We Hunted The Mammoth
Are you suffering from writer’s block or any other writing malady? Looking for help structuring an article or book?
I’m giving away FREE hour-long, no-strings-attached WRITING COACH sessions via phone or Zoom. See here for more information about what I offer. And then contact me at [email protected].
Usually, I only do nonfiction, but for this promotional offer, I will also do fiction.
Hurry up and email before all the slots are taken!
“Comedian” and conspiracy theorist Russell Brand has been accused of rape and abuse by multiple women, according to an extensively reported story in the Times (UK).
Somehow this doesn’t come as much of a surprise.
Hey! As you may recall, several months ago, I hung out my shingle as an editor and writing coach. Now, I’d like to replace that shingle with a slightly different one: I’m dropping the line editing to focus on coaching and developmental editing for anyone at work on (or contemplating) a nonfiction writing project.
Before, I was aiming my services at academics; now, instead of focusing on a demographic, I’ve decided to focus on a problem: writer’s block.
Are you frozen halfway through a draft of your latest article, staring at a blinking cursor on the screen? Or dodging calls from your agent because you’re making no progress on the book you promised would be completed by now? Or scrambling to meet your work and family responsibilities and unable to find time to write?
As a writing coach focusing on writer’s block and other forms of writing resistance, I can help to get you productive again—and teach you techniques that will enable you to unblock yourself in the future. If you’re struggling to figure out what you want to say, I can be your sounding board and brainstorming partner. I can help you to develop a regular writing habit and serve as an accountability partner to keep you on track.
And, as a developmental editor, I can help you tame an unruly draft, bringing structure to your writing and finding the throughlines to your narrative.
I’m still very much interested in working with academics, whether students, instructors, or professors. Are you eager to reach an audience outside your profession, or struggling to turn your dissertation into a book? As a longtime book reviewer, often of academic books, I know how to make complex ideas accessible to a broad audience—and I can help you translate academic insights into engaging, readable prose. As an escaped grad student (ABD at Northwestern in history), I know something about the demands and pressures of academia and what it takes to succeed.
If you’re interested, contact me at [email protected] to arrange a free, no-obligation 20-minute phone or Zoom call to discuss what I can do for you.
BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE! For a limited time, I will be offering a 20 percent discount on my already reasonable rates for anyone mentioning We Hunted the Mammoth in their email.
And if you’re not looking for writing coaching yourself, please mention this offer to anyone you know who might be.
You can check out my website at David-Futrelle.com for a little more on my background.
The white shooter painted swastikas on his guns and left behind several racist manifestos; he apparently intended to kill students at the historically black Edward Waters University but was chased away by security and went to a Dollar General store instead. He killed three black shoppers and then himself.
This is the country we live in now.
Open thread.
So, yeah, as the headline says, We Hunted the Mammoth is going on an indefinite hiatus. For the last few months, I have been trying to make this work, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it won’t. As you know, I have been struggling to raise enough money to keep the blog financially stable, and that has been weighing on me.
But there’s a bigger factor: I’m simply burned out. I’ve spent the last thirteen years writing about some of the worst people in the world, and, well, it’s wearing me down. I’m deeply tired of these people and their endless hateful nonsense; it’s time to move on. (I am putting My AI Obsession on hold for now as well.)
I’m deeply grateful for all of the support you all have given me over the years. Some of you have been so generous with your donations that I don’t know what to say. I want to thank everyone who has donated to or otherwise offered assistance to the blog over the years.
I’m not shutting the blog down entirely. One of the things I have enjoyed the most about this blog over the years has been reading the comment section, and I don’t want to leave the regular commenters in the lurch. I’ll continue to post Open Threads and possibly even a few real posts from time to time, and I hope some of you decide to stick around.
I may return at some point to launch We Hunted the Mammoth 2.0, likely with a somewhat different focus, but right now, I don’t know for sure if or when that will be.
As many of you know, I have started up a new venture, hanging out my shingle as a writing coach; you can read more about this here. If you’re feeling stuck with your writing, I can help to unstick you. I am focusing most on academics but all nonfiction writers are welcome!
If you have thoughts you’d like to share, please post them in the comments below, or send them to me directly at dfutrelle at gmail.com.
I’m still on hiatus–more details coming in a few days–but I thought I’d toss this out as a discussion topic. Here’s something on the, er, controversy from Vox. And feel free to talk about anything else you want to as well, as per our usual arrangement.
It’s a sad day in Trumpland as our former grifter-in-chief has been hit with another barrage of indictments, these dealing with Jan. 6.
Anyway, I thought you all would appreciate a thread to talk about the indictments and whatever else catches your fancy.
Are you a writer or an academic feeling stuck? See here how I can help you as an editor or writing coach.
Today’s barely coherent rant comes courtesy of the Men’s Rights subreddit, on the topic of women wearing fancy outfits at work and oppressing all the men.
Check out my new blog, My AI Obsession, and my latest post there, How releasing the Llama 2 language model as open source could come back to bite Meta, and all of us, in the ass.
A week ago, I wrote a post about the nascent anti-Barbie movie crusade, and I noted that it seemed oddly muted. Well, what a difference a week makes: with the movie actually out this weekend, the anti-Barbie forces have turned up the volume, denouncing the movie as “woke” feminazi garbage that pushes a not-very-secret LGBTQ agenda.
