower, attaching “love locks” to the Pont des Arts bridge, our first fight after eating mussels, watching the perfect moonlit night reflected on the Seine River when Jake proposes to me with the same “love lock” we’d attached a few days earlier, plus a matching “key to his heart” just for me. 

You can also focus on a specific experience, time in your life or place when you write.  Sometimes, looking at photos can help elicit those lost memories, too.

Keep going with that list until you have enough material that you can write the scenarios. 

Now, once you start writing those scenarios (and I am trying for around 50 solid scenes to start — I may go up to 70 and definitely won’t be using all of them), something to remember, is to use specific details and description to paint a story for the reader.

G-d Is In The Details

Take a highlighter and go through your writing, after you write those scenes. Anything that seems to broad, highlight it. For example, if you say your partner was interesting, what does that mean? Does it mean he knew all the details of the Star Trek movies? Does it mean that he was an expert in psychology, which you’d always wanted to study yourself?See what I mean?

Don’t describe a brunch with friends as “bad”. Say that it didn’t work because it became a gossip fest, where you learned more than you ever wanted to know about your colleague’s preferred sexual positions. Now, that’s an interesting sentence, and it isn’t vague.

Doing this, and imagining as you write that you are not only offering specifics but also panning down on a movie, with a camera, noting not only the physical details that make the scene, as in “the white lace tablecloth was plunked down on the hand-carved oak wood table, giving a deceptive air of fragility to a honed and resilient surface, much like the way I liked to appear to men at first.”

Using sensory language can help bring your scenes to life. Without these bits of detail and description, the scenes are not as riveting, and don’t make the reader want to know more.

For example, I analyze the essay by Vishavjit Singh called “Captain America in a Turban” that appeared in Salon in my book Writing That Gets Noticed, along with several other essays.

Vishavjit writes:

“As I walked down the street, it was like dominoes. People slowed down to get my attention. Fans clustered around me. Parents edged their children next to me for a shot. I urged the kids to strike a super-hero pose. In front of the Metropolitan Museum, four well-built African American men surrounded me with big smiles, hands stretched out, fingers twirled with attitude and me sandwiched between them, striking a pose with my shield and a fist.”

As I said in Writing That Gets Noticed:

The detailed, vivid, metaphorical language paints a picture for the reader, bringing to life the mundane action of people posing for photos. I wrote more about the essay and this passage in the book.

But, imagine if he didn’t include specific details, like equating the crowd to dominoes, and parents edging their children next to him for a shot. Even specifying the Metropolitan Museum and showing how the men surrounded him using their outstretched hands to convey attitude, while he struck a particular post. That is what brings his sentences to life, and gets the reader wanting to know more.

Memoirist, Susan Cheever Home Before Dark perhaps said it best:

“I believe that the memoir is the novel of the 21st century; it’s an amazing form that we haven’t even begun to tap…we’re just getting started figuring out what the rules are.”

Whatever you want to write about, the most important thing to remember is to get your butt in the chair and start your writing journey. I’m going to try to take my own advice.

More News You Can Use

I recently attended the US Book Show, and will be doing an episode of the podcast on what I learned there. I like to help writers at all levels elevate their careers, like I did with my advice episode for a mid-level writer, here Episode #84 Live Coaching to Get Your Writing Noticed.

New, Free Editor-on-Call Event with NYU with Deputy Editor, Jen Ortiz of The Cut

I’m doing another free Editor-on-Call event in partnership with NYU where I teach. Check out my courses here. I created the ongoing series for NYU. This one is with Jen Ortiz, the Deputy Editor of The Cut. Join us for this fun, informative chat. These events are a birds-eye-view into the minds of editors who want to assign to writers. It’s free but is sold out on Eventbrite, however there is a waitlist , so sign up here. Let me know if I’ll see you there.

Bonus Clip

Here is a bonus clip I am sharing from Episode #86, The Way of an Author and Illustrator: Finding Inspiration in Art Featuring Bob Eckstein. I am also sharing multiple bonus clips for my paid subscribers, so they receive additional value. I’m a big believer in that concept.

Offer

For paid yearly subscribers, for the month of June only, I am offering to review a one page pitch (not a query letter for a publisher), but a pitch for a publication. Simply send me an email at freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com and put in subject line Pitch review. Send it by June 15th. Please give it a few weeks for my review.

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Hi everyone. If you have questions for me, I’m doing office hours today, where only paid subscribers can see this post and can also put questions in the comments. Happ…

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