Writing | Writing
Sep.02.2008
I just spent four days with the Pacific Northwest Plein Air Competition 2008 as a writer.
The deal was twelve of us writers signed up to be a part of the exhibition. We traveled to the suggested spots around the Columbia Gorge where the painters were painting outside and we were to complete two 500...
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Sep.01.2008
This month, September, is a busy one. Most of the writers I know are either heavily editing, deeply devising, or craftily creating their next book. Agents and editors are settling in their chairs for the fall season, and now my friends is when I go about and promote.
This month you can find me at...
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Sep.01.2008
I have two characters in the port of Zaitun in 14th Century China. They are just off a trading vessel from Europe and are about to commence with trade and purchase. I have written the following:
"Both Cepa and Matzerath have learned some basic greetings which they yell at the top of their...
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Aug.31.2008
Now I know, that to some people, writing just comes naturally. I often lay awake at night and come up what I think are wonderful ideas for a story, but I can't finish them. I wasn't sure if anyone had any advise for finishing the story, how to bring my characters to some kind of a conclusion (3-400...
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Aug.31.2008
This Web site looks fabulous and I am looking forward to taking advantage of it --in time! Currently I am working as a community activist for the ServiceNation campaign (http://www.servicenation.org), putting together a big National Day of Action event in my home community of Davenport, IA. They...
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Aug.31.2008
I'm fully prepared to acknowledge that I'm way, way late to this party, so a lot of this is basically closing the barn door after the horse has gotten out (and won the Kentucky Derby and had grandkids and settled down to a nice relaxing retirement on a farm somewhere. That's about how late we're...
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Aug.30.2008
Where does it come from, and how do we call upon it, nurture it and sustain it?
Having taught art and writing for many years, I've come to the conclusion that once we call it forth, it feeds on itself, like a hurricane over open water.
The trick is coaxing it our of hiding in the first place, and...
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Aug.30.2008
I'm subscribed to a Writing Quote of the Day list. I've never been good at plotting far in advance. It's just my process. So this quote from Norman Mailer hit home.
To know what you want to say beforehand is not the best condition for writing a novel. Novels go happiest when you discover something...
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Aug.29.2008
I built a tunnel for my daughter tonight that goes nowhere. She loves it. The long box that the new bathtub arrived in drew her attention. I pried all the staples out with pliers, dropped them in my shirt pocket. She crawled back and forth, back and forth, for nearly 30 minutes. At each exit...
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Aug.29.2008
I'm still euphoric over the Democratic convention and fascinated by the Palin choice. Tomorrow I start my campaign phoning and talk to the local volunteer coordinators about how I can help. In the back of my mind is this question: How do I get myself focused back on this book set in the 1920s when...
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