Here's the paradox: the more you are yourself, the more people will beat a path to your door. And yet we all struggle, at one time or another to be ourselves. Crazy, huh? I've been thinking and writing a lot about this lately. I'm working on a new free guide to replace the current somewhat […]
I've been at a writing retreat all weekend. It was at Scarritt Bennett, a center in the middle of the labyrinth that hosts programs on diversity, women's empowerment, and spirituality. (That's a photo of the labyrinth at Scarritt Bennett to the right, though I focused more on the blooming Redbud and Dogwood trees when I […]
While I'm in Nashville, I asked several friends to guest post. Here's the first one, from the wonderful Welsh Zen master Derek Ayre. Be sure to visit his blog and tell him you read him here! Zen Creativity: Working with Nothing by Derek Ayre Zen practice is not for everyone and it is important to […]
…for other people to figure out what it is that we writers do? Yesterday, a member of my family (who, for the record, I absolutely adore) was talking about people working, people who are retired, and me, about whom he said, "whatever it is that you do." I just laughed because I get this so […]
I made Panna Cotta* yesterday. And potatoes for Easter breakfast. But it was the Panna Cotta that taught me something about writing. It is not a complicated recipe, and doesn't have a lot of ingredients, basically milk, cream, sugar and honey (it is not particularly good for you). Maybe for that precise reason, yesterday I […]
Writers can always benefit by going back to the basics, right? Or not? And more to the point, if you've been writing for awhile, have you tried going back to the basics recently? It is not that easy. Going back to the basics seems like a good idea. You get the desire to strip it […]
The other day, I was out walking in a neighborhood next to mine. And for some reason, I started thinking about the name of the neighborhood that I live in, which is Rose City Park. And the thought occurred to me that it is a lovely, evocative name. This is something I've always known, but […]
I write in my upstairs office which is a converted bedroom. As I'm writing this post, rain is pounding on the windows and if I turn my head and look out the window, I can see into the backyard, which is lush and green and full of just-blossoming flowers. At least they were ready to […]
Yesterday I wrote a blog post called Have a Place to Go in Your Writing. It was about how important it is to know where you are going when you begin a writing session. You can go back and read it here, but you don't really have to in order to understand this post. This […]
When writing, it is important to have a place to go. For instance, Ernest Hemingway always ended a writing session in the middle of a sentence, thus insuring that he had a place to go when he started the next day. I've relearned this lesson over and over again in my own work. If I […]
