Writing | Writing
Aug.18.2008
Nurse: Doctor, come quick! She's got writer's block.
Doctor: Ms. Hewitt. Please, tell me your symptoms.
Patient: I feel stuffed up and congested in my head. At time I lose my sense of reality. No clear vision, everything is fuzzy. And an annoying vague voice keeps buzzing in my ears. What can it be...
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Aug.18.2008
It seems to be a law of writers' blogs that you must have an essay on that perennial question: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
So I thought that by way of introduction I'd just get this one out of the way because, frankly, it's so easy.
Franz Kafka offered this advice to writers (I guess to...
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Aug.17.2008
Being a writer means dealing with readers. Some of them are reading a completed books you've written. Others are critique partners, reading what you're working on. Others are editors, both for acquired manuscripts, or those you're trying to sell.
The challenge is remembering how to interpret all...
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Aug.16.2008
Today is the birthday of the central figure of my book: Bernarr Macfadden, publisher of True Story magazine and prime mover in the "undressing of America." He'd have been 140 years old if his natural health ideas had worked as well as he said they would. I think I'll toast him by starting...
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Aug.16.2008
Caramba!
Two novels in one year. Who'd a thunk it?
Just posted Of the Night on my site today. An exciting moment which Sherron shared with me because, let's face it, she's the only one in this family who knows how the technology works. Jpeg? PDF? Huh?
Not only have I published two novels this...
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Aug.16.2008
I just found my new words to live by—in PetCo. I had to buy a Ph test kit for my kid's aquarium (for months the water's running acidic, and then I give it a little NaHCO3 goose and it jumps to pure-blue alkilinity—I figured I should buy a new test in case the old one was going whacky, but no) and...
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Aug.16.2008
What happens when you lose words?
I am at just such a loss now. And I need words most...
To express helplessness.To express thanks.To express displacement.To express the momentary.To express the momentous.To express agony.To express cynicism.To express hope.To express what is outside.To express...
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Aug.15.2008
We've been discussing great editorial advice, and how such feedback can improve one' s writing. The other side of this coin is the readiness to claim authority for one's work, and to make the kinds of stylistic and content decisions that only you can make. I've learned a lot about this at Squaw...
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Aug.15.2008
Today I go back to work. Since last October, I've been on sabbatical, so I haven't stood in a classroom for almost a year. It has been wonderful, my focus only on writing. Teaching takes up a huge amount of time, and time is one of the writer's most valued tools. Still, I feel excited to return...
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Aug.15.2008
Lord knows I don't need another blog. I have enough trouble keepping up with all I already have to do on a daily basis. Still, I could not resist the opportunity to rub virtual shoulders with people who love words and are passionate about writing as I am.
So, I'm in the Red Room. As soon as I...
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