Authentically Teresa Funke – Never AI
Make No Apologies for How You Work
The other day, I was conducting an author visit at a middle school, and a sixth grader said, “I read about an author who gets up at 5:00 every morning to write. Is that what you do?” “Honey,” I said, “I don’t do anything at 5:00 in the morning except sleep!” I then explained to...
New Video – How to Manage Your Research and Outlines
I’m taking a moment this week to draw your attention to my new writing video “How to Manage Your Research and Outlines.” I know many of you are becoming more and more interested in stretching your writing skills and moving in new directions with your work. You may have been inspired by the start of...
Why You Should Ignore Their Pain Points
As an author-entrepreneur I’ve attended many a class and read many a book on sales and marketing. So often I’m told that the first step in selling your products or services is to identify your buyer’s pain point, then you explain how your product or service is the solution to their pain. Every time I...
When Good Words Turn Bad
While listening to a friend talk the other day about a moment of personal discovery, I had a realization . . . there are many words I use I’d always thought of as “good” words, but in certain circumstances, even a good word can turn “bad.” Take “wish” for example – a word full of...
How to Be a Multicultural Artist/Writer
January 27 is Multicultural Children’s Book Day, and it brings me around to an interesting conversation that’s underway in the publishing community–whether anyone has the right to tell stories outside of their race or culture. I have friends whose story ideas have lately been turned down because they wanted to write about a race different...
The Pendulum Theory of Art and Politics
When I was pursuing my history degree in college, I learned about the Pendulum Theory, or so my professor called it. According to the theory, history (and especially politics) swings to one direction until it reaches a tipping point (usually driven by popular mood) and then it swings back. This makes living in a two-party...
Don’t Let Them Tell You It’s Too Easy
Last week I talked about how my professors’ high expectations motivated me. This week, I want to put a slightly different spin on that. See, I was a history major, which meant writing tons of 10 and 20-page papers. One year, I was taking a Native American Studies class. My professor was passionate about her...
Are You Living Up To Their Expectations?
On the last day of classes during my senior year of college, I dropped in to say good-bye to my professors. I was graduating in a few days with a degree in history and had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with my education. When the dean asked me about my plans,...