Category Archives: On writing

Creative Nudge: Try yoga.

Every writer I know has some immensely compelling and personal reason why they continue the work of their writing practice. This isn’t surprising, because the work of writing is difficult in so many ways, there has to be something that keeps us all hanging in there, clamoring for whatever it is we’re after (and that varies too).
I’m thinking about this because I’ve had the house to myself all day and though I thought that I’d get so much done, it’s now nearing evening, and I’m really just getting started. What I often do (and didn’t today) when I’m having a hard time getting focused is turn to my other practice–yoga. After a sequence of asanas, my mind is always calmer, more focused and ready to create. Here’s a sequence to inspire your creativity.
I’m off to practice the new sequence I’m teaching my AM yoga class tomorrow, so that my evening will have all the focus that my day lacked. Go yoga!

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Balancing Act

Balancing the kind of work to devote time to as a writer is not such a delicate business.
Asanas that require good balance, require focus and attention to the the subtleties of body and mind to hold them steadily for several breaths. If you let your attention drift, or you forget about a limb or part, you’re likely to topple over. Finding balance in writing isn’t that challenging.
A couple of hours ago, I nearly worked myself into a panic, thinking OMG! I’ve hardly written anything new since school let out for summer. I mean, this is supposed to be the time when I write and all I’ve been doing is editing and organizing. I nearly toppled over, until I realized that I still had both feet on the ground.
It’s true, I’ve written hardly anything new for a couple months. However, here’s what I have done:
–organized poems into chapbooks for chapbook project
–finished 4th draft of novel
–wrote synopsis and query for novel
–finished compiling first draft of short story collection
–printed first draft of YA novel for edits
–made some improvements and updates to blog
–read material for Rainier Writer’s Workshop
–set up an online submissions tracker
–submitted some stories and sent out queries to agents for At The Pump

You see, I haven’t written anything new; however, I’m now poised at the starting line, ready to roll. Knowing that I would be starting on my MFA at the beginning of August, bumped getting organized to the top of my priority list. Now, I feel ready for school and ready to move onto the next project with the wonderful freedom of having cleared the path there.

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Katherine Anne Porter Quote

“I started out with nothing in the world but a kind of passion, a driving desire. I don’t know where it came from, and I do not know why-or why I have been so stubborn about it that nothing could deflect me. But this thing between me and my writing is the strongest bond I have ever had-stronger than any bond or any engagement with any human being or with any other work I’ve ever done.” –Katherine Anne Porter

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

What will be, will be.

I just printed an entire binder of material I’m supposed to read before the Rainier Writer’s Workshop (begins August 2). I think I’ll spend today getting a handle on that. Also, I came up with this idea (while running) the other morning of something that I can make and donate to the silent auction held during the RWW Residency. A “creative block”. Rather than try to explain…I ‘ll just post a photo when it’s done, but just know it’s going to be awesome!

I just got one of those calls where an automated message tries to put you on hold when you answer the phone. Whatever! It doesn’t get much ruder than that.

It’s the weekend, so if the writing happens, it happens. For the moment, I’m going to play WOW—just a little. Really. Kalikah is almost level 70.

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Mid-week musings

I just finished yet another edit of my novel and am about to write a synopsis. At this point, I’m starting to send out queries to agents. I’ll write the synopsis (some agents require them), send out as many queries as I can and leave the book alone for a while.
I’ve been working on this project so long, that it’s hard to think of what’s next, especially since I also finished up the short story collection that I’d been working on compiling FOREVER.
So, what am I looking forward to? Compiling some poetry chapbooks and writing some new fiction. Sitting here at Border’s with my niece (her nose in a book), the sun warming me through the window, I’m feeling optimistic. Earlier, while the two of us were rummaging through the not so organized bookshelves at the Goodwill, I came across a copy of Wild Mind, which I bought for her. She says she loves to write. This book and Writing Down the Bones were so crucial to me as a young writer who was all desire and little talent.

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Goals and distractions

No one else is up yet. It’s just me and the dog. I have a fresh up of coffee and I’m sitting here ready to write. Hmm. Nothing but resistance. I think I’ll start with a free write to warm up, then see what I can do before this peace is interrupted. Winston’s friend is visiting from California and though they ignore me, I have a hard time not getting pulled out of whatever it is I’m doing to tune into them. Today, I’ll probably be driving them around Olympia anyway. At some point, maybe later this evening, I think I’ll sneak away to a cafe to write.
Writing goals for today:
1. Supposed last edits to At The Pump.
2. Finish getting poetry organized into chapbooks.
3. Research agents.

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Submissions? Submission? Same difference. ;)

I submitted a story this morning to Our Stories Literary Journal’s Emerging Writer’s Contest. 🙂
I currently have three stories and a chapbook of poems out there. I’ll send more out this week and do some research on what the next step is with my novel.

Happy Monday!

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Home again…but still writing

So, I’ll be attending the Rainier Writer’s Workshop this August to begin work on my MFA in Creative Writing-Fiction. Thing is, PLU requires proof (signed by a doctor) that you’ve had your MMR. I called my mom, my high school, the county health department in–don’t tell–Grays Harbor, and my childhood pediatrician. Nothing. So, my current doctor took a blood test–a titer–that could identify whether I had the antibodies, thus proving I’d been immunized. The first blood test, he only had them check measles, not mumps and rubella. So, I had another blood test. Now, the second test shows that while I’m immune to measles and rubella, I’m not immune to mumps. So, I have to get an MMR. I have an appointment today at–guess where my doctor sent me–the Safeway pharmacy. At least while I’m at it, I can pick up some groceries, eh? Anyway, I hope to be done with that today, as it is the one thing holding up my registration.
As for writing, I’m getting back to that this morning too. I’m glad I escaped to Ocean Shores so early in the summer. It’s set a tone for a focused, productive summer. 🙂
Particular goals? I’m working on self-publishing some poetry chapbooks, looking for an agent for my novel, and writing some new fiction.
What do you listen to while you’re writing? I listen to all sorts of things or nothing at all, but today I’m listening to jazz.

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Escaping to Write: Day 4

7:39 AM
This is my last full day of writing at the beach. Checkout is tomorrow at 11 AM. Since I’ve already accomplished more than I thought possible, I’m going to see where the wind takes me today. With pen in hand, of course. 🙂 I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone

Excerpts from Writer’s Block Moves

An article entitled Writer’s Block Moves appeared in the June 2008 issue of Writer’s Digest. The article’s subtitle calls it an “irreverent guide to pushing past writer’s block.” Here were my favs:

Marc Norman: “I see if I can steal from somebody else.”

Joe Survant: “I go out back and plink at squirrels with a BB gun.”

Barbara Kingsolver: “I don’t have time for writer’s block. I’m a working mom.”

Luc Sante: “I do the Sortes Vergilianae–hold a book upright and stick a knife between two random pages, then look at the first line.”

Peter Coyote: “I write at a desk with six drawers. The top two are catch-alls, crowded with pens, batteries, business cards, eyeglasses, paper clips, and other essentials. Cleaning and ordering these drawers becomes important in inverse proportion to how stuck I am as a writer. Thankfully, most of the time, they’re a mess.”

Buy my books here.

Interested in hiring me as a coach to get you boosted with your writing goals?
Find free resources and information here.
Some past posts to keep you making time: 
Adjust your pace accordingly.
It’s about the routine and how you shake up the routine
There are things you will have to give up
See it to achieve it
Washing the dishes
Write slowly
A celebration of the pause
Monday, a run through the driving rain
Zen accident
Get out of your comfort zone