On writing

2014-01-192021-10-29

Found sentences, Happy New Year, and how have you been while I was away?

On writing

Writing here with more regularity is a goal I have for 2014 for mostly selfish reasons. The more I am writing and thinking about how to stay focused and producing ... Read more

2013-09-032021-10-29

Starting the year right: On teaching and writing

On writing

Today is my fourteenth Professional Day. Wait—thirteenth. The year I started teaching I was hired six weeks into the school year. This is the day before school starts, kids gathering ... Read more

2013-08-232021-10-29

What I learned from binging…

On writing

When I read I almost always pick up something longer. I subscribe to magazines and journals but rarely read them. I have read plenty of short stories and essays, but ... Read more

2013-06-232021-10-29

You are not alone.

On writing

Natalie Whipple writes here about the struggle with confidence that I have heard every writer I know struggle with at some point. Her assessment rings pretty true to me and ... Read more

2013-06-182021-10-29

Beginning, again.

On writing, Uncategorized

One has to be comfortable with beginning again to stick with writing. I am beginning summer again, that time when hours of time for writing open, which, paradoxically, can slow ... Read more

2013-04-022021-10-29

This shit takes practice.

On writing

Today, I got mixed up on carpooling details and missed my weekly critique group meeting. I walked all the way downtown to make the car pool ( a couple of ... Read more

2013-03-202021-10-29

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

2013-03-192021-10-29

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

2012-06-042021-10-29

A Room Of Your Own: Don’t Hesitate

A Room Of Your Own, On writing

“One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems ... Read more

2012-05-292021-10-29

A Room of Your Own: Boundaries

On writing

Let the people you live with know when you are sitting down to write. Tell them that for an hour or two or a page or a word count or ... Read more