I just wanted to drop in and remind, nag, and exhort writers to gather words wherever you find them. I woke too early so lounged in bed reading news stories on my iPad. And since I was reading online, a New York Times headline was set amid a film of giant birds gliding and cavorting […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category
How Are You Showing Time Passing in Your Stories?
Pale skies with an overlay of chalk here this morning that gave way to fine, spring day. Of course, rain is arriving later, but there’s time for work, a walk, and weeding. I turned on my TV earlier as I exercised, and HBO was playing a Game of Thrones episode. It’s the epic fantasy based […]
Read the rest of this entry »Wonder is a liberation practice
It can feel foolish to pause to marvel at the stars when the world is burning. or to find the world beautiful when you’ve known it to betray you. But wonder is a liberation practice. A reminder that we contain more than tragedy. Beauty is our origin and our anchor. ~Black Liturgies, Cole Arthur Riley
Read the rest of this entry »Richard Bausch on finding out your base matter
You do not have to be particularly smart, or fast, or even very widely and deeply knowledgeable in any way the world considers ‘useful.’ You need only to be willing, and pitted, and stubborn enough to find out the base matter on which you are building your story. Finding out what you need to know […]
Read the rest of this entry »Yes. Disturb.
The first people a dictator puts in jail after a coup are the writers, the teachers, the librarians–because these people are dangerous. They have enough vocabulary to recognize injustice and to speak out loudly against it. Let us have the courage to go on being dangerous people…. So let us look for beauty and grace, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Ursula speaks:
Modernist manuals on writing often conflate every story with conflict. This reductionism reflects a culture that inflates aggression and competition while cultivating ignorance of other behavioral behavioral options. No narrative of any complexity can be built on or reduced to a single element. Conflict is one kind of behavior. There are others, equally important in […]
Read the rest of this entry »Nurtured by Books: Laurie King
We had snow in western Oregon last week and it’s still melting around here. It was utterly lovely and created such a hushed, soft world. And I enjoy few things more than watching heavy snow tumble from the sky. Talk about a magic show. I want to call your attention to a fascinating autobiography piece […]
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