Welcome To My Blog
Weekly tips, stories and inspiration for your writing journey.
Heart Speak Column #1: Getting Alice Out of Wonderland
How do I hone MY very unique and authentic memoir, with all the existential magic and epic wonder it deserves, without falling too far into fantasy folklore or too off-track into inspirational guru guide?
Writing Is Your Gift: How to Share It With Others During The Holiday Season
At the 2018 Festival of the Book, UVA Professor Mark Edmundson said to write for one other person. See the written word as a gift and refuse to narrow your definition of great writing to a few simple genres.
Harnessing the Fast Draft: Eight Essential NaNoWriMo Tips
Whether you’re late to the NaNoWriMo party (nothing says you couldn’t run your NaNoWriMo from the 15thto the 15th), or your momentum is flagging, here are some tips to supercharge your creative process.
When Memories Fly: Tips for Engaging Your Involuntary Memory in the Writing Process
In his book The Art of Time in Memoir, Sven Birkerts says that involuntary memory is the gateway to the real past.
Your Writing Conference Toolkit: Planning, Packing, and Pacing Yourself
While summer is fabulous for beach reading and destination vacations, it’s also a great time to attend writing conferences. Check out your conference toolkit.
The Crater Versus The Observation Deck: The Importance of Writing in Scene
As writers, we come to the page ready to entertain and enlighten. But once there, we need to figure out how to approach our stories. Should we stand on the observation deck or hike into the crater?
Six Ways to Access the Benefits of Doubt
Discomfort is the inevitable sidekick of the writing life. Out of control doubt is crazy-making. But right-sized doubt can motivate us to develop humility, work a little harder, and remain lifelong learners.
Telling It Slant
In Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir Sue Silverman writes, “you’ve all heard the cliché ‘A picture is worth a thousand words,’ but it’s also true—maybe more true—that one word is worth a thousand pictures if it’s the right word.”
Courses in Grief
Today is the twenty-one-year anniversary of my brother’s suicide. Twenty-one years. On his twenty-first birthday, I planned to take him skydiving. I was researching drop zones, having already made ten jumps myself.
On New Year’s Resolutions
On New Year’s Day, 1985, I wrote down a list of goals for the new year and promised to do this until the year I die. Thirty-two years have passed. Every year, I faithfully sit on my bed and read past resolutions before creating new ones.
Ruthless Editing (Or Loving Your Work to the Next Level)
On October 1st, I started the fourth draft of my memoir by channeling George Saunders. He sees each revision as an act of love.
Re-Examining the Stories We Tell About Our Lives — A Conversation with Memoirist Sharon Harrigan
There are the stories we tell about our lives and the stories we discover if we’re brave enough to ask questions. “Re-Examining the Stories We Tell About Our Lives — A Conversation with Memoirist Sharon Harrigan” is an interview with Sharon Harrigan, author of Playing with Dynamite that was published in Huffington Post.
