A few days ago I wrote a post titled, What About Not Writing? which pondered the question of whether it was ever a good idea to take a break from writing. As is often the case, the post garnered some interesting responses, because, well, I have fabulously interesting readers (Brief aside: as a general rule, […]
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about creativity with a purpose. As usual, I banged the drum for writing on a regular basis. (This is a familiar subject matter for me, as attested to by these posts, too: Getting Up at 5 AM, Techniques for Writing Flow, and Ah, But Here's the Rub, to name […]
I was reading a manuscript the other day and the writer had used a series of two phrases to describe something. My antenna went up and I made a comment that in the American culture, we like things in threes. I've conveniently named this The Rule of Threes, though to my knowledge there is really […]
I've been slogging through the "final" rewrite of my novel lately. Its a funny thing with working on a long extended piece over time, such as a novel or a memoir. You rearrange one chapter and this rearrangement uncovers other things that need attention. Thus, more work and more rewriting. As the days I've allotted […]
I'm all for creativity–it is the centerpiece of my life. As a writer, I've had to cultivate ways to be creative and stay creative on a regular basis. This includes nurturing ideas, putting them on paper, and developing them into finished pieces, whether those finished pieces are paid work for clients or passion projects for […]
Last week, I set a goal with my friend and fellow writer Roy, that both of us would rise at 5 AM in order to write. The goal was to do it twice last week and three times this week. Since he's in Nashville and I'm in Portland, with a two hour time difference, the […]
A few years ago, a dear friend of my daughter's was planning her wedding and she and her fiancee asked me to become ordained so that I could perform the wedding ceremony. A quick search on the internet turned up Universal Ministries, and a quick check of Oregon's loose marriage laws confirmed that getting ordained […]
I'm working on the final (ha!) rewrite of my novel, coming up on part two. I did a lot of thinking and making notes before I started this rewrite, which included many Great Ideas, and most of that affected part one. Why? Because it was character stuff. I worked on figuring out how characters reacted […]
The Big, Scary Beast and the Ancient, Frail Feline are both asleep (in separate rooms, I might add) and so I have a moment to ponder techniques to keep access to the muse alive and well. This is on my mind because at the recent Loft orientation, my fellow mentor and old friend Betsy Woods […]
I'm home from Nashville. I actually got home Monday night, but I went right from being picked up at the airport to see my Mom, and came home exhausted. Its a long drag across the country. I know, I know, people fly much longer distances all the time now, but I don't care, it is […]
