Tell me the stories that have left you burning for days.
On writing
At first, I couldn’t manage more than a poem, but the poems came so fast I carried a notebook with me everywhere. I wrote my first short story when I ... Read more
A Room Of Your Own
Dear First Writing Friend,
Letters, On writing
We were eight, maybe nine, when we met. I don’t remember the first moment, but I remember a lot of important moments along the way, including the time we went ... Read more
A Room of Your Own: Cartwheeling
A Room Of Your Own
When I was eleven years old I would spend hours and hours out in the yard working on my cartwheel. This went on for years, and that is probably why ... Read more
A Room of Your Own:Don’t ask me!
A Room Of Your Own
How do we keep writing in spite of our busy lives? Don’t ask me! Everything was going so well. Pages were getting filled with fiction. Post after post for this ... Read more
A Room Of Our Own: Don’t Always Trust Your Feelings
A Room Of Your Own
A paragraph came without warning. I was reading Great House on the way to a wedding in Seattle. I didn’t even have a notebook to write it down, so I ... Read more
A Room Of Your Own: Count words
A Room Of Your Own
When all else fails, count words. Pick a number, any number and write that number of words daily until you are back in the habit, until sitting down to write ... Read more
A Room Of Your Own: Wake Up Early
A Room Of Your Own
A few days ago I was whining to my best friend (also a writer) about how I lack discipline and am not writing consistently. We have this conversation quite often. ... Read more
A Room of Your Own: Walk It Out
A Room Of Your Own
Stuck? Try moving. The body-mind connection is no joke. Take as many walks as you need to in one writing session to reach your goal. Try jumping jacks or sit ... Read more
A Room Of Your Own: Pair Up
A Room Of Your Own
Writing occurs in solitude. It can only be done by you and requires that you linger long in that internal space of imagination where you have to go alone in ... Read more
A Room Of Your Own: Light A Candle
A Room Of Your Own
We’ve been quiet here for a few days at All The Muses, in part because my sister-in-law and collaborator had her gall bladder removed and hasn’t had the strength to ... Read more