Ah, the excitement of beginning a new writing project. The energy! The enthusiasm! The high hopes! This, you think, is going to be the best novel yet, the best essay, the best short story, the best article. You whip open your computer, open a new file, place you hands on the keyboard and….sit staring at […]
It’s a special day here for a couple of reasons. First– SNOW! Ever since I was a little kid (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) I’ve loved snow. People think that since Portland is relatively far north, we get a lot of it. But we don’t. We’ve not gotten a good snowstorm since 2008, and […]
Yes, you read that headline correctly. I was without internet for a week. One whole freaking week. Of course, as luck would have it, I was out of town for part of that time, but still. Come on. It started when a car ran into a pole a few blocks away. Sheared the damn thing […]
I am at this moment a fool for detoxing. I’m doing a three-month heavy metal detox (under doctor’s supervision—don’t try this at home) and, at the same time (because why not), a detox designed to clean out my gut and make it healthier. I’ll spare you the gory details of it all, other than to […]
Spring never fails to surprise me with its lush beauty. And this year is no different. Even though we don’t get much in the way of snow, it does feel like we’ve come through a long winter, seeing as how we’ve had record-setting rainfall amounts. And so spring is delighting me everywhere I look. Here […]
Today is December 15th, which may qualify as last minute for some of you but not for me. I have not bought a single present. But that’s okay, because A. my family has very much cut back on the over-the-top gift giving and B. I am a dedicated online shopper. So as far as I’m […]
Cats are good at crossword puzzles, too! I have decided that there's one VERY IMPORTANT piece of writing advice that often goes unmentioned. It is sort of a secret writer thing, but I am dedicated to bringing such things out in the open, because I'm dedicated to helping you find success as a writer. (You […]
So, last Friday, March 20 was Macaron Day worldwide. What is Macaron Day? It was started by the venerable Parisian baker Pierre Herme (his name has an accent mark, but I can never figure out how to do those) in 2006, and the way it works is simple: you drop into a bakery, donate money to […]
Let's talk about self care. Yeah, I know, you'd rather be writing than fussing about some dumb old self care crap. But here's the point: taking care of yourself will enable you to write more and better. Truly. An example, taken from my own life: Yesterday, I completed two big projects. Both are under wraps […]
As you all know, I teach writing, and I coach writers and I write about writing on this here blog. There's seven years worth of posts here–over a thousand of them last time I looked–and they all have something to do with writing. In truth, I don't write a whole lot about the actual mechanics […]
