Word by Word

Practical insights for writers from Jessica P Morrell

Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category

Who Inspires You?

Last July The New York Times David Marchese featured a delicious interview with the multi-talented, British creative Phoebe Waller-Bridge that I recommend because it captures  a point in her career while she’s sought-after and succeeding with  exciting new ventures. Whilst she has had a storied career, bejeweled with Emmy statues and accolades, who would have […]

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Writing Prompt

Francetta Bridle, A Walk in the Snow. I post a lot of paintings on Facebook to invite discussion and mostly to provide balm in these difficult times.  I asked friends what they saw in her posture because it’s so intriguing. And they mentioned purposeful, end in sight, brisk, brave, tension in her shoulders. It’s a […]

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Four Words

LET YOUR THEMES WHISPER And you can find in-depth information on using themes in fiiction and memoir here. Keep writing, Keep dreaming, Have heart

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Salman Rushdie: Writing Names the World

Writing names the world, and the power of description should not be underestimated. Literature remembers its religious origins in some of those first stories. Stories of sky gods and sea gods not only became the source of an ocean of stories that flowed from them but also served as the foundations of the world into […]

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February {also Imbolc and St. Brigid’s Day}

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Resonance Revisited

Another layer of ice arrived last night, which means another day of seclusion in our ongoing storm saga. Next week it’s going to warm up to the 50s, so hooray for that. But the warmer temperatures won’t revive the many fallen giants around here. Trees, that is. I’ve mentioned them earlier in the week here, […]

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Imagine your reader arriving jet-legged

It’s another harsh morning here in the Pacific Northwest. We’re still digging out from an arctic storm and brutal winds blasting in from the Columbia River Gorge. The region has a staggering number of trees down crashing into roofs, flattening cars, and taking out power lines. While main thoroughfares are driveable, many roads are still […]

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Winter Reading

I’m awake annoying early, it’s 39 degrees farenheit here, and the winds have settled down. Unlike other parts of the country now blanketed in white, the snow, ice, sleet, winds, and freezing temperatures  haven’t arrived yet in the Willamette Valley, but they’re arriving tonight. When I first moved here in 1993 I’d venture out when […]

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Instead of Counting Sheep

I awoke early remembering a dream where I gazed up, awestruck  at the night sky  crammed with constellations and planets and a magical blanketing of diamonds across the heavens. Not all the constellations were familiar so I was searching for Orion, the Big Dipper, and Casseopia and found them, relieved. So now to ponder its […]

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