“In the Eskimo language, the word for ‘to breathe’ and ‘to make a poem’ are the same… Remembering this has been wildly helpful to me. It means a freeness to plunge in, almost like doing a finger painting. It’s a free flow, suspending fact, meaning, sanity, then seeing what pours out uncensored, what can be […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category
Readers need footholds, handholds
Readers will climb with you to the most unlikely places if they trust you, if the words give them the right footholds, handholds. ~Jeanette Winterson
Read the rest of this entry »Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it. ~ Hannah Arendt
Read the rest of this entry »Once Upon a Time: aim true with your fantasy opener
“Children understand that ‘once upon a time’ refers not only – not even primarily – to the past, but to the impalpable regions of the present, the deeper places inside us where princes and dragons, wizards and talking birds, impassable roads, impossible tasks, and happy endings have always existed, alive and bursting with psychic power.” […]
Read the rest of this entry »Between the lines: Mood
Just as every dark and stormy night, party, holiday, or bustling office on payday are infused with mood, so are scenes in fiction. Mood infects and reinforces the reader’s emotions, aids in understanding key moments, and enhances his or her enjoyment of the story events. Mood is the feel or atmosphere or ambience of a […]
Read the rest of this entry »Fiction Needs Closeups Too
Cold weather all week here and my container plants are covered. My bulbs are emerging and they’re covered too, but so far freezing temperatures didn’t take out any weeds. A gardener can dream. And I cannot look away from the heartbreaking horrors in Ukraine. Utter madness. I realize how hard it is for writers and […]
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