Category Archives: class

Walls, Doors and Windows

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Nancy

I am thinking about walls, doors and windows, and the rooms that many writers feel they are kept out of. The feeling is real. I have a lot of experience with walls, doors and windows. Besides the fact that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Advice, class, Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, economics, Elitism, emotion, Energy, failure, Gratitude, happiness, Magic, Maintenance, privacy, Process, Public appearances, research, Self-worth, silence, soul, spaciousness, spirit, success, survival, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, Visibilty, work, Writing career | Tagged accolades, art and profits, character, fear, giving up, life of a writer, magic, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, priorities, promotion, public, renewal, self esteem, self-worth, spaciousness, working, writing life | 6 Comments

The Path

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Nancy

I am often asked how I got to where I am now. I honestly don’t know how to answer this question. I didn’t take a conventional route. I didn’t go to college. I didn’t enter an MFA program. I’m not … Continue reading →

Posted in class, comfort, Comparison, creativity, Day by day, economics, failure, fiction, Process, Uncategorized | Tagged art and profits, creative life, day job, physical world, priorities, process, work | 4 Comments

Holding Space for Yourself

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Nancy

In teaching, one of the things I try to do is hold space. In my private prompts classes, we close our eyes and take some deep breaths and get quiet, letting the workweek fall away, the effort that went into … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, Comparison, Competition, creativity, critique, Day by day, depression, emotion, Energy, Gratitude, Prompts, silence, Uncategorized, what artists need, Writing exercises | Tagged comparison, competition, creative life, hierarchy, love, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, promotion, sacred space, self-promotion | Leave a comment

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Nancy

Nine times a month I teach classes devoted only to writing from prompts. The prompts can range anywhere from a line of poetry, to a picture, to an object, to writing a story that places an object within a picture, … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, creativity, Energy, Exploration, fun with what we do, Magic, Process, Prompts, Story, Telling our stories, The Muse, Uncategorized, Writing exercises | Tagged creative life, ideas, magic, portals, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, prompts, storytelling, writing exercises | 5 Comments

Thick Skin vs. Self Knowledge

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Nancy

I am often asked about the ethics of memoir. Specifically, is it ethical to write about another person? Can I be sued? Should I use real names? My answers are, respectively: Yes and no, maybe, and definitely not. There. Now … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Competition, creativity, critique, Drafts, editors, emotion, fiction, Revision, Self-worth, Uncategorized | Tagged character, creative life, praise; accolades; worth; words and value, process, productivity, public, self esteem, self-worth, support, working, writing life | 4 Comments

Work

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Nancy

I think there are three ways of earning money in this world. One is to rent out your body (labor), another is to rent out the space between your ears (desk jobs mostly), and the third is to have money … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Comparison, Day by day, economics, Elitism, fiction, Self-worth, spaciousness, Uncategorized, Writing career | Tagged art and profits, creative life, life of a writer, physical world, self esteem, self-worth, spaciousness, working, writing life | Leave a comment

Empathy

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Nancy

Dear Karen, It is two days past Thanksgiving, 2014. At the start of the week we learned of a grand jury’s refusal to indict a policeman for the shooting of an unarmed black man. There were riots. Cars were burned. … Continue reading →

Posted in class, economics, Elitism, emotion, Grief, Story, Telling our stories, Uncategorized, violence, voice | Tagged empathy, story-telling, the news, violence, voice | Leave a comment

Poet Luisa Igloria joins our conversation: making our way as women, as writers, as teachers

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Nancy

06 September 2014 Norfolk, VA Dear Karen, Dear Nancy— Oh your last two letters! One, on heart and mind; and on how important it is to not be afraid of the intimate and the “personal.” http://nancypeacockbooks.com/wp/heart-and-mind/ The other, on passion … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, creativity, Elitism, Poetry, posterity | Tagged creative life, life of a writer, literary world, praise; accolades; worth; words and value | Leave a comment

Laughter and Tears

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Nancy

Dear Karen – I am thinking about laughter. I love laughter. I love humor, hilarity, wit, silliness. I love joking. I love irony. Sometimes I love things that aren’t supposed to be funny, or weren’t funny while they were being … Continue reading →

Posted in class, Community; Genorosity, creativity, fun with what we do, happiness, Philosophy, Play, Process, Publishing, Telling our stories, The Writer's Life, Uncategorized, what artists need | Tagged creative life, life of a writer, magic, process, productivity, sacred space; writing space; the writer's des, support | 2 Comments

Elitist Construct

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Nancy

Dear Karen, Long before my first book was published, long before I had even written it, I struggled with finding a way to put words on paper and have them become a story. Part of my study was to read … Continue reading →