I love people. I need to be around people. Can’t wait to meet someone new. Can’t wait to have a good talk with an old friend. Even my preferred place to write is in a coffee shop filled with people: talking, slurping, laughing… Pella, Iowa, just enjoyed its annual three-day highlight–Tulip Time. The town is full… Read More
writing a book was easy…
…because you thought getting your book published meant you crossed the finish line. I thought as I worked on the 5th draft in 7 years, “My book is good now; I can feel it.” And others read it and said, “This is it!” A publisher agreed, and I introduced my book, Less Than a Widow,… Read More
I read it somewhere
♦ Reading ♦ Writing ♦ Doodling ♦ Listening ♦ Thinking ♦ Learning ♦ Sleeping on it ♦ Discussion In my life, these go hand-in-hand, but sometimes their place in the queue changes. Maybe it’s my DNA. Maybe it’s my upbringing. Maybe it’s my short focus and eagerness for something new, but I get really excited about this list. My upbringing partially explains the love of reading and… Read More
Is less really more?
Regular, deliberate pruning brings improvement Every year I prune my raspberry patch because overcrowded canes compete with each other for sunlight and nutrients. If I don’t, the patch produces fewer berries and smaller, poor-tasting fruit. Without pruning, shady moist conditions around dense thickets encourage fungal diseases. Pruning also results in better writing. Pare down your… Read More
creativity and organization: friends or foes
Structure gives free reign to your imaginative talents. Writer’s block–is your to-do list the #1 invader that sabotages your inventiveness? Do you get so lost in invention that you miss deadlines, appointments, and dates with your significant other? I’d love to spend all my time mixing words creatively into stories, poems, and delicious art that people will devour. Unfortunately, that’s not… Read More
I need a good dose of self discipline
One of the hardest things about writing–for me, at least–is the constant application of self discipline that is required: At the beginning, and at every ensuing stage, the task can look overwhelming. There is a plethora of chaos that needs to be organized and structured into an interesting and readable format. I have to make bargains… Read More
Seriously?
Why ask for feedback if you are not going to take it seriously? This is the beginning line I use on myself every time I sit down to work on the hard task of rewriting my novel. Writing a book takes creativity, yes, but so much more than that. It takes big-picture thinking combined with… Read More
