You Know Dasher & Dancer & Prancer & Vixen…

But do we know you?

What do we know about you?

How will we continue to learn about you?

How have you set yourself up for success by creating a platform that works for you in the long-haul?

If you are not sure what the answers are to these questions, then I suggest you take my Udemy Class, Writer Platform Success, 24 Questions To Answer Before You Build Your Writing Platform Using The Platform Bingo Method.

When you register for this Udemy class in December, it’s half price.

Because this is the perfect time of year to be thinking about how to create or update your best platform.

So don’t delay, you can get started brainstorming your best platform in minutes!

Please use this coupon code to get the course at half-price!

And if you’d like me to review your Platform Bingo Worksheet and discuss your platform goals for 2015 with you, simply register for a phone consult with me in December.

Here’s to your writer platform success in 2015!

Seth Godin’s teachings have always been a gift to me.

I often feel, when I listen to what he has to offer, that he is speaking about me, so no wonder I love him so much.

I also always learn a few new things and hear a few things I need to be reminded about.

I hope that you will enjoy listening to this interview as much as I did.

Today is my birthday, so this is my birthday gift to you!

Let’s make the world a more thoughtful place simply by being in it, and by listening to more Seth Godin.

Happy birthday to me and thank you, Seth Godin.

http://www.onbeing.org/program/seth-godin-on-the-art-of-noticing-and-then-creating/5000

 

 

Wow. It’s hard to believe that my writing challenges have been going strong now for almost two years now.

I guess one reason is because I continue to get feedback like this glowing review for my article writing challenge:

Christina Katz has outdone herself again! Taking this article writing challenge has given me a bank of article outlines to begin the New Year and a way to keep on creating more and more when I get to the end of my current list. I highly recommend it for the writer dry of ideas, needing some sort of method to keep her inventory supplied, or just starting out and learning how to create ideas for herself. ~ Carol A.

Creating tools that help writers succeed in ways that are meaningful to everyone involved is what makes my writing career tick.

I know that writers have doubts and challenges some writers face every day. My goal is to help writers get past any immediate hurdles and get to the most enjoyable job of writing.

For writers, writing does not fill only one or two needs. For those of us who love to write, creating fills many needs. And the process is just as valuable as the product.

Everything I offer reflects my holistic attitude about writing, writers, and the writing life. I hope that you will make good use of my inexpensive, helpful tools and resources for writers in 2015.

Start Date Change For All Challenges

All of my writing and freelance challenges will begin on the first Monday after the first of the month.

Therefore, the December 2014 challenges will begin on Monday, December 1st at 12:15 am because this is the first Monday of the month.

ALL challenges that I administrate (21 Moments and all of my Freelance Writing Challenges) will start on the first Monday of each month from now on. They will no longer begin on the 1st of the month, unless the first happens to fall on a Monday. (This is the case for December 2014.)

Remember, instead of every challenge starting on the first, every challenge will begin on the first Monday and then run for 21 or 20 days thereafter.

The Last Day To Register For Challenges Will Be the Sunday Prior To The Start Date By 9 pm

So, for example, you have until this Sunday at 9 pm to register for the first three rounds of 21 Moments and all four of my Freelance Writing Challenges.

All Of My Challenges Run 12 Months Out Of The Year Starting In January 2015

Now that I have the start dates and the administration for challenges under better control, I can run them all year-long rather than just certain months. This means, I will offer my challenges during December and over the summer from here on out.

Yay!

A Couple Suggestions

Please note, I do not recommend taking more than one challenge at the same time.

My suggestion is to take one challenge per month to help you pace out your writing career progress.

If you have not taken a challenge in a while, register now for a creative boost that will help you become more prolific and successful in the long run!

And always remember to provide me with your e-mail address if it is different from your Paypal e-mail.

Thank you! And thank you for all of your suggestions over the past two years that I have been offering challenges.

In December 2014, you can sign up for the following challenges

Receive 21 excellent examples of great writing in your inbox daily for 21 days. Click on the badge to learn more and register:

 Receive 21 more excellent examples of great writing in your inbox daily for 21 days:

 Receive 21 more excellent examples of great writing in your inbox daily for 21 days:

Anyone who is looking to become a more facile and joyful parenting article writer should take my Article Writing Challenge.

Christina Katz Freelance Article Writing Challenge For Parenting Writers

Anyone who is looking to become a more thoughtful and skillful parenting essay writer should take my Essay Writing Challenge.

Christina Katz Essay Writing Challenge

Anyone who is looking to become a more thoughtful rewriter and polisher of her own words should take my Grammar & Punctuation Challenge.

Christina Katz Grammar & Punctuation Challenge

Anyone who is looking to become more brave about selling work should sign up for my Sell Your Writing Challenge.

SellYourWritingChallenge copy

What NaNoWriMo Writers Eat For Thanksgiving

Because who has time to stop writing and talk to people when there is a word count to meet?

Thanksgiving Gumballs

Thanksgiving Gumballs From Archie McPhee

I am a veteran journalist, author and coach with over a decade and a half of experience and a wealth of techniques to share. I am focused on making the world a saner, more expressive place. I help folks become more creative for personal enjoyment, professional development and transformational growth. Whether you are a professional creative or hope to become one some day, I can help you embrace your personal strengths, explore your creative possibilities, and evolve incrementally into your most inspiring self. If you are ready to achieve creative consistency in your life and career, email me about monthly coaching calls. To learn more about increasing your creative confidence, please check out my online school. Stay tuned for ways to save money by becoming a Beta User for my next new course by subscribing to The Prosperous Creative. And don’t forget to get these blog posts delivered to your inbox, so you never miss a post. If you appreciate my work—school, products, blog and social media posts—you are welcome to make a contribution of any size at any time. Thank you for your support!

Updating My Ultimate Best Gift Ideas For Writers List…

Gift by Asenat29Happy holidays to all of my fellow writers!

Clicking on the suggested links is half the fun.

Sometimes they are just items that are good quality and reasonably priced.

Other times they are humorous.

Happy clicking!

The Word “Writer” In or On Gift:

Writer necklace LINK & LINK

Writer definition necklace LINK

Writer definition print LINK

Writer bookends LINK

#writer t-shirt LINK

Writer Way street sign LINK

“You are a writer” poster LINK

Writer’s Block Soap LINK

Small Gifts For Writers:

Your favorite everyday pen in several colors LINK

Journals LINK

Pads LINK

Blank books LINK

Personalized mugs LINK

Writer bumper stickers LINK

Soaps LINK

Lotions LINK

Banned books mug LINK

First lines of literature mug LINK

Posters for writers and writing instructors LINK

Air freshener LINK

Funny Band Aids LINK & LINK

Note cards and bookmarks LINK

Stress Ball LINK

Temporary Tattoos LINK

Ink stamps LINK

Gum LINK & LINK

A fun flash drive LINK

Literary switchplates LINK

Magazine holders LINK

A dammit doll LINK

Starbucks or coffee shop card LINK

Tea or tea shop gift card LINK & LINK

Picture frames to display articles or book covers (the floating kind work well for various sizes)

Funny or colorful sticky notes

Large clear jars to collect all your sticky notes

Travel cup that does not leak LINK

Lip balm LINK

Baseball cap LINK

Fuzzy socks

Sturdy slippers

Quality hot chocolate

A wall or desk calendar LINK & LINK

A set of pretty hooks LINK

Fun reading glasses LINK & LINK

Glasses cleaning kit LINK

The latest version of Strunk & White LINK

Creativity books LIST

Kitchen timer for timed writing LINK & LINK

Fingerless gloves

Ornament in bookish theme LINK & LINK

Book plate stamp LINK

Great writers finger puppet set LINK

A puzzle of famous writers LINK

Best Essays of the Year 2014

Best American Short Stories 2014

The Best American Magazine Writing 2014

To Be Continued…

Photo by asenat29

What Most Writers Don’t Realize About Platform

Screen Shot 2015-04-21 at 9.41.25 AMOne thing most writers do not realize about platform development is that it is a long-term practice. In fact, it’s a career-long process.

At least, it is a career-long process if you want to get the most out of it.

So many writers focus their energy and intention on building that very first website and getting on social media for the first time, but then lose interest once they have hit these marks.

What they don’t realize is that building your first site and getting ready to use social media is just the beginning of making the most of your platform throughout your career.

Look at Martha Stewart, for example. Once upon a time her website was new and she’d just created profiles on social media outlets.

Was she done at that point?

Of course not. It was just the beginning! And every year creates another new beginning not just for Martha, but for any writer.

It’s so easy to see how shortsighted this sounds when we talk about the career of someone else.

But it’s much harder to admit when we are considering our own career, and how much more work we still have to do.

Luckily, if this describes you, I have created a self-paced one-hour class on Udemy.com that can help put you through the paces of your writing career, so you can gather up the best of who you are and what you do, and share that with the world.

Just don’t forget that this story evolves every year, as your career evolves.

That’s why I created my class to work for both first-time platform builders and veteran platform builders.

Obviously veterans are going to work through the class more quickly than first-timers, because they already have a platform foundation established.

I suggest you designate a time of year each year just for platform review and updating. I usually do it now, just before the New Year. And I love doing it because I love to learn all that I accomplished in the past year.

I hope you will join me in reviewing your platform progress and updating your online presence to make it more current and effective.

I’m happy to offer you a discount coupon on my class, Writer Platform Success: Discover Strengths & Grow Confident, 24 Questions To Answer Before You Build Your Writing Platform Using The Platform Bingo Method LINK

Subscribe to my newsletter, follow my blog, and follow me on social media so you won’t miss discount coupons for this course. I am about to send out my monthly newsletter with a great discount!

Let me know if there is anything else I can do for you!

Annual Update: 292 Movies About Writers & The Writing Life

I have been working on the annual update of my list of movies about writers and the writing life.

My husband Jason and I created this list during the summer of 2011 and I have updated it with a little help from my readers every year since.

I know it may not look like much, but maintaining this list takes considerable concentration and effort.

Even so, I almost always miss something obvious. So here’s your chance to be a contributor!

If you would like to make a suggested addition, here are the selection parameters:

  • A main character in the film must be a writer. No ensembles in this list unless writing is central to the storyline.
  • Only cinema movies are included. No TV movies.
  • Only print journalism. No broadcast journalism in this list. Screenwriting and TV writing are both represented. Bloggers are included.
  • Biographies or biopics about writers are listed. No documentaries are included.
  • No academics as central characters, unless the character is a novelist or some other type of writer.
  • Diaries are included, if the diary is part of the central part of the story.
  • If a film is about a writer but is obscure or very unknown it may have been intentionally excluded.
  • Films are listed in chronological order by release year.
  • If a movie was re-released, then it is listed by its most recent release date.

Even if you don’t want to contribute, peruse the list. If you are a writer, you are sure to find a movie you will love!

1. Barrets of Wimpole St. (1934) LINK
2. It Happened One Night (1934) LINK
3. His Girl Friday (1940) LINK
4. The Philadelphia Story (1940) LINK
5. Foreign Correspondent (1940) LINK
6. Woman of the Year (1942) LINK
7. Old Acquaintance (1943) LINK
8. The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944) LINK
9. It Happened Tomorrow (1944) LINK
10. The Lost Weekend (1945) LINK
11. Christmas in Connecticut (1945) LINK
12. The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) LINK
13. I Remember Mama (1948) LINK
14. Call Northside 777 (1948) LINK
15. The Third Man (1949) LINK
16. In a Lonely Place (1950) LINK
17. Sunset Boulevard (1950) LINK
18. Orpheus (1950) LINK
19. Ace in the Hole (1951) LINK
20. Hans Christian Andersen (1952) LINK
21. A Face In The Crowd (1957) LINK
22. Some Came Running (1958) LINK
23. Teacher’s Pet (1958) LINK
24. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) LINK
25. La Dolce Vita (1960) LINK
26. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) LINK
27. Through A Glass Darkly (1961) LINK
28. The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) LINK
29. Jules and Jim (1962) LINK
30. 8 ½ (1963) LINK
31. Contempt (1963) LINK
32. Youngblood Hawke (1964) LINK
33. A Man For All Seasons (1966) LINK
34. Color of Pomegranates (1968) LINK
35. The Odd Couple (1968) LINK
36. Man of La Mancha (1972) LINK
37. Sleuth (1972) LINK
38. The Way We Were (1973) LINK
39. Front Page (1974, originally 1931) LINK
40. All the Presidents Men (1976) LINK
41. The Front (1976) LINK
42. Julia (1977) LINK
43. Providence (1977)
44. Superman (1978) LINK
45. Stevie (1978) LINK
46. My Brilliant Career (1979) LINK
47. Manhattan (1979) LINK
48. Heart Beat (1980) LINK
49. Seems Like Old Times (1980) LINK
50. The Shining (1980) LINK
51. Somewhere in Time (1980) LINK
52. Reds (1981) LINK
53. Rich & Famous (1981) LINK
54. Priest of Love (1981) LINK
55. The World According to Garp (1982) LINK
56. Deathtrap (1982) LINK
57. Author! Author! (1982) LINK
58. My Favorite Year (1982) LINK
59. Missing (1982) LINK
60. Sophie’s Choice (1982) LINK
61. The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) LINK
62. Cross Creek (1983) LINK
63. American Dreamer (1984) LINK
64. Romancing The Stone (1984) LINK
65. Irreconcilable Differences (1984) LINK
66. Just One of the Guys (1985) LINK
67. Out of Africa (1985) LINK
68. Mishima: A Life in 4 Chapters (1985) LINK
69. Heartburn (1986) LINK
70. Stand By Me (1986) LINK
71. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) LINK
72. 84 Charing Cross Road (1986) LINK
73. The Singing Detective (1986) LINK
74. Throw Mama From the Train (1987) LINK
75. Barfly (1987) LINK
76. Waiting for the Moon (1987) LINK
77. Prick Up Your Ears (1987) LINK
78. Best Seller (1987) LINK
79. Rowing With the Wind (1988) LINK
76. Funny Farm (1988) LINK
80. The Accidental Tourist (1988) LINK
81. Da (1988) LINK
82. Her Alibi (1989) LINK
83. My Left Foot (1989) LINK
84. Beautiful Dreamers (1990) LINK
85. An Angel at My Table (1990) LINK
86. Henry and June (1990) LINK
87. Misery (1990) LINK
88. Closetland (1991) LINK
89. Impromptu (1991) LINK
90. Barton Fink (1991) LINK
91. Naked Lunch (1991) LINK
92. Hedd Wynn (1992) LINK
93. The Player (1992) LINK
94. Basic Instinct (1992) LINK
95. Sleepless in Seattle (1993) LINK
96. The Pelican Brief (1993) LINK
97. So I Married An Ax Murderer (1993) LINK
98. The Dark Half (1993) LINK
99. Shadowlands (1993) LINK
100. Poetic Justice (1993) LINK
101. The Paper (1994) LINK
102. Bullets Over Broadway (1994) LINK
103. Paperback Romance (1994) LINK
104. Tom & Viv (1994) LINK
105. Little Women (1994) LINK
106. Il Postino: The Postman (1994) LINK
107. Mrs. Parker & The Vicious Circle (1994) LINK
108. Delta of Venus (1995) LINK
109. Total Eclipse (1995) LINK
110. The Flower of My Secret (1995) LINK
111. Leaving Las Vegas (1995) LINK
112. Carrington (1995) LINK
113. Delores Claiborne (1995) LINK
114. Smoke (1995) LINK
115. The Pillow Book (1996) LINK
116. The Whole Wide World (1996) LINK
117. Mother (1996) LINK
118. Hamsun (1996) LINK
119. The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca (1996) LINK
120. Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) LINK
121. Deconstructing Harry (1997) LINK
122. Henry Fool (1997) LINK
123. Wilde (1997) LINK
124. Chasing Amy (1997) LINK
125. One True Thing (1998) LINK
126. Shakespeare In Love (1998) LINK
127. A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries (1998) LINK
128. Eternity and a Day (1998) LINK
129. Permanent Midnight (1998) LINK
130. A Murder of Crows (1998) LINK
131. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) LINK
132. Croupier (1998) LINK
133. Slam (1998) LINK
134. Les Enfants Du Siècle / The Children of the Century (1999) LINK
135. Topsy Turvey (1999) LIST
136. The Passion of Ayn Rand (1999) LINK
137. Snow Falling on Cedars (1999) LINK
138. Never Been Kissed (1999) LINK
139. The Best Man (1999) LINK
140. The End of the Affair (1999, originally 1955) LINK
141. The Muse (1999) LINK
142. True Crime (1999) LINK
143. Bamboozled (2000) LINK
144. Almost Famous (2000) LINK
145. Before Night Falls (2000) LINK
146. Joe Gould’s Secret (2000) LINK
147. Nora (2000) LINK
148. Pandaemonium (2000) LINK
149. Wonder Boys (2000) LINK
150. Finding Forrester (2000) LINK
151. Quills (2000) LINK
152. Isn’t She Great (2000) LINK
153. Prozac Nation (2001) LINK
154. Pinero (2001) LINK
155. Iris (2001) LINK
156. Moulin Rouge (2001) LINK
157. The Shipping News (2001) LINK
158. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001) LINK
159. Bridget Jones Diary (2001) LINK
160. Storytelling (2001) LINK
161. Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) LINK
162. How to Kill your Neighbor’s Dog (2001) LINK
163. Orange County (2002) LINK
164. Possession (2002) LINK
165. The Hours (2002) LINK
166. Adaptation. (2002) LINK
167. Blue Car (2002) LINK
168. I Capture the Castle (2003) LINK
169. Alex & Emma (2003) LINK
170. Shattered Glass (2003) LINK
171. American Splendor (2003) LINK
172. As Good As It Gets (2003) LINK
173. Sylvia (2003) LINK
174. Cheaper By The Dozen (2003) LINK
175. Something’s Gotta Give (2003) LINK
176. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003) LINK
177. Swimming Pool (2003) LINK
178. Veronica Guerin (2003) LINK
179. The United States of Leland (2003) LINK
180. Notre Musique (2004) LINK
181. Before Sunset (2004) LINK
182. Sideways (2004) LINK
183. The Libertine (2004) LINK
184. Finding Neverland (2004) LINK
185. Motorcycle Diaries (2004) LINK
186. Secret Window (2004) LINK
187. The Door in the Floor (2004) LINK
188. La Tigre E La Neve / Tiger and the Snow (2005) LINK
189. The Dying Gaul (2005) LINK
185. The Squid and the Whale (2005) LINK
186. Capote (2005) LINK
187. The Prize-winner of Defiance Ohio (2005) LINK
188. Factotum (2005) LINK
189. Winter Passing (2005) LINK
190. Shadows In The Sun (2005) LINK
191. The Night Listener (2006) LINK
192. Stranger Than Fiction (2006) LINK
193. Scoop (2006) LINK
194. The TV Set (2006) LINK
195. The Hoax (2006) LINK
196. Infamous (2006) LINK
197. Half Light (2006) LINK
198. Miss Potter (2006) LINK
199. Ask the Dust (2006) LINK
200. Reprise (2006) LINK
201. The Lives Of Others (2006) LINK
202. Running with Scissors (2006) LINK
203. Love and other Disasters (2006) LINK
204. A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints LINK
205. Starting Out in the Evening (2007) LINK
206. Martian Child (2007) LINK
207. Slipstream (2007) LINK
208. Freedom Writers (2007) LINK
209. Becoming Jane (2007) LINK
210. A Mighty Heart (2007) LINK
211. Dan in Real Life (2007) LINK
212. Purple Violets (2007) LINK
213. Moliere (2007) LINK
214. In the Land of Women (2007) LINK
215. Zodiac (2007) LINK
216. Music and Lyrics (2007) LINK
217. 1408 (2007) LINK
218. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007) LINK
219. Atonement (2007) LINK
220. 27 Dresses (2007) LINK
221. Roman De Gare (2007) LINK
222. Angel (2007) LINK
223. Resurrecting The Champ (2007) LINK
224. Sleuth (2007) LINK
225. The Kite Runner (2007) LINK
226. Margot At The Wedding (2007) LINK
227. Nim’s Island (2008) LINK
228. Marley & Me (2008) LINK
229. The Edge of Love (2008) LINK
230. The Stoning of Soroya M. (2008) LINK
231. Me and Orson Welles (2008) LINK
232. Burn After Reading (2008) LINK
233. Sex & The City: The Movie (2008) LINK
234. Good (2008) LINK
235. Funny People (2009) LINK
236. 500 Days of Summer (2009) LINK
237. Julie & Julia (2009) LINK
238. Gentleman Broncos (2009) LINK
239. Bright Star (2009) LINK
240. The Answer Man (2009) LINK
241. 2012 (2009) LINK
242. Motherhood (2009) LINK
243. Broken Embraces (2009) LINK
244. The Soloist (2009) LINK
245. World’s Greatest Dad (2009) LINK
246. The Last Station (2009) LINK
247. Cole (2009) LINK
248. The Boys are Back (2009) LINK
249. Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) LINK
250. Spoken Word (2009) LINK
251. Tetro (2009) LINK
252. State of Play (2009) LINK
253. Nine (2009) LINK
254. The City of Your Final Destination (2009) LINK
255. Certified Copy (2010) LINK
256. The Rum Diary (2010) LINK
257. The Ghost Writer (2010) LINK
258. Howl (2010) LINK
259. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2010) LINK
260. Sex & The City 2 (2010) LINK
261. Eat, Pray, Love (2010) LINK
262. A Closed Book (2010) LINK
263. Peep World (2010) LINK
264. Midnight in Paris (2011) LINK
265. One Day (2011) LINK
266. Limitless (2011) LINK
267. Young Adult (2011) LINK
268. The Help (2011) LINK
269. Twixt (2011) LINK
270. Anonymous (2011) LINK
271. Ruby Sparks (2012) LINK
272. The Words (2012) LINK
273. Writers (2012) LINK
274. Being Flynn (2012) LINK
275. Stuck In Love (2012) LINK
276. Sinister (2012) LINK
277. On The Road (2012) LINK
278. The Perks Of Being A Wallflower (2012) LINK
279. The Raven (2012) LINK
280. The Master (2012) LINK
281. The Best Bar In America (2013) LINK
282. Before Midnight (2013) LINK
283. Saving Mr. Banks (2013) LINK
284. Her (2013) LINK
285. Kill Your Darlings (2013) LINK
286. White Lie (2013) LINK
287. Adult World (2013) LINK
288. Violete (2013) LINK
289. Authors Anonymous (2014) LINK
290. The Fault In Our Stars (2014) LINK
291. Wild (2014) LINK
292. The Theory Of Everything (2014) LINK

Thanks to everyone who has contributed over the years!

Please subscribe to The Prosperous Writer Blog and sign up for The Prosperous Writer Newsletter, so you won’t miss any important updates.

Your Platform Could Be A Playground, Writers!

Playground by Phalinn OoiJust a quick post to ask you some questions about your platform.

What if your platform felt more like a playground to you and to others?

Would you become cheerier and more magnetic in your work?

Would you get more interaction with all that you do?

Would you enjoy the process of platform building and engaging with others via your platform?

I’m pretty sure the answer to all of these questions is, yes!

The reality is energy begets energy. The more positive energy you pour int your platform, the more positive energy you are going to get back.

So, if you have a piddly poor attitude towards your platform, you’re going to get a piddly poor attitude right back.

How can you shift this? How can you change the way you look at your platform, so the world can change the way it looks at you?

You can start by signing up for my 45-minute conference call happening Monday, November 10th at 10 am Pacific Time.

The cost is only $9.99 and everyone who registers will get an opportunity to download the mp3 audio file of the call afterwards.

So even if you are busy at the scheduled time, you can register now and have access to the call by noon on Monday.

The name of the call is, Unlock Your Writer Platform Profits.

I hope you can join us for a whole new lease on how you look at your writer platform!

REGISTER HERE