Philosophy of Writing
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My “check engine” light came on last Thursday, but it wasn’t like I was surprised. A few months ago I heard a report on NPR that the 3 months/3,000 miles mantra for changing your oil no longer applied to cars that had been made in the last 5 to 7 years. Apparently, cars are built…
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I spent nearly the entire day yesterday immersed in the study of reading and writing. It was an intense day that started a little before 6 a.m., where I wrote about 3,000 words in my daybook about various things; that writing session served no other purpose than as my Morning Pages, epic-style, for those of…
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Well, well, well. Much to share. Finished reading A Simple Plan. I think I mentioned that in an earlier entry. I bring this up again because I am thrilled with what I learned from Scott Smith’s style. Concise. Powerful. Each word matters. More than that, though, I realized something about Story. You gotta want it,…
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“Only amateurs say that they write for their own amusement. Writing is not an amusing occupation. It is a combination of ditch-digging, mountain-climbing, treadmill and childbirth… But amusing? Never.” –Edna Ferber I am just beginning to understand the depth and the genuine meaning of this quote. I have spent so much of my life on…
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As I hit the home stretch with this piece, I dare ask a few questions for serious discussion: Should writers take risks with their writing that some may deem innapropriate, including members of the writer’s family and those in his/her social/professional circle? When a writer shows you, the reader, his/her raw side, do you appreciate…
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Soon I will post my completed manuscript on how writing heals, but I find the whole experience healing in actually writing the piece. There has been little stress associated with this story, and it has been one of those cathartic experiences that showed me just how “unhealed” I still am about several issues in my…
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just a quickie, here. I’m working on a piece right now for a new lit journal, and it’s about healing through writing. All my life, I’ve used writing to help me through tough or challenging situations, and even now, during this summer, I am thankful that I have turned to writing to help me get…
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Last night, J. K. Rowling, Stephen King, and John Irving held a live reading at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to benefit The Haven Foundation (established by King to support disabled, uninsured artists — no web site seems to exist as yet to promote this foundation) and Doctors Without Borders (a group — providing…
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This, above all else, you must know first: Like nearly every other moment in front of my computer, I have with me, just visible from my left, straining eye, my trusted cup of Starbucks coffee. Nothing fancy, mind you. Just a simple cup of their bold-on-tap in my wickedly green Starbucks thermos. A cup o’…
