“Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve thought there was something noble and mysterious about writing, about the people who could do it well, who could create a little world as if they were little gods or sorcerers.” ~Anne Lamott
Anne nailed it, y’all. Nailed it like she crawled into my head and dragged out my thoughts that she turned into her words there. Here’s to the never-ending process of becoming a little god of our own fictional worlds – the hardships, the thrill, the self-doubt, and the magic.
As I mentioned in my last post, we recently moved our kids back to college. For my husband and I, this was a given. We have helped move both of our kids in and out of dorm rooms and apartments since their freshmen years. It’s not that we enjoy carrying stuff up and down stairs, especially in the Florida heat, but for us, it’s important to be there for our […]
“…Storytellers are a lot like athletes. A great athlete makes everything look easy, as though his body just naturally moved that way. But in fact, he has so mastered the techniques of his sport that his technique has simply disappeared from view, and the audience sees only beauty.” ~from The Anatomy of Story by John Truby
[note – reference previous re-blogged post on benefits of writing] Benefits of Reading Reading has been linked to an amazing array of benefits, including these: Just six minutes of reading is enough to reduce stress by 68%, and numerous studies have shown that reading keeps your brain functioning effectively as you age. One study even found that elderly individuals who read regularly are 2.5 times less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than their peers. But there could […]
I recently read 1 yet another book in which the author decided not to use quotation marks to indicate dialogue. This is normally a signal to me that I am not going to like the book. I’m not sure why – perhaps it’s because it indicates to me that the author is more interested in form and being “artsy” or “nonconformist” than in the story itself and clarity for the […]
I’m all for protecting the rights of copyright holders, but there’s a growing trend of people and organizations who aggressively use (and misuse) copyright and trademark claims to censor and silence others.
I came across the link to this dictionary in a conversation at work (can’t remember exactly which one) and thought I would share. It’s the only time I can remember a dictionary making me laugh.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner, y’all! Camp NaNo, which just wrapped up at the end of April is a much more laid back version of the main NaNoWriMo event in November, but I still found it to be helpful. I started Camp with about 60,000 words in my draft and a goal of adding another 20k within a month. I’m now at about 81,500 total words, with a long way still […]
“The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can’t help it.” ~Leo Rosten
We buy these difficult books because we feel that, while not very exciting, they are in some way good for us. It’s sort of literature-as-bran-flakes philosophy. If something is dry and unpalatable, it must be doing something good for our constitutions. ~Chris Baty, No Plot, No Problem
