Author: Kate Sloan

Interview: Tynan Rhea on Sexy Scents, Self-Love, and Post-Baby Body Pride

Kate Sloan

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My friend Tynan Rhea is one of the funniest people I know. Her stories at Tell Me Something Good are always crowd favorites, and I could happily listen to her talk about damn near anything for hours. She’s just that kind of person.

But being funny and engaging isn’t Tynan’s only skill. She’s also a trained doula, aromatherapist, and sex educator. I sat down with Tynan in a noisy Toronto coffee shop to talk about the science of aromatherapy, the oil blend she made for me (which is my #1 favorite scent, far beyond any perfume I’ve bought at Sephora), and the super rad self-love workshop she’s teaching this month for folks who’ve recently given birth.

Kate Sloan: So, you made me an aromatherapy blend, and I’m wearing it today, actually. Do you want to tell the story of that blend? ‘Cause it’s a cool story!
Tynan Rhea: It’s a great story! Okay, so, you’ll have to fill in the parts that are about you and your day, but basically what happened was: I had a dream. And in the dream, you and I were discussing a blend that I was gonna make for you.
KS: And we were at a sex club.
TR: Oh, really? I forgot that part! Okay, that makes sense. So, we were at a sex club, and I was discussing this blend. And I remember, in the dream, feeling this sense of urgency, like, “Oh my god, Kate needs this blend.” I knew that it had to have pink grapefruit in it, and I knew that the middle note had to be lemongrass, and then, for the base note, first, I thought, “For sure, jasmine,” and then I thought, “Oh, wait, no. This may be a rose moment.” And I was like – weird! She might hate rose. Why would I do that? And so then, when I woke up, I immediately texted you, like, “I just had this wild dream that I was making this blend for you, and this is what it would have in it… Do you think you’d like that?” And you were like, “Oh, yeah, I could really use that, because…”
KS: It was actually, the guy I was seeing at the time, I had just found out that he was a chronic abuser. So I was going through some feelings of guilt and self-hatred around, like, “Why didn’t I know this? Why did I put up with him for so long and believe him over these other women?”
TR: Oh, that’s so much more fascinating now, in terms of the blend, because we did end up going with rose, and rose is about self-compassion and healing the heart. So it’s good for if you’ve lost somebody to death or illness, or if you’ve broken up with someone, and it also helps us focus on self-love. It helps us go, “I am deserving, so I don’t need to feel this bad.”
KS: Yeah. I think I definitely really needed that, at that time. And still, it’s my favorite. I wear it all the time. I love it. It’s so good.
TR: Good! Well, the nice thing about rose, too, is it’s pretty intensely anti-stress. It does things to our brain that have been scientifically researched.
KS: Interesting. So I’m curious about – like, you knew me, in that case, so you maybe had some kind of subconscious or conscious sense of what I needed. But what is the process usually like, when you’re working with a client, to determine what they need in a custom blend?
TR: So normally, when we’re creating a blend, I go through the process that was taught to me by Tracey TieF, my teacher. She’s the owner and operator of Anarres Apothecary. So what we do is, we ask people what their top three complaints are. So they might be like, “I have backache, I have itchy dandruff, and I just broke up with my boyfriend.” And those seem wildly unrelated, right, but maybe they are related. And that’s kind of the idea with holistic medicine, is that we don’t live these disjointed lives; everything plays into everything. So your back might be aching because you’re tensing your shoulders up all the time because you’re anxious or upset or stressed, and that’s related to the break-up. And when you do that, maybe you scratch your head a bunch. I dunno. Dandruff is not that! But the point is: after you have your top three complaints, then you find a top, middle, and a base note, and each of those notes should address all three of those things. So, I think rose would be really fitting as a base note for that, because rose is an anti-inflammatory. Rose would address all of them, because rose, on the skin [diluted in a carrier oil like vegetable oil], is very healing and very soothing, especially for dry and irritated skin, so that would work well for the dandruff, it would help with the heartache, and it would work well as an anti-inflammatory for the backache. And the idea is that, if all three of the notes address all three issues, then that’s the medicine you need, because it’s hitting all of those points. The oils should mimic the profile of what’s ailing you.

Tynan's handmade products are available at Come As You Are and Anarres Apothecary.
Tynan’s handmade products are available at Come As You Are and Anarres Apothecary.

KS: Okay. That makes sense. So, can you tell me about some of your favorite oils specifically for purposes related to sex and sexual health?
TR: Yes! So, as my final project, I specialized in sexual health in aromatherapy. My favorite oils for sexual health depend on the sexual issue. My favorite base notes are rose, vanilla, and jasmine. I know we’ve talked a lot about rose, but rose has been shown to release dopamine in the brain, which is partly why it’s such a good anti-stress. And then jasmine has been traditionally used to speed up labor, to increase bonding and sensuality between lovers… It’s suspected by some aromatherapists and midwives that it releases oxytocin in the brain, although I haven’t found research to back that up, but its traditional uses suggest this. And then vanilla releases serotonin in the brain, which we know from research. So I think it’s this wonderful little commonality that they all have: they all work on your “yummy juices.” That’s such a dorky way to put it, but I think of dopamine, oxytocin and serotonin as the “mmm juice,” ’cause those are the feel-good chemicals. And I think each of those has a different way of making you feel yummy.
KS: Right.
TR: And I should also mention that the oils I pick for sexual health tend to be the ones that play on our psychological and emotional stuff, because that’s sort of the realm of health that I like to work in. But there are lots of really good oils for physical illness of the body. Like, I have this great yeast infection blend that I made for the vulva. It’s coconut oil, tea tree oil, and lavender oil. You mix ’em all together in the right proportions, and it is so soothing and it instantly takes the itch away and it’s so good. So, I would call that an excellent sexual health oil.
KS: Yeah! That sounds good.
TR: Yeah! But so, my favorite middle note is marjoram, because traditionally, it’s been listed as addressing sex addiction. And I was like, “What?! That is so weird! That’s such a weird, specific thing.” But then you read into it a little more, and you look at the chemistry of marjoram oil, and it’s made of stuff that is both calming and stimulating. Which sounds really contradictory, but then if you look at traditional uses again, it’s used to help you focus. And it’s also used to help us open up and connect with other people so we don’t feel as alone and isolated. And feeling alone and isolated, I think, is a major piece in addiction, particularly sex addiction. So I think, not only does it invite us to connect with other people – which is huge – but it also focuses us. So when you put it in a sex blend or an aphrodisiac blend, a blend where you’re trying to “set the mood…” I don’t like the idea of aphrodisiac blends being like, “I’m gonna attract this person!” because that’s rude. Talk to them! But if you know you already like them and you know they like scents, and you wanna put a nice scent in the room, I love marjoram as the middle note because I feel like it takes the stuff from the base note – whether it’s relaxing, or conjuring up a sensual feeling, or trying to build a sexual appetite – it’s gonna take that energy and help you focus in on it.
KS: Cool!
TR: Yeah! So one of my favorite top notes for sexual health is pink grapefruit, because it’s supposed to help us be in our bodies, in a way that’s pleasurable and fun and feels good. Most of the food-related essential oils, like pink grapefruit and cinnamon, are going to, in some way, put us in our bodies. But there’s something that’s particularly playful about pink grapefruit. And that word, “playful,” reminds me of my other favorite top note for sex essential oil blends, which is tangerine. Because that one’s all about being playful and silly and cute and bringing us back to our inner child. In a sexual context, I don’t know how many people would feel comfortable saying, “I want to bring out my inner child!” but I think that’s so important. I think the inner child does know how to have good sex.
KS: Sex is grown-up playtime!
TR: Yeah, exactly! The cool thing about aromatherapy is that the molecules in the essential oils are so small that they can pass through the blood-brain barrier. So when you smell it, it actually goes directly to your brain and works on the brain, which is how it can release serotonin and all those things. I love aromatherapy because it’s an immediate medicine that you can pick up at any health food store. Smelling something, you can quickly pick up and do. It’s not a tool that is gonna cure everything, but generally, it’s a tool you can immediately use, and it kind of holds your hand while you work through your stuff. When I use an oil, it’s not like it can fix all the damage that’s been done, but it allows me some serenity and it works on the brain so that you have more space to work through those things and not be as triggered or as overwhelmed while you do that. It kind of works like food, in that pleasure-centre kind of way, because even though you’re not eating it, it is going into your body. And it’s also not gonna have the same side effects as, say, an antidepressant. Like, if I’m having a panic attack, I can go huff some clary sage, and it won’t have the lasting, shitty effects of a lorazepam. But I can get the same effect, or a similar-enough, or a different-but-just-as-useful.

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KS: Cool! So, let’s shift gears a little bit. Can you tell me about the Body Pride workshop that you’re running?
TR: Yeah! So, as a sex educator and doula, and a friend of Caitlin K. Roberts, I’ve been to a few of her Body Pride workshops as a helper and as a participant. And after a few of those workshops, somebody suggested that there be a post-partum Body Pride. Women are so under attack for how their bodies “should” look, and the post-partum period – the period right after birth – is particularly hard, because I think there’s all sorts of pressures around getting back to your “pre-baby body.” You’re not gonna have the body you had before. You had a fucking baby! That’s amazing! Why would your body be the same after that? It shouldn’t be, because nothing’s the same after that. And that’s a good thing. Or it can be a good thing.
KS: Totally!
TR: So we thought it would be helpful to have a Body Pride just for people who’ve had that experience, because I think that transitioning from a young person into adulthood has its own unique set of struggles – and then you have to do it again, in a different way, with a slightly different set of obstacles, in post-partum.
KS: How much are you changing Caitlin’s basic Body Pride curriculum to be specifically for post-partum folks?
TR: Not a lot. We’re keeping it pretty on-point. I won’t be doing a photoshoot at the end, mostly because I don’t have the skills. We just felt that it wouldn’t be appropriate, and we don’t have somebody with that skillset. Not knowing what will come up for people, I wasn’t sure if that would be the best way to end it. I am gonna end it with a little dance party, to keep it light. The other thing is, I sat down and had a consult with a woman who was very interested in this post-partum Body Pride idea, and she really helped me to build in some checking-in kind of stuff. So there might be a little extra care around appreciating that not everybody coming to this event is going to feel great about their body. It’s not that you can’t celebrate your body in the space, but we all need to be mindful that not everybody is gonna be able to celebrate like you can, necessarily.
KS: True.
TR: The other thing that’s different is that people who are breastfeeding – from 0 to 6 months – can bring their baby, because that’s a really tough period to not be around your baby, if you’re breastfeeding.
KS: Do you have any other workshops coming up after that one?
TR: I do! I have a Pleasure After Kids workshop coming up at the LGBTQ Parenting Network. It’s gonna be at the 519. It’s on December 4th from 2 to 4 p.m., and I think it’s free. I’ll also be holding an Aromatherapy for Sexual Health event on November 22nd from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Anarres Apothecary (749 Dovercourt Road, north of Dovercourt and Bloor). There will be treats!
KS: Awesome! Where can people find you online if they want to book you for services or just find out more about you?
TR: They can visit me at TynanRhea.com and SisterhoodWellness.com. [Ed. note: Tynan’s also on Instagram and Twitter.]
KS: Thanks, Tynan!

Monthly Faves: Wooden Spoons & Booty Shorts

Kate Sloan

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My therapist asks me occasionally, “Do you feel you have enough social supports in your life?” and my answer is always yes – but this month, it felt more like a resounding “FUCK YEAH!” I am so blessed to have incredible friends and a wonderful community of online followers (that’s you!). Here are some of the sexual and social highlights of my September…

Sex toys

• SheVibe sent me the new Fuze Foreman dildo to review, which I will do soon. While my vagina isn’t exactly aflutter over the Foreman, I am always pleased to see more uncircumcised dildo options on the market. It’s been ages since I’ve banged/blown someone with an intact foreskin and I miss it… but the Foreman is a suitable substitute for the time being!

• In preparation for the #BirthdayBruises spanking party (more on that later), I ordered a couple of wooden “pervertables” off Amazon: a long-handled wooden spoon and a little bamboo rice paddle. My friend Taylor also brought a long wooden shoehorn to the party. I love all sorts of spanking implements, but there is something especially cool about corrupting innocent objects into instruments of kink. A little creativity makes everything more fun.

• I used my hands quite a bit this month. Having an orgasm without any technological assistance always makes me feel like a badass. I usually find those orgasms aren’t as strong or as long-lasting as the ones I have with vibrators, but it’s still a neat talent to have in my back pocket! (Or down the front of my pants, as it were.)

Fantasy fodder

• I sexted a bit with someone this month who mentioned that having someone sit on his face is his favorite thing. It’s been many years since I’ve sat astride someone’s mouth, but I’m not necessarily opposed to it. In real life, my bad hips, bad knees, chubby body, and chronic anxiety make facesitting a nervewracking proposition – but in fantasy, at least, it can be hot as hell. Can I consensually smother a cute boy with my ladybits, please?

• My obsession with A-spot stimulation continues to haunt my sex life, both actual and imagined. For this reason, when I’m sexually interested in someone, I tend to notice the length of their fingers. And maybe think about how those fingers would feel deep inside me. And how the person’s face would look as they fucked me that way. And what they would say to me when they were about to make me come. Unf.

Sexcetera

• As you might know, Bex and I launched our podcast this month after working on it for what feels like eons! We’ve been truly blown away by the enthusiastic reception the show has received: over 200 Twitter followers in the first three days after launch, countless supportive tweets, and lots of suggestions for topics we should cover next. If you’ve enjoyed our first couple episodes, we’d love if you could leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Thanks, babes. 💖

• For Bex’s birthday, we co-hosted a spanking party, where several of our closest friends were invited to give Bex a good smackin’ to celebrate their 25th. It was so much fun: a bunch of my favorite people, packed into a cozy Airbnb apartment, talking, laughing, playing music, and engaging in casual impact play. The whole evening made me reflect a lot on how grateful and happy I am to have built the kind of life where an event like this is commonplace. I’m surrounded by sweet, supportive sex nerds and that brings me joy every day. (If you want more juicy details on the party, check out the Storify I put together of all the tweets and Instagram posts from that evening and the planning that led up to it!)

• Many months ago, my friend Anais told me, half-jokingly, “A spanking buddy is just something everyone should have.” In the time since, I’ve often idly wished for a friend-with-benefits where the benefits are just spanking. Don’t get me wrong, I love sex – obviously – but there is something particularly delicious about a spanking just for the sake of a spanking, and not as foreplay or an accessory to bangin’. After some careful discussions of boundaries and expectations, I kinda have the spanking buddy of my dreams now, which is pretty rad.

Femme stuff

• Sometimes when I’m having a bad anxiety day, I take it out on my eyebrows, plucking hairs I shouldn’t. It leaves ’em looking sparse, but that just means I get to put more effort into filling them in with makeup and making them perfect. This month I combined Anastasia Dipbrow, Benefit Gimme Brow and a cheapo drugstore brow pencil to create sculpted brows where there was once just a couple of meager caterpillars.

• Bex wanted to hit up the Black Market while they were in town, and when we went, I fell in love with a Dr. Seuss-esque T-shirt that says “Gonna Fuck This Ham.” I pride myself on my sense of humor, but sometimes I inexplicably laugh way too much at stupid shit. This shirt filled my very soul with glee, so I had to have it, and now it’s mine.

• The Black Market also sells children’s dancewear items, which, if you can find them in a big enough size, can be worn by adults comme moi. They’re delightfully bright and sparkly. I wore a turquoise crop top and pink shorts to our spanking party, prompting a friend of mine to say upon seeing me, “The ’80s called, and they said you look great.”

Little things

Brainstorming big projects. Emotional detox. Pumpkin muffins. Protodome. Going to improv shows by myself as self-care and then treating myself to McDonald’s after. Chatting and laughing hysterically over vegan food for hours with Mia and Ben. Fantasizing about writers’ retreats. Discussing crystals, sex, and intimacy with Khadeja. Honey whiskey and apple cinnamon cider. The Blogcademy. Seth Cohen. How beautiful John and his camera make me look. Sugarpill’s “Birthday Girl” eyeshadow. Taking my friend to buy her first butt plug. Jimmy Stewart impressions. Impromptu slumber parties. Singing “Zidane to Vivi” while Brent played piano. Pesto pollo pasta and dulce de leche cheesecake at 7 West. My nice clean desk. Meeting my baby nephew for the first time. Making hilarious edits for conservative magazines (“mid-bang” to “during intercourse,” for one!). My new glasses. Demo-bottoming for a spanking class, and dreaming of doing that more.

 

What were your favorite Sex Thingz this month, my loves?

Review: Jimmyjane Intro 2

Kate Sloan

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I don’t think you quite understand the incongruity of shitty sex toy company Pipedream having bought out luxury sex toy company Jimmyjane. This is like if McDonalds bought out the Rainbow Room and started selling a deep-fried, mystery-meat bastardization of their filet mignon. This is a strange thing. This is a thing that should not have been allowed. And yet, it happened.

The Jimmyjane Intro 2 is, essentially, a deep-fried mystery-meat filet mignon of a sex toy. Pipedream took the bare bones of one of my favorite clitoral vibrators – the Form 2 – and made it cheap, battery-powered, awkwardly large, and even buzzier than before.

The Form 2 fit in my hand perfectly: small, smart and spartan. The Intro 2 is like the large-print version of the same toy – it feels unnecessarily big, to the point that I am always aware I am holding a sex toy and the vibrations can’t just melt into the periphery of my perception. This might make it a better choice than the Form 2 for people who struggle with hand dexterity – but for me, it’s just annoying.

But my main issue with the Intro 2 is the vibrations. I mean, it’s a vibrator; that’s always going to be the make-or-break factor. The Form 2 was buzzy-ish to begin with – moreso, certainly, than other blogger-revered clit vibes like the Tango and Siri 2 – but it had a rumbly base note that endeared it to my clit. The Intro 2 lacks that rumbly foundation, and is all buzz. That’s great if you like that, but I don’t. It numbs me out within a couple of minutes, leaving me to grumble gripes like “My kingdom for an Eroscillator!” and “Nah, that’s cool, I didn’t want to be able to feel my genitals or anything.”

imageThe Intro 2 also lacks my absolute favorite thing about the Form 2: a setting where the vibrations moved quickly back and forth between the toy’s two “ears,” creating what Jimmyjane termed “sensation in stereo.” To me, this setting felt more like oral sex than other toys that actually try to mimic oral sex; the vibrations flippity-flopping from one ear to the other were like the side-to-side flicking of a firm tongue. This setting’s been phased out in the Intro 2, and it really bums me out.

And we need to talk about the one button on the Intro 2, because it makes me want to throw this vibrator into a fire. Whereas the Form 2 had an elegant three-button control system (up, down, and change mode), the Intro 2 only has one button, via which you are forced to cycle through its multiple modes and speeds one by one. If there’s a particular setting or speed you love and want to get back to, you have to get through all the other ones first. No vibrator should be designed this way. Give me intuitive vibrator design or give me death.

It is, in some sense, exciting that Pipedream is trying to make fancy-ass Jimmyjane toys more accessible to lower-income folks. Not everyone can afford to spend $80+ on a luxury vibrator, and I get that. But even at a low price point, there are options that far outperform this buzzy, cumbersome facsimile. If you want a decent, rumbly clit vibe for under $50, try the Jopen L2 or Sensuelle Point. If you can afford to save up for something pricier but really excellent, grab the Tango for $79 ($71 with my discount code GIRLY10); it’s rumblier and more intuitive than anything Jimmyjane’s ever made, pre- or post-Pipedream buyout.

Babes, your clit deserves better than the Intro 2. Just like Jimmyjane deserved better than to be bought and rebranded by a company like Pipedream. Give your clit a happier ending than Jimmyjane got, please.

Thanks to Peepshow for sending me this toy to try!

The Dildorks Podcast: Dorky Discourse on Sex, Dating, and Masturbating

Kate Sloan

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My best friend Bex and I are on the same wavelength about practically everything. We like the same sex educators, the same porn stars, the same restaurants, the same pop songs, even occasionally the same boys. We agree on just about every issue; it’s what makes us #BrainTwins.

So I wasn’t surprised when, last October, we discovered we both wanted to start a podcast. It made perfect sense. Like it was destined to happen all along.

In the months that followed, two things happened in my friendship with Bex: we became a whole lot closer, and we talked more and more about the podcast we wanted to co-create. It began to take shape in our many conversations about sex-related media we loved and hated. Our favorite stuff was the deep-dive, sex-nerdy shit that got into the nitty-gritty of sexuality the way we did in our own conversations with friends. We loved Tina Horn’s kink philosophizin’, Epiphora‘s blasé snarkiness, Sinclair Sexsmith’s profound discussions of D/s, Allison Moon’s goofy sluttiness. We dreamed of creating a resource for sex nerds that was silly, authentic, informative, and that went beyond the “sex 101” stuff plastered all over the internet.

In one of our many brainstorming sessions over Skype, Bex came up with the name: The Dildorks. (‘Cause we’re dorks and we like dildos. Get it?!) I coined the tagline: “Dorky discourse on sex, dating, and masturbating.” And then, with trepidation and with love, we recorded our first episode.

We were blessed to receive contributions from some super talented people: our art is by Amy and our theme song is by Protodome. I am so excited about this project because of all the cool folks I get to work with – most especially Bex! ♥

You can listen to our podcast in an on-site player, download the file directly, or subscribe to us on iTunes. I hope you’ll join us for this episode and all our future ones!

My 10 Best Tips For Writers

Kate Sloan

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Writers have written about writing a lot. Just about every famous author has been grilled about their writing hacks, and many bloggers (including yours truly!) have pontificated on our craft. Ryan Holiday says writers do this because “it’s a way to work and practice their craft even though deep down they know they’re putting off a harder version of it.” In other words, we write about writing because real writing is emotionally precarious and damn difficult.

So, given the oceans of ink that’ve already been spilled on the topic of writing, I’m sure none of my suggestions for writers are new or revolutionary. But the following tips work for me, and I’ve shared them with many a young writer who’s sought my mentorship. I hope they help you, young grasshopper!

1. Write a lot, in a lot of different genres. As with anything, you won’t get good until you practice. Put in your 10,000 hours. Young, cocky writers often think they’re already good and have already found their voice, even if they’re just babies in the grand scheme of things – and I know this because I used to be one of those young, cocky writers. I thought the portfolio of work I submitted with my journalism school application in 2012 was the best stuff I’d ever written. Now I read it and it makes me cringe!

There are so many different types of writing, and each can hone your skills in different ways. I don’t regard my journaling as “real writing” so much as emotional processing; however, it’s still a vital backbone to all the other writing I do. And although most of my writing is hardboiled nonfiction, I’ve sharpened my wordsmithery by writing fanfiction, poetry, 50-word stories, and even corporate copy. Any opportunity to stretch your writing muscles is bound to be useful. Stay curious, keep challenging yourself, sidestep stasis at all costs. Write, write, write, and write some more.

2. Read a lot. Almost all writers suggest this. It’s a boring thing to suggest. But it’s important.

I don’t think you need to have your nose in a book all the time to be a good writer, but I do think you need to read something, consistently. I don’t read a lot of fiction anymore, because that’s not the kind of writing I do; most of my reading is longform feature articles online and nonfiction books. But when I do pick up the odd work of fiction, I notice a change in my writing almost immediately. I’m more focused on prosody; my voice becomes temporarily influenced by whatever writer I’m reading. And that’s a good thing, so long as you’re reading diversely, because the more tricks you pick up from reading other writers, the sharper your own voice will become.

Read analytically. Read for structure, word choice, imagery, pacing – whatever skills you’re trying to polish in your own work. When you find a line or a paragraph or a chapter that really works, ask yourself why you feel that way about it. Try to replicate the effect in your own writing, so you can add it to your toolbox. Don’t be an outright copycat – although, Austin Kleon says all good artists steal, so maybe copycatting isn’t totally evil.

3. Do your morning pages. Three longhand pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, done immediately upon waking, every morning. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but morning pages are miraculous. They make me more clear-headed, inspired, and productive. Esmé Wang likens them to clearing cobwebs. To me, they feel like I’m pushing all the bad writing and ugly thoughts out of my system first thing in the morning, to make room for good writing and beautiful thoughts. Don’t knock ’em til you try ’em; I thought morning pages sounded pointless and weird, too, until I tried them and saw what they do for my brain.

4. Avoid clichés. George Orwell said you should always “take the time to invent fresh, powerful images” rather than relying on commonly-used idioms/metaphors/similes that everyone has heard before. I’m inclined to agree: the power of a metaphor is in the image or feeling it evokes, and if we’ve heard your metaphor a dozen times before, we’re less likely to see it in our mind’s eye and feel it in our body.

The exception is if you’re subverting a cliché, or employing it in a novel way (e.g. using the phrase “beating around the bush” to describe someone jacking off onto someone else’s pubic hair!). It’s rare to stumble across the perfect opportunity to flip an idiom on its head, but it can be done, often to great effect.

5. Write what hurts. If there’s a notion or story that gets your heart thrumming and your gut roiling every time you think about writing it down, then you need to write it. Be brave and write the hard stuff. If [x] makes you feel something, you’re in the perfect position to make your readers feel something about [x], too.

I will say, however, that I think the best writing comes from calm reflection on intense emotions. You probably can’t do your best writing from the (literal or figurative) battlefield, because you’re busy fighting that battle. But if you wait til you’re back home in your nice safe bed, and then do the brave work of revisiting those battlefield memories so as to write about them, you should be able to recapture those wild highs and lows from a more settled place. That’s the sweet spot for emotional writing, I think: a cool head and a hot heart.

6. Have a ritual. So much of productivity is about tricking your own brain into performing better. Of course, you could just will yourself to write, but that’s not always easy. You’re better off using the power of Pavlovian conditioning to trigger your creativity whenever you need it.

At home, I’m usually too lazy and distractible to write, so I do the bulk of my writing at coffee shops. Schlepping my laptop to a café is, itself, a signal to my brain that I am about to get to work. I settle in with my coffee, muffin, and headphones – always sitting in the same window seat, if I can help it – and the ritualized familiarity kicks my muse into gear. Hone your own writerly rituals so that they best serve you: think about food, drink, music, environment, even the clothes you wear. It all matters, if you say it does.

7. Maintain your momentum. Get a shitty first draft written before you worry about editing or fact-checking any of it. It’s far more important that you carve out the basic shape of the thing. If you get stuck on a particular point, just skip it and keep going; you can come back to it once you’ve written through the rest. Use placeholder text if you can’t come up with the exact right metaphor right now or can’t remember the exact statistic you want to cite. Once you luck into that juicy creative flow, your goal is to stay in it for as long as possible – because that’s the zone in which you get shit done.

Journalism school taught me this skill. Sometimes we’d have same-day deadlines for news articles: I’d do research and phone interviews all morning, and then I’d have an hour or two to write the actual story. There wasn’t time to agonize over the construction of every sentence. I learned to whip up a first draft at breakneck speed, and then go back in and fix things later, once the story’s basic structure was mapped out. The hardest part about writing is the part before you find your momentum, so once you’re in it, stay in it. Fuck details; stay the course.

8. Do it because you love it. Writing, as a career, is not lucrative or fruitful – unless and until you throw so much passion at it that the passion converts to skill, and the skill converts to success. Most people never get to that point, because they’re expecting something (money? overnight fame? an instant book deal?) that never comes.

If you write, you have to do it because you love to write. Or at least because you hate doing it less than you hate doing most other things. The actual act of writing has to be fun for you – or if not fun, then at least gratifying. We humans are happiest when we pursue goals for their intrinsic rewards (e.g. the joy you feel when you write) rather than extrinsic ones (e.g. the money and fame you hope writing will bring you). If you write for the love of it, you’ll have already succeeded before you even click “Publish.”

9. …But don’t devalue yourself. When some writers talk about the importance of loving the craft, they make it sound like some high-minded endeavor, in which money should never be a consideration. If you were a real writer, this line of logic goes, you wouldn’t care one way or the other if you got paid to write.

This is a nice idea, but the reality is that we live in a capitalist society, and all of us (yes, even writers!) need to earn a living. Writing is a skillset, and if you write well and people enjoy your writing, you deserve to be compensated for that. There’s something to be said for building up a portfolio of pro-bono work before you start charging, but at some point or another, you should start getting paid for your work. Don’t be afraid to ask for money, or to ask for more. Don’t be afraid to say no when publications offer to pay you in “exposure.” Don’t be afraid to assert your worth as a writer and as a person. ‘Cause dammit, writing is work, and work costs money.

10. “Operate like the world is already listening.” Know how no one at the party wants to listen to that person who talks like they have nothing worthwhile to say? The same is true for writers. You’ll enthrall an audience much quicker if you write like people are already enthralled by you. I don’t mean you should write with egotism or self-aggrandizement; I just mean you should write with purpose and with confidence, like you would if your audience was huge and gleefully gorged on every word that dripped from your pen.

From the beginning, I wrote this blog as if hordes of sex nerds were already reading it, because that’s what I wanted. And sure enough, now I’ve got that sweet, substantial, sex-nerdy congregation I always hoped for. Think about who you wish was reading your stuff, and then write stuff that those people would like to read. They’ll find you. And in the meantime, write like they already have.

 

What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?