I’m a world record setter. I’m better at something than anyone else. I’ve got the video to prove it.
Last week, I participated in a World Record Appreciation Society event in New York City. My record? Most Six-Word Quotes Read in Under One Minute (note: not memoirs, but quotes from lit, flicks, famous folks). That [...]

Between Tweets, Facebook wall posts, up to the minute news headlines in your inbox, and email replies that need to be sent NOW, the past is becoming more difficult to care about… not to mention finding time to talk about yesteryear with those we spent it with. The oral history-cum-visual storytelling site Recollecting Adams provides [...]

In honor of Passover, the Jewish holiday I enjoy most because of its great story (frogs, an exodus, matzoh—a tough tale to beat), fun family gathering, and abundance of brisket, I’m posting about Storahtelling, an old but great storytelling project.
“In the beginning, story mattered,” offers Storahtelling’s mission statement. “Woven through the generations, sacred stories [...]

Internet journalism may not be a career with benefits, but it beats temp jobs fit for entry-level high school seniors. More and more print newspaper men and women see pink slips daily, and their desks are usually left vacant… indefinitely. Hiring freezes have moved from temporary to permanent downsizing leaving once noisy newsrooms to a [...]

Getting published in the world of literary journals can be a tough nut to crack. Even a publication as open-minded as our friends over at McSweeney’s can be incredibly selective of what they choose to include. As a writer, it can be frustrating to know that your work is too weird or not relatable enough [...]

Asking people questions and filming their responses is a pretty straightforward idea, and that’s exactly what we love about it. Fifty People One Question is a project that is currently traveling from city to city, recording what everyday people have to say when given the chance to let their minds wander. In New Orleans…

Kristen Buckley is the author of one of the wackiest memoirs we ever Memoirvilled, and Stephanie Staal was my blind date for one of the most creatively inspiring lunch meetings I’ve ever had. When I heard they’d banded together to tell personal stories and creative conversations, I knew we were in for something good.
Their virtual [...]

Blogs.com has been featuring guest bloggers offering their favorites sites in their given field—from Wired’s Chris Anderson to Ning and Netscape founder Marc Andreessen to Craig Newmark of Craigslist and Four-Hour Workweek’s Timothy Ferriss. Good crowd. When the site’s editors asked SMITH for our own must reads, we happily offered “SMITH Mag’s Top 10 [...]

It’s no secret that writing thoughtful, emotionally-affecting fiction comes from the writer’s ability to draw on real life experiences and turn them into something great. Whether these experiences actually happened, or are anecdotes that were told to the writer by friends or strangers, the details and events that eventually make their way into the story must [...]

We’ve all experienced it before. Somebody makes a particularly cutting remark and you are briefly presented with the perfect opportunity to burn them right back. That is, if you are able think quickly enough. Sadly though, the perfect burn usually doesn’t come to you until later, on your way home that night or walking down the stairs, [...]