If you want to be a writer, or consider yourself a writer, or are planning to be a writer, do not let me catch saying you don’t have time to read. Ahem. Because, really? You have no business writing if you’re not reading. Everything. All the time. Books and blogs and magazines and the backs […]
Writing has been a slog for me lately. In the month of November, for Nanowrimo, I wrote over 50K words. 50,047, to be exact. And since then I’ve written under 4,000. Yeah. A slog. Here are some of my excuses for not writing: –Snow and ice storm –Christmas –My grandson’s birthday —Teaching a workshop on […]
I kind of love the word miscellany, whose official definition according to the Google is ” a group or collection of different items, a mixture.” It sounds charming and old-school and like it would be said by a schoolmarm wearing a Little House on the Prairie outfit. And honestly? The word and all its implications […]
Like so many other writers, I came to writing through reading. From the time I first learned to recognize words on the page, I was fascinated with those words. And from the time I figured out that somebody actually put those words there, that's what I wanted to be–a writer. I remember back when I […]
My business partner Debbie and I have volunteered to take over the organization of a local reading series. It was begun last year by a mystery writer and when he moved away, one of our local writing groups, the Oregon Writer's Colony, took it over. The series is held at a coffee shop close […]
When I was an MFA student, we had packets due every three weeks, five a semester. These packets consisted of original work and an essay about a book we had read. Thus, I spent a lot of time reading. It was then I realized that one of the best things about being a writer is […]
I was on the phone with one of my writing coaching clients (who just so happens to be a kick-ass SciFi adventure writer). "I'm enjoying your book," he said. I thanked him. "I think my wife is enjoying it even more. She keeps stealing it from me." I allowed as how this didn't surprise me, […]
I've been a reader all my life. I'm sure you have, too, since if you're reading this blog, it's because you're interested in writing. And if you're interested in writing, odds are good that you came to your love of writing through reading. Maybe you, like me, usually have something like five books that you're […]
This morning I was reading one of the five million newsletters I subscribe to and the topic was about moving your body. It was yet one more call to exercise regularly and talked about how establishing this habit is easier than you think, because our bodies are made to move. I'll second that. I know […]
