Author: beccakinla

How attached are you to your dreams?

beccakinla revision, writing, writing process Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Taking feedback and running with it

I’m still thinking about the story that I mentioned in a post earlier this week, the one that I ran by the beta-testers that I’d acquired through my newsletter.

On Monday, my sister phoned, and she wanted to know about the comments people had made about the story (she had been one of those to offer feedback). In particular, she wanted to know which comments were those which I’d mentioned had popped up multiple times.

I told her what the comment was, and then added: Continue reading →

My review of Letters from Mir and the wonders of primary sources

beccakinla reading, recommended reading, research, writing Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Last week, The Jewish Home L.A. ran my review of the new book, Letters From Mir. Of the books I’ve reviewed professionally in the last couple months, it was the one that surprised me most, on more than one level.

When I read the cover blurb, I wasn’t terribly enthusiastic about the book. I warmed up a bit while reading the introductions (yes, that’s plural), but was completely won over once I hit the actual letters. These form the centerpiece of the volume, and they consist of those by and addressed to a young rabbi and yeshiva student, Rabbi Ernest Gugenheim during the tumultuous period that preceded the Second World War.

If you want to read about that book, you can do so here, but my favorite thing about the book touches on a topic that can be applied more widely: the importance of primary sources in understanding the past.  Continue reading →

Results of an experiment: finding beta readers online from among fans vs in-person writing groups

beccakinla how to write, revision, workshop, writing groups, writing process Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

A couple weeks back, I sent out a very short story I’d written a few days earlier to people who had signed up for my newsletter (you can sign up for that newsletter on my welcome page). I wanted some feedback, and I had more than a week until the next scheduled meeting of my writing group, so I decided to try something I’d heard other authors have done: generating beta readers from my mailing list and asking for feedback from them.

Here’s the results of my little experiment Continue reading →

My OCD confession in Tablet and more resources about OCD

beccakinla advice, Jewish, Jewish writing, success Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Tablet’s running my essay about the weirdest thing that happened to me due to my OCD, which is so freaky that it’s taken years for me to write about. The only reason I finally did so was because I’ve seen some talk about these symptoms in Orthodox magazines, but none in mainstream media, and almost all of it was written either anonymously or by a non-sufferer. It became important to me that people know they are not alone, not losing their minds, and that they get help and understanding that they need.

I’m getting incredible, supportive feedback, thank G-d. A couple people have reached out to me because they or a relative have scrupulosity or OCD in general, so I thought it might be good to share a few more resources. Continue reading →

This week’s edition of Orthodox Women Talk visits Melissa Amster’s blog

beccakinla Jewish, Jewish writing, opinion, Orthodox, women Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Would you like to hear the perspectives of seven different female Jewish bloggers about haircovering? Melissa Amster, the Merryland Girl, is hosting Orthodox Women Talk today, and we’ve got plenty different opinions represented: from those who cover, those who don’t, those who found it challenging to get used to, and those who love it. We have women who wear wigs, scarves, and everything in between.

Care to check it out? Read here.