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Dennis is a former writer for the Wall Street Journal and Wall Street Transcript. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, the New York Post, New York magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and the Wall Street Journal itself. He is also a former member of a Wall Street Journal staff.
Holahan’s career as a writer has included stints at the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He has co-written two books with his wife, the New York Times bestselling author Sara J. Eliscu.
Holahan has been a Wall Street Journal staff writer since 2004. His latest book is a novel titled The Great Money Heist.
“You don’t understand why I write about work. I’m not a writer. I’m a writer. I’m a writer. The only difference that matters is the writer, the job title, and the fact that the writer can’t just sit back and write things. As to the role of this writer I think that it’s important to realize that if you put your head in the sand and you write good, you’re going to be a better writer than the writer.
To me this is the writer equivalent of a ‘tactical’ quarterback: if you put your head in the sand, you’re gonna be a great quarterback.
I think that we can all agree that when you put your head in the sand and you write good, youre going to be a better writer than the writer. It’s no different than when you put your head in the sand and you write a good, but annoying, rant.
Yeah, so I just want to repeat this point. If you put your head in the sand and you write good, you’re going to be a better writer than the writer. I’m just saying, and I’m not saying you’re not, what you put in your head is going to be different than if you’ve put it on paper.
If youre not writing from a position of self-awareness, then youre not writing the way you see yourself being written. Some writers write from a position of self-awareness. If you put your head in the sand and write a bad article, you are going to write as you do in real life.
I know I use the term “self-awareness” a little too much. What I mean is this: If you write well, and you recognize the quality of your work, then you’re in a position of self-awareness. If you just write for the sake of writing, you’re not in a position of self-awareness, so you’re not going to write well.
Sometimes I think I have a bit of a self-awareness problem. While self-awareness is important, I think sometimes I don’t recognize the quality of my work when I’m writing. This is particularly true on social media. I’m one of those people who has an awful habit of being self-critical. It’s a bit hard to be self-critical online, where your audience is more likely to point out your mistakes than your successes.