I believe in writing my way down into the darkness, burrowing a spiraling hole of light down into the diamond layer. I believe I’m always writing stories to awake my 10-year-old-self, my age of awareness and innocence and belief. I believe I didn’t have much to say at 25—only because I didn’t know how to […]
“Après les choses qui sont de première nécessité pour la vie, rien n’est plus précieux que les livres.” Pierre Simon Fournier, Typography Manual, 1764 Translation: “After all the basic necessities of life, there is nothing more precious than books.” For most writers, a book (or owning many books) is the holy grail. We are attracted to […]
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” The Great Gatsby Since we seem to be in a circular history pattern right now, we might do well to understand what the “Roaring 20s” looked like to get prepared when ours finally begins. Reading The Great Gatsby is an entertaining […]
I’ve been away from writing for awhile: four whole noisy, long, life-filled weeks. While I’ve enjoyed every moment of family time and productive work assignments, I ache to get back to my writing project. And yet, I had to look myself squarely in the face—I’ve been procrastinating. So, I blocked off my schedule today to […]
I’m perched on Elk Rock — or Moonlight Ledge, depending on the position of the sun, circa 2005. We’ve climbed the mountainside behind my dear friend’s hand-built cabin in Evergreen, Colorado, where a bookshelf hugs the ceiling of every room, a wool loom waits in the corner, and curiosity and caring fill the rest. I’ve just cut […]
Fast-write Writing Exercise: Set a timer for 2-5 minutes. Many of us feel as though we’ve walked through fire at one point in our lives. Write about what remains after the fire grows cool? Who are you in “life after the ashes?” Need Fast-Write Guidelines? Read: HOW TO DO A FAST-WRITE OR “STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS” […]
Sometimes some of us travel to get away. That space—that distance—from our home life offers perspective and breathing room. Travel creates space. When we travel, we get a chance to reflect on home…on what is beautiful and what is broken. Often, we return refreshed, reinvigorated to dig in or embrace or forgive or simply slip […]
Lists shouldn’t be reserved just for work; making lists about life’s small pleasures is the closest thing to a soul tune-up I can find. Small pleasures…getting lost in a book, buying a new book, getting back in the car from wherever and listening to the next part of an audio book, Facetiming with my granddaughter, […]
Lately, when I catch the scent of rain and earth rising up, I am ten again. It’s Easter morning, the forsythia just blooming, and I sense my Mother moving somewhere nearby. I am innocent. Today, an old man packs my groceries, repacks the eggs with a tsk at the carton fallen on its side. The […]
Funny how certain experiences attract apathy. Physical and emotional trauma. Loss. Abuse. Dismantling relationships. Rejection. Loneliness. I’ve been apathetic before, for a few years—and they were the worst years of my life. I disappeared and went through the motions. I don’t remember much about those years. I’ve found receipts and journals from that time; these, […]
When you exercise your writing muscle daily, it’s ready to flex whenever you need it—or it needs you. But, you say, “I can’t get started. I’m stuck. I don’t have time. I over think it. I have writer’s block.” Let me tell you what happens when you stretch and challenge your writing muscle, whether you […]
Fast-write Writing Exercise: Set a timer for 2-5 minutes. Write about the last time you played, walked, or danced in the rain without an umbrella. Write with your senses.
Fast-write Writing Exercise: Set a timer for 2-5 minutes. Describe what it would feel like to be a tree that falls in a forest. (Insert smile here.) How does it feel to have your roots suddenly exposed to the air? What happens to the exposed roots through a year of seasons?
[RTW Workshop Cliff Notes] The Read Then Write Workshop approach to writing is so simple, and yet, it took a beloved professor in the first MFA semester to sum up what is now my best writing advice: “Read, then write. Read, then write. Read, then write.” Thank you, Philip F. Deaver for that epiphany. You […]
I know what makes me happy and whole. I also know the list of things I need to thrive is not simply filled with selfish wants — and, those things aren’t solely self-focused. Often, even if an act of self-care starts with a form of isolation, it will press outward in some way in want of connecting […]
Julia Cameron, who wrote The Artist’s Way, calls stream of consciousness writing upon waking, “morning exercises.” This writing exercise is an excellent practice to loosen up your writing muscles. Preferably you practice this first thing in the morning, writing in response to a reading or prompt. There’s some brain science to handwriting versus typing, […]
