See it, to achieve it.
On writing
Dear Writer Friends, So, you are making the time. You are sitting down at your desk, bichoktam. You are doing the work. You honor your writing time and do what ... Read more
writefiction
Dear Procrastination, (Part 2)
A Room Of Your Own, Inspiration, Letters
Dear Procrastination, I’ve written to you before, but you didn’t reply. You look at me the way my grandmother used to when I asked a stupid question. I get it, ... Read more
Staring is necessary.
A Room Of Your Own, Memoir, On writing
My IB students are reading The Things They Carried now and just finished The Great Gatsby. The order in which you teach books brings to light different aspects of them. ... Read more
On patience in revision.
A Room Of Your Own, On writing
I’ve been thinking about the importance of patience this morning, how it is so necessary, but also something that has to be learned. Why, you ask, was I thinking about ... Read more
Post-Valentine Reflection: Plans and Vampires
Memoir
I’m not entirely sure where I’m headed in this blog, though I do know there’s something I want to say, something that feels urgent. I’ll do what I do in ... Read more
One true sentence? Considering Hemingway.
A Room Of Your Own, On writing
My seniors are reading Hemingway, so, of course, I am rereading him too. And thinking about him and his oft-quoted advice to writers. Just one true sentence? The truest sentence ... Read more
What it took.
A Room Of Your Own, Movement
I woke at four, made coffee, walked the dogs. I sat down to write a little bit later than usual, but only about five minutes. But five minutes turned to ... Read more
Zen Accident
A Room Of Your Own, Be here now., On writing
I began writing poetry at fourteen or fifteen, some terrible lost and vulnerable age. I wrote reams of poems about how profoundly I didn’t understand anything, using juxtaposed words like ... Read more
Dear Present Moment,
A Room Of Your Own, Be here now., Letters
Dear Present Moment, The click of keys. The ponderous pause. The long-distance stare. Alert, alive, creating. The problems to solve are diverse, complex, and many and I must be some ... Read more
The Power of Play
A Room Of Your Own, On writing
At risk of sounding like the worst of self-help gurus, I’m going to sound off about the power of play in nurturing (yes, I said nurturing) a consistently productive creative ... Read more