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Posts from the ‘Writing Life’ Category

Aug 1

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Three ways to feed your muse: muse juice, part 1

Ever feel as if your muse is sitting back, stuffing her face with Bon Bons while watching reruns of “True Blood”? How do you inspire her to get off her ever-widening rear end and get back to work?

Check out www.Ted.com, where you’ll find “riveting talks by remarkable people.” Or, as I affectionately call this website—muse juice.

One of my favorite inspirational talks is by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love. In trying to answer the question, “Where does creativity come from?” she tells of the time she met American poet Ruth Stone who grew up in rural Virginia.

Sometimes, when Ruth was out working in the fields, she’d feel and hear a poem coming at her from over the landscape—like a “thunderous train of air” barreling down on her. She’d run like hell to the house to get paper and pencil so when the poem barreled through her she’d be ready. Sometimes, she’d almost miss it. During these times, she’d grab a pencil and reach out with her other hand and catch the poem by its tail, pulling it back to her. When this happened, the poem would come out on the page perfectly intact but backwards—the words written from the end of the poem to the beginning.

I love this story because it feels as if it could be true. Read more

Jul 28

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Igniting passion as an artist

Whether you’re a writer, painter, photographer, or other type of artist, you are a creator, a mini-god, a microcosm of the macrocosm. And you create for a reason. All artists have their reasons. I began creating as a way to answer questions: Who am I? Why am I here? Is there any purpose to my life? Why do things happen the way they do?

These questions are what motivate me to write. In the writing, occasionally, I get answers. There are other reasons why I write—I like to tell stories, to explore relationships and psychology. But my real passion for writing stems from my original questions.

What is your passion? Why do you create? These are important questions every artist needs to answer for themselves. The key, I think, is in the word passion. Read more

Jul 25

When life sucks, note it in your “good material” file

And even when life is good, be prepared to note it.

I have a friend, along with many others, who was laid off from her job in the midst of the financial market meltdown. While she and her coworkers had been told layoffs were coming, she couldn’t help but be devastated.

At the same time, she told me later that she also couldn’t help but be fascinated by observations of her boss and the HR representative as they broke the news: the smirky, nervous smile on her boss’s face, the canned corporate speak.

Later, cleaning out her desk, she would note the uncomfortable reactions of co-workers left behind, loud crying from behind a conference room door, and the angry response of one worker who threw items from his desk on the floor before being escorted from the building.

Ever the observer, she noted, “Damn. this is good material.” Read more

Jul 22

Should we write in different genres or stick to one?

The new international biennial Seek showcases the work of 100 visual artists selected by curators Calinda Salazar and Fletcher Ramsey. The artists come from all walks of life. They paint, sculpt, draw, direct short movies, and more. The unique thing about the exhibit? It’s all make-believe–even the “curators” aren’t real. Artist Shea Hembrey created the fictional artists and their artwork over a span of two years.

Above is a video of the talk Hembrey gave at Ted.com where he shows a sample of his exhibition.

How does this relate to writing? For his exhibition, Hembrey created works of art in a variety of genres. As writers, we know that the more we write, the more we learn—we learn about writing, about craft, about ourselves. But should be write in different genres or stick to one? Read more

Jul 21

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What is your writing soundtrack?

As I write this, I have an earworm. Sounds gruesome, but it’s not too bad. An earworm is when you get a song stuck in your head. You just hope it’s not, “It’s a Small World,” the song that plays on the ride of the same name at Disneyland.

But back to my earworm. I have “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black Eyed Peas stuck in my ear from my Zumba class this morning. And while I don’t normally listen to music when I write, I wondered as I was doing Zumba if I could carry the rhythm of the songs into my writing.

Storytelling can be symphonic, says Jack Hart, a contributor to, “Telling True Stories: A Nonfiction Writers’ Guide,” and author of Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction. John Steinbeck has said he wanted “The Grapes of Wrath” to sound like Igor Stravinksy’s, “Firebird Suite.” And Ernest Hemingway channeled Bach. If you read the first chapter of “Farewell to Arms” aloud to the first movement of the “Brandenburg Concerto,” the words seem to match the music, Hart says. Read more

Jul 19

Write the story only you can write

What is your work in progress? If you’re thinking about what to write next, consider this: Write the story only you can write.

1. Did something happen to you when you were a child that stuck with you your whole life? A distinct memory that is decades old but feels like it happened yesterday? Mine this memory and figure out why you’ve held onto it all these years. Maybe it’s a question you wrestle with. Ask what meaning it holds.

2. Make a list of turning points in your life when something changed your direction, you lived differently, or looked at life in a new way. Turning points could include starting a new career, getting married or divorced, losing someone you love, or making a geographic move. Times of great change fuel inspiration. Read more

Jul 15

Four reasons why writers resist writing

Have you ever put off a project because it seemed overwhelming? You want the end result — a clean, tidy garage with space to park your car. Or an organized closet with all your clothes color coded and shoes lined up side by side.

Or a finished manuscript.

But you’re overwhelmed by the size of the project. Maybe you even started it, but you’re stuck. Sometimes a change of perspective is in order.

My friend Tami and I met for coffee recently at a Borders Cafe.  She mentioned that, “Yes, I need to get back into my book.”

This is how the conversation went next: Read more

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