I’m in the midst of renovating a house and yard. This hadn’t been in my game plan, but there you have it. Life, truth demanding to be heard. Demanding a big change. The yard has been around for almost 30 years with almost no landscaping done during those years. The house is beat up. As […]
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Why Your Characters Do What They Do, part 3
Motivations create full-blooded characters. The Portland area is dressed in a hundred shades of green. Dogwoods are now flowering, graceful blooms umbrellaing amid the spring greens. Rhododendrons are splashed gaudy amid yards and parks. Nursery centers are burgeoning with plants spilling over, lined in rows, artfully arranged. The garden center parking lot full, patrons pulling […]
Read the rest of this entry »Be a good steward of your gifts.
Be a good steward of your gifts. Protect your time. Feed your inner life. Avoid too much noise. Read good books, have good sentences in your ears. Be by yourself as often as you can. Walk. Take the phone off the hook. Work regular hours. ~ Jane Kenyon
Read the rest of this entry »Motivation: Why Your Characters Do What They Do, part 2
Motivations are the reason characters attempt any action in a story. Think about it. It’s morning here and I’m drinking my first cup of tea with the windows open. Been waiting months for a mild, sunny morning because I like to listen to the birds. They’re chirping and tweeting and making a ruckus. One […]
Read the rest of this entry »Why Your Characters Do What They Do, part 1
You might have noticed it’s been quiet around here. A few weeks ago my lower back went to hell and has been spasming and freezing up on me at the most inconvenient times. Sheesh. But onward. On April 4 I gave a talk at the Willamette Writers meeting in Portland about goals, motivations, and […]
Read the rest of this entry »Fed on Language
A mind fed on such words as heaven, earth, dew, essence, cinnabar, moonlight, stillness, jade, pearl, cedar, and winter plum is likely to have a serenity not to be found in minds ringing with the vocabulary of the present age–computer, tractor, jumbo jet, speedball, pop, dollar, liquidation, napalm, overkill! Who would thrill at the prospect […]
Read the rest of this entry »Nail it
If I show you my character has great hair, you will not see her. If I tell you she has a tiny scar at the upper left corner of her lip from which protrudes one gray whisker–you will make up the rest of her face with absolute clarity. If I tell you my character is […]
Read the rest of this entry »Writing as Resistance
April 29, 1:30-5:30 Multnomah Village, Portland, Oregon Is the daily assault of politics and world news interfering with your peace of mind? Are you searching for ways to make a difference? Explore strategies for talking back to the noise, find some quiet within, and propel your concerns onto the page. Because some times especially call […]
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