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Posts tagged ‘writing’

Jan 2

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What writerly traits run in your family?

My father was a difficult person to  live with but, in his own way, he was very philosophical. He was a voracious reader of daily news and current events. He loved learning new things and was always calling me and my cousins into the kitchen where he sat on his favorite stool and read interesting excerpts to us. Granted, there was a lot of eye rolling going on at the time, but over the years I gleaned his enthusiasm for reading, learning, and considering new ideas. Read more

Dec 17

Writing as a path to healing

Since Friday, I, like many people around the world, have experienced an array of emotions–grief, anguish, anger, and compassion, among others.

I originally began writing because I wanted to tell people’s stories. My mother developed sudden onset dementia and writing was my way to try to understand it. As I saw my mother regress before my eyes, writing about it and talking about it helped me process my grief and my sadness. Read more

Dec 11

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Gifts for the writer in your life

I can’t believe it’s the holiday season again. Seems like it was just yesterday! If you still need holiday gift ideas for the writer in your life, below are a few of my favorites. And if you are a writer…feel free to forward this post to your loved ones. Hint. Hint.

Writing Journals

Whether we type our masterpieces directly on the computer or write by hand, we need notebooks and journals to keep track of our thoughts. My favorites are the moleskine notebooks (there are many different colors and sizes so buy your writer more than one).

I also love the Spirit of Flight Journals. Type “writing journals” or “writing notebooks” in your search engine, and you’ll have plenty to choose from. Read more

Nov 9

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Write from the heart to capture your reader’s heart

Sometimes, I forget the simple things. Working on my fantasy novel, I’ve been caught up in figuring out plot points and events and looking at the larger picture which is great–all stuff that needs to be done. But I’ve also been reminded lately of the most important aspect of telling a good story–writing from the heart.

I gave a poetry reading last weekend with two other poets and several people came up after the reading to tell me their favorite poems. In every case, they were the poems that I wrote one hundred percent from the heart–from that space of total abandon and honesty. Read more

Sep 6

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Acquiring a Creative Mind

I’ve had a hectic couple of weeks and, as a consequence, have felt frustrated with the lack of progress on my current manuscript. Though I know what I need to do—set aside some quiet time, ditch the negative self-talk, and get more rest—sometimes it works better to hear it from somebody else.

In this 4-minute video, creativity expert Eric Maisel discusses a process for acquiring a creative mind. He explains how thinking small, unproductive thoughts can literally crowd our minds and prevent us from having those big brainstorming ideas.

Enjoy! Read more

Aug 31

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Creating support systems to succeed as an artist

At a writing conference once, a successful author thanked her husband for being her “patron of the arts” for years as she worked to build her writing craft and career.

Though I work hard in my “day job”–running our business with my husband–I am blessed that he understands and supports my obsession with writing. I can’t imagine how awful life would be if I had a partner that didn’t support and encourage me. I know many people aren’t as blessed.

When I lost my job 15 years ago, my hubby (then boyfriend) said, “Congratulations. Now your real life can begin.” I didn’t get it then, but I sure do now. Losing my job allowed me to change and grow and begin to do what I loved, not what somebody else told me to do. My husband was my greatest support as I learned new skills that would serve me to begin my own business.  Read more

Aug 21

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Wedding toast for my son and his bride

I love to write, to put words together and give meaning and order to my life. I’ve written poems, legal briefs, affidavits, articles, tributes for loved ones who’ve passed, among many other items.

As writers, we relish opportunities to create with our words. In my previous post, I wrote about the difficulty I was having writing a wedding toast for my son and his bride and how I eventually found my way. Below is the toast I read this weekend at their wedding. (Yes, that’s them in the photo!) Read more

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