Writing what scares you doesn’t require that you write a depressing memoir, lonely tale, or gore-soaked, zombie-slasher free-for-all. It does mean you’ll be revealing the inky, complex emotions and potholed messes that shape a life. It means you’ll be thinking about human foibles and not-so pleasant qualities.No matter your genre, fear should have you peering […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for December, 2014
Quick Take:
Everything your main characters do must have consequences. No, I’m not talking about tying their shoelaces or walking the dog. Well, unless they’re walking the pooch in a sketchy neighborhood, in the rain at 2 a.m., or as a hurricane is about to blast through…..A kiss needs to lead to something. A slap or lie […]
Read the rest of this entry »Motivational Mondays: Oscar Wilde on happiness
“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” ~ Oscar Wilde
Read the rest of this entry »Thought for the day:
“Maybe learning how to be out in the big world isn’t the epic journey everyone thinks it is. Maybe that’s actually the easy part. The hard part is what’s right in front of you. The hard part is learning how to hold the title to your very existence, to own not only property, but also […]
Read the rest of this entry »A poem for the dark days of December
THE WRITING LIFE Give me the names for things, just give me their real names, Not what we call them, but what They call themselves when no one’s listening – At midnight, the moon-plated hemlocks like unstruck bells, God wandering aimlessly elsewhere. Their names, their secret names. December. Everything’s black and brown. Or half-black and […]
Read the rest of this entry »Remembering Mark Strand
In case you’re not aware that Mark Strand, a former Poet Laureate, has passed away at 80 or of the beauty, scope and importance of his work, here is the link to his obituary. It’s a noisier world without him in it observing, bringing us into his golden lantern light. THE END Not every man […]
Read the rest of this entry »Quick Take: Treasure Nothing
Treasure nothing, be willing to throw out anything. The story you just wrote that you are proud of should not be coddled and worshipped. You can do it again. If your house burned down with all your work inside it, you would still be the writer you are, and you would continue to be worth […]
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