Attention, please. The following are no longer allowed during a writing session: 1. Whining 2. Worrying about the quality of your work 3. Obsessing over the odds for getting your work published 4. Wondering what others will think of your writing 5. Deciding that writing is a colossal waste of your time, because, really, what […]
"When I am writing my problems become invisible and I am the person I always was. All is well. I am as I should be." Roger Ebert I copied this quote from a profile of Roger Ebert that appears in Esquire. Nearly four years ago, Ebert had most of his lower jaw removed due to […]
First there was the story I read online about how the Northwest, including Portland, could expect a major earthquake of the sort that just decimated Chile sometime in the next 50 years. I hate earthquakes. I expect the earth beneath my feet to stay steady, thank you very much. Then I watched a little bit […]
The traditional writing life: you write a novel, submit it to an agent, it gets sold to a good publishing house and they do a lot of work to market you. Ads in print publications, a book tour, readings and signings galore. If you are a literary type, you might take a job teaching writing […]
In writing, nothing is ever wasted. I'm forever saying this to clients, and, well, just about everybody I meet, and it is true. Your words are never wasted because if they need to be cut from one project, they might become useful in another. Doesn't matter if you have a bad experience, because, at least […]
Last night I painted. A couple weeks ago I wrote a post about not making having time to paint. And finally, last night, I got to it. This morning, I realized one of the reasons, besides the pure fun of it, that painting is so good for me. It is because I am approaching it […]
Yesterday, I wrote about watching the Winter Olympics and how Bode Miller winning gold inspired thoughts about stepping up to the plate. Today the subject is story. My daughter and I were watching the men's ski cross races on Sunday night. This is a relatively new sport, and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I […]
Stop the presses for this news flash. I've been watching TV. Specifically, the Olympics. I often write about what a time waster watching TV is and I truly don't watch much of it myself, except, for reasons inexplicable to me, American Idol. But one thing I love is the Olympics, specifically, the winter Olympics. So […]
I'm struggling. I'm having a hard time writing my next novel. There, I've admitted it. I, the one who constantly harangues you to write every day, to keep the momentum going by checking into your project on a daily basis, I, that very same person, am having a hell of a time working on my […]
Have you ever talked about a story so much that you then could never write it? I have. When I was a newer writer, this happened to me several times. Sometimes it was in one-on-one conversation, but mostly it happened in a critique group I attended. I loved that critique group, adored the people in […]
